Sunday, March 15, 2009

Literary Aspects

The most prevalent literary aspect in Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses, is imagery. Petterson’s vivid descriptions help the reader to appreciate the sometimes slow-moving story line, as we are able to let his eloquent imagery really sink in. With lines such as “The rack stood as if it had been there forever across the landscape and lit by the sun with its long shadow behind it, and in harmony with every fold of the field and finally turned into mere form, a primordial form” (66) it is easy to imagine the very scene that Trond is describing. Petterson does not use a large amount of dialogue so it is particularly crucial that his use of imagery is so effective. By using imagery, Petterson allows Trond’s story to read like a diary entry, and less like a script. Although many of his readers have never been to Norway, and most likely don’t know what a “hay rack” (66) is, we are still able to connect to the story because of the powerful imagery. Readers are able to gain an insight into aspects of Norwegian culture and lifestyle that we would otherwise know nothing about. IT is because of the beautiful and vast amount of imagery in Out Stealing Horses that make it such a reverent and enjoyable novel. 

12 comments:

  1. Daria,
    Awesome points. I really like how you noticed that Trond's story is very much like a diary. I never really thought about that but now that you bring it up it is very easy to see. I couldn't agree more that Imagery is a huge part of the book.

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  2. Daria,
    I agree with Alex that i never noticed how Trond's story is like a diary. And I also think that the major literary element of Out Stealing Horses would be imagery.

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  3. **typo! I meant to say relevant, rather than reverent in the last sentence!**

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  4. Daria, I think its really cool that you noticed that the story is kind of like a diary. Great pick up. I also thought that the most important literary aspect in the book was imagery.

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  5. Daria-

    I really like how you said that the book is like a diary rather than a script. Another huge difference that makes it that way is the fact that we are given a lot more details than "Storm still, Enter Gloucester" for our scenery. These details, like you said, allow us to take a peek into the culture of Tronds life.

    Stacey

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  6. I never thought of this book as Trond's diary or journal. This novel is Trond's account of his later life with some looks into perhaps earlier of his journals. This story is in first person with Trond as the narrorator.

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  7. I like what you said about Patterson's imagery allowing the reader to become familiar with Norwegian culture. I think that reading this book, I am able to better understand the culture and customs. I also agree that although there are still things I don't understand from the culture, Patterson is able to keep me connected to the book through his imagery.

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  8. Daria, I love this post. I love everything about Norway and I can tell that you are starting to see why. There are so many vivid images that this book puts forth and that is why I keep reading this book. I also think that it is interesting to imagine the book as almost some kind of screen play as we talked about in class.

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  9. Daria, like everyone has said so far, the idea of a diary is a very clever way of looking at this story. I tend to agree with you on this one because I to can feel the sense of a diary in this book. This book is first person which definitely gives the diary sense to the book.

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  10. Daria,
    Your quotes are perfect examples to back up the slow moving story line, and the eloquent imagery. I do think that the book moves very slow, but Petterson is able to use many descriptions in his writting because they are always different. They really get to all of the five senses, and make the reading more enjoyable.

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  11. DARIA-
    The idea of a diary was such a good idea! That was really creative. I see where you are coming from, and I had never thought about the story in that specific way. I agree the book moves slow so far but I'm hoping it will perhaps become a faster moving story as it progresses.

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  12. when I read this, my first thought was "stream of consciousness." Asking questions and online search revealed that this is a literary term taken from psychology defining a particular voice an author uses: narrative in the first person providing the internal monologue of a persons thinking; that often abandons punctuation or alters it. So, yeh, it's like writing down what is in your head...I always wanted a tape recorder in my head...my writing never was as fast as my thoughts.

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