Ken's Reviews > It's Fine By Me

OK, so I love this book and yet hold back a star. Tough love, call it. And logic, really, considering that Petterson's OUT STEALING HORSES took me by storm. This book came before that one. In fact, Graywolf Press will be publishing four from his backlist: two novels, one short-story collection, and one essay collection. So, yeah, I love this book, but realize it does not quite reach the peaks that HORSES did.

That said, I genuinely admire the autobiographical character here. Audun Sletter's hardscrabble life is covered from preschool to age 18. He lives at home with his mom, older sister, and doomed younger brother. His Dad, no stranger to the bottle, visits when he's in the mood to punch a few easy marks. A lone wolf, Audun has but one good friend whom he sees only seldom: Arvid Jansen. The two of them have this way about them, this subterranean understanding that Petterson captures through dialogue. It's no small feat.

In her note to the reader at the start, Graywolf publisher Fiona McCrae writes, "[It's Fine By Me] has a strong, suspenseful plot, memorable teenage characters, and a moody, Norwegian setting." Check and check on numbers two and three, but not so much on number one, unless "episodic" is a qualifier you'd use for strong and suspenseful plots. It's really more of an Impressionistic work, with points of Audun's life drawn in brief, deft strokes. Back up a bit and you get the picture.

Though there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to genders and reading (especially considering how much more flexible women are compared to men), I'd say this is more of a man's book. Add a layer to that if you're a man who once dreamed of being a writer (and I assume that includes many, many men who love to read).

Through his many heartbreaks, fist fights, and rolled cigarettes, Audun has one constant -- books. He's especially drawn to books about writing and writers. MARTIN EDEN, for instance, the lesser-known Jack London work that every wannabe writer reads as a teenager (if you're late for this bus, it still stops for the hungry). And A MOVEABLE FEAST, Hemingway's non-accent-on-fictional account of his writing days in Paris during the 20s ("Hunger is good discipline," and all that). Audun also puts you on to Norwegian authors you've never heard of (unless you've been listening carefully), like Helge Ingstad, author of The Apache Indians, a book in Audun's hand on the last page. Given all this book love, you'll be Audun's bud before you know it.

It's Fine By Me does not have the sweep and descriptive flourishes of Out Stealing Horses, but its spare, direct writing and character-rich details will take its prisoners. Audun is one for feigned indifference, and you'll think you are, too -- until you reach the last page. Really. Decent endings are so hard to write, even for the very best like Tolstoy (who sucked at endings). Petterson nails it here. A perfect convergence of plot (such as it is) and character (Audun's sphinx-like one).

Yep. By the end, you'll feel like you're bidding farewell to an old friend, a kid just like you once were, a kid who might've understood you like no one else had you been lucky enough to know him. That's the feeling that carries the day with this book. Maybe it'll carry you, too.

This review is from an ARC. Actual release date: Oct. 2, 2012.