Reflection

However well written Per Petterson's Out Stealing Horses was, I found it to be severely lacking in plot. The imagery was incredibly powerful, but it was not enough to allow the reader to forge an emotional connection to the characters and events in the novel. I enjoyed the passages on their own because of Petterson's gift with words, but lost interest in the book as a whole. I felt alienated from the cultural traits since I do not have a Norwegian background or any knowledge whatsoever of Norwegian life. This book provided a somewhat obscure insight into a culture that many of its readers have little or knowledge about. I think it would be much more appreciated by someone with significant understanding of Norwegian culture. The flashbacks were intriguing and important, but lost significance because of the absence of an actual plot structure. To sum up my impression of the book, it was a well written collection of anecdotes that lost meaning when combined  together to form a novel. I would recommend this book to a book club because it would be much easier to appreciate when broken into smaller sections and discussed.