To Siberia

I adored this book. Fabulous writing - even better than Out Stealing Horses. I have added In the Wake by the same author, simply because he writes so well. Read this book. Read it soon. Read it now. This is one of those books that every second spent reading is enjoyable. It is about a family and the people making up this family. And it is about the wonderful strong relationship between brother and sister, a relationship that glows in the cold harsh Scandinavian landscape of the 40s. This relatio [...]

3.5 stars for story, 4.5 stars for writingI don't know if there is a genre called artistic fiction, but that is the best way to describe this book. I really enjoyed reading it very slowly, creating pictures, sounds, smells, and emotions in my mind. Sometimes I would go back and re-read a passage just to be sure I was getting the full benefit of the scene the author created. There are some things about the story itself that are ultimately unsatisfying, but the writing is so exquisite at times tha [...]

I can't help but think of the novel I read right before this one, which also had a brother-sister relationship at its core (Machine Dreams). I enjoyed both, though beyond the close sibling relationship in both novels (the closeness due, perhaps in part, to parents whose relationship is not a good one), a war intruding on a somewhat isolated community in each, and an important similar plot point, the time period and the writing are different. As I was reading, I was also reminded of this quote fr [...]

As atmospheric, melancholy, and meditative as Out Stealing Horses and In The Wake, but I found To Siberia a bit more obtuse (which is not a complaint). A number of reviewers have called the later sections less satisfying, and suggested that the brother/sister relationship at the heart of the novel ends too early, but I had the opposite reaction -- as much as I enjoyed that relationship's developing complexities as the characters moved from childhood to maturity in the shadow of war, the novel re [...]

4.5 stars. A portrait of a girl during the 40´s in Scandinavia, a story about love between siblings, a coming of age, longing and betrayal. Petterson is the norwegian Master when it comes to painting pictures and describing feelings with words I am stunned again! Please read To siberia and Out stealing horses. Hope the translation is good, because in norwegian it is just brilliant!!!

I very much enjoyed this episodic reminiscence of one girl’s coming of age in a village at the far north of Denmark. The title refers to the narrator’s childhood dream of making a railroad journey across the continent to the crystalline wastes of what is for her an exotic storybook land. The early scenes in which she follows her brother (and hero) Jesper on various escapades are written with a naïve vividness that truly evokes glowing sights and fresh sensations, fears and pleasures of thos [...]

This is the third of Per Petterson's novels that have been translated into English. The other two deal with grown men struggling to come to grips with tragic events in their lives. To Siberia is told from a woman's perspective; a woman, at the time of the telling of the story, in her 60's looking back over her childhood and troubled transition to young womanhood. Invariably, I find Petterson's books acquire new meaning and certain details are illuminated by re-reading them. His books seem decept [...]

This book is really about home: how the home you live in may not be the home you long for, how sometimes family folks can deal as much damage to your home as an invading army. One reason I often prefer crime fiction is that the author will put characters in interesting situations and let the story tell itself, with little explanation of why, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions from the story. Petterson shares this trait with my favorite crime novel writers; he lets us find our [...]

I had tremendously high expectations for this book, told by an older woman who looks back reminiscingly at her life growing up in Denmark, pre- and post-WWII. It tells the tale of this woman's relationship with her brother Jesper, his contributions to Nazi resistance, and her less-than-warm family life.While so many others raved about the prose, I just didn't feel it. Perhaps, because this was translated into English, something was lost from the original Scandanavian meaning? Personally, through [...]

This story is even more poignant than Out Stealing Horses, and as beautifully written. Here is a passage to illustrate the writing:I cycle north at dust towards Kæret Beach past the marshes at Ronnene where the seagulls sit in long rows in the shallows beyond the reeds,and all the rows take off as I ride past, unfold like gray-white sheets and land again in the dim light that slowly fades and disappears towards Skagen. There are thousands of them. I hear their soft rushing and feel the wind in [...]

The spare writing was intriguing, and the setting of Jutland, Denmark pre- and during WWII (when the Nazis occupied Denmark) was ripe for exploration, but somehow this book ended up making me feel wanting of more. A relationship between sister and brother is developed, then as war happens, the siblings go separate ways. I wish the book was twice as long, but as it was, it felt too slight, leaving interesting ideas and settings introduced, but not explored enough.

Du vet moren til hovedpersonen i Jeg forbanner tidens elv? Dette er romanen om oppveksten hennes, på tredve og førtitallet i Danmark. Den er fantastisk. Og Petterson er kanskje den av de gamle ML-forfatterne som skriver de beste kvinnene. Dag Solstad skildrer kvinner som om han var et romvesen som hadde fått forklart kjønnsdrift i voksen alder. Petterson skildrer svangerskapskvalme innenfra på en måte som lurer meg til å tro at han har vært litt gravid selv.

Beautifully written, vividly deep characters and an underlining melancholy. It left me sad but touched.

As full a sense life as I found in Petterson's OUT STEALING HORSES. Beautiful young female narrator, as precocious, stubborn & sensitive as Munro's Del in THE LIVES OF GIRLS AND WOMEN, and a brother-sister relationship here that made me weep. I can't help but give a prose-tasting from early in the novel (p 16-17) when the narrator and her brother Jesper go into the barn to get warm; Jesper speaks of Dorit the cow:"'You have to say something, you must talk to her,' says Jesper from behind the [...]

Per Petterson is such a gifted author that with the simplest of language and briefest of sentences you are somehow transported into a world of sharp images.This poignant tale highlights the lives of a very close brother, (Jesper) and sister, only known as "sistermine", who grow up in a very rural sheltered community of Denmark under the influence of rigid, very unworldly and uneducated parents. The story is told through the eyes and voice of "sistermine". As she reminisces, the scars of the time [...]

This is the third Per Petterson novel I've read recently; I think they may be some of the best novels I've read from a living author. I've probably said it before, but if you like the work of Knut Hamsun or W.G. Sebald, then I highly recommend Per Petterson's novels. He has a simple, sometimes lyrical style, much like Hamsun (he's also Norwegian); memory and family play a big part in this story. My only regret is not saving it for the winter time (though there were some scenes set by the water, [...]

This is the memories of a childhood in the 1930s & 1940s in a small town in Denmark, in a fragile family at a turbulent time in the world by a narrator who believes that all her significant living and loving was experienced by the age of 23. Had this not been told by an incredibly gifted pen, the short novel would have fallen very flat. But, this author creates a stunning tapestry out of very slender threads.

I like this early half-light, the mild air from the sea, standing inside looking out without being seen, and there are almost no sounds from the street, and I can think and remember who I am before anything new comes along. To Siberia is a collection of memories; the unnamed narrator is a Danish girl known to the reader only as Sistermine; a term of endearment by her older brother Jesper. Sistermine longs to go somewhere far away, not necessarily warm. In fact, she wants to go to Siberia along t [...]

I think I will always be doomed to disappointment when I pick up a Per Petterson book hoping it will be as satisfying as "Out Stealing Horses." The latter is such a brilliant, seemingly simple but beautifully complex novel -- one that yields such rewards on re-reading. "To Siberia" is a good book, using many of the narrative techniques and subtleties used in "Out Stealing Horses"; Petterson is an excellent writer, and here he does a good job with a young female narrator, I think. In all his book [...]

Everything Per Petterson writes reads like spun gold. It's just beautiful, immersive writing. To Siberia doesn't disappoint, but the story feels less developed than some of his other books. I recommend To Siberia for anyone who is familiar with his work, or to anyone who loves the low-key, sensual richness of Scandinavian fiction in general, but if you're new to these, I'd recommend his other books, I Refuse, or Out Stealing Horses, for a more intense reading experience.

You can infer a lot about the mental state of the narrator of this bleak novel from the fact that she fantasizes about moving to Siberia. We meet her on Christmas Eve, 1934, when she's 9, living with her family in a poor fishing village in northern Norway. She has just recently realized that "the world was far bigger than the town I lived in," and she's already looking forward to "my own great journey." Setting her sights on a vast frozen desert in the Soviet Union seems like a sad choice, but i [...]

After reading ‘Out Stealing Horses’ by Per Petterson, I thought I will read ‘To Siberia’ written by him, which I had got along with ‘Out Stealing Horses’. I finished reading most of the book yesterday – and if some sudden things hadn’t cropped up, I would have finished the book yesterday itself, which rarely happens for me, because I am a slow reader – and finished reading the last few chapters today. Here is what I think.What I think‘To Siberia’ is about a sister and broth [...]

i want to give this book five stars but it's only the second book i've read by him and as in love as i am i think he might get better. out stealing horses was better than this so i don't wanna give them the same rating. either way, he's my new love. i think he has 5 books total and this proved to me that i'm going to read them all. the writing style is the same as out stealing horses: sparse. i guess i really like this style because i've started reading more and more books like this. it takes pl [...]

To Siberia broke my heart. Not because of any particular character or event, but rather more because of the overall tone and cadence. The language left me with a feeling of desolation. The actual events of the book are almost rendered moot as a result, as the reader is often already feeling anger or sadness when a situation arises that is meant to evoke such reactions. Especially by the end, I felt like I pretty much knew what was coming but that it hardly mattered because my chest was already a [...]

My copy from the giveaway arrived and as I wrote earlier I am on a reading jag so I am starting this todayI finished reading this book a few days ago and finally have the chance to sit down and write that I feel in love with the writing and story from the first page and I read as swiftly as time would allow.Per Petterson's writing style is sparse, emotive and very evocative. Feelings and experience move effortlessly from word to stark and well defined imagery. To Siberia is a smart coming of ag [...]

This was given to me as a Christmas gift from my boss, who thought I would love the author (Norwegian, Per Petterson) but had never read the book himself. I enjoyed it and found many strong lyrical moments to revel in. At the end, however, I felt more critical of the narrative structure and the choice of narrator/protagonist (a nameless young female who begins as a child and grows into young adulthood during WWII) I particularly felt that she grew less believable as she aged and couldn't help wo [...]

As beautifully rendered as "Out Stealing Horses," and with the same frank clarity, "To Siberia" explores some of the same themes as Petterson's more renowned work - chiefly through the examination of childhood memory from an adult perspective. While I loved "Horses" and enjoyed "I Curse the River of Time," I expect this novel will stay with me even longer, partially because of the complex psychology of the narrator, and partially because of the historical significance of its setting (the Danish [...]

So much of the world around "Sistermine" is cold, wet and white. The snow and the sand and even the milk. Her brother Jesper wants to escape their cold and harsh home and parents by getting himself to the warmth of Morrocco. But the heroine thinks she'll find happiness somewhere even colder, wetter, and whiter, so she dreams about getting herself "To Siberia."I'm a fast reader, but I found myself deliberately slowing down as I read to better savor the language - so evocative of the time and plac [...]

I had to rush through the middle to end since it was due at the library, but I wasn't too sad about that. It just didn't move me nearly as much as Out Stealing Horses. The story was about sibling connections, but it was so depressing in so many ways, maybe all ways. I guess it is perception and identification: some might have found Stealing Horses depressing but I identified with the character so much and found some positivity in the endI was disappointed There was a lot of the same descriptions [...]

Petterson's beautifully written, dream-like novel takes place in German-occupied Denmark during WWII. The narrator, a young girl coming of age, comes from a superbly dysfunctional Danish family. Her brother becomes involved in the Danish resistance fighting and escapes to Sweden. This is the second of his novels that I've read and it didn't dissapoint. His writing is highly descriptive yet succint. Even in translation it was gorgeous. The characters are formed from that Scandinavian angst that o [...]