Recent audio books | 22 November 2008

To some of us solitude may be sitting on a park bench amidst a bustling city. To Trond Sander, seclusion is a rickety forest cabin in the far east of Norway. For company his only companion is his dog, Lyra. Isolation is 67-year-old Trond’s chosen existence — ‘all my life I have longed to be alone in a place like this’. Do not think for one moment that Out Stealing Horses is in any aspect claustrophobic or disheartening — quite the contrary. Although Trond has recently lost his wife and sister, this is an entirely gloom-free novel. Law-abiders and lovers of our four-legged friends can also rest easy, as no horses were stolen in the making of this novel. ‘Out stealing horses’ is merely a term used by Trond and his boyhood friend, Jon, when out on an early- morning gallivant.

At times, for instance when reflecting on his father’s audacious adventures in the second world war, we are on the edge of our seats — craving more information as Trond’s life and that of his family is tantalisingly unravelled. Even a mundane account of buying a bulb for his car, his passion for reading Dickens or chopping wood with his mysterious neighbour command our attention. This brilliant novel is short — the book is just 250 pages — but throughout the 7 hours on CD (Clipper Audio, unabridged on 6 CDs, £17.95) we are gradually fed morsels of Trond’s life until we are so emotionally involved with his past and present existence that we too are there in his cabin almost sharing his thoughts.

I have listened to some of the CDs many times, so frequently that more than one has started to disintegrate. This, I hasten to add, is not a manufacturing fault but due to my abominably rough treatment when changing the discs whilst driving.