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To Siberia

To Siberia
A Novel
by Per Petterson
Published in USA Sep 2008,
256 pages.

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Rated 2 of 5 of 5 by Allen
To Siberia
This is a morose, slow moving novel in which the writer feels the need to describe every action in slow motion. It is very heavy on "telling" rather than "showing," and there is a paucity of dialogue and an overabundance both of unsympathetic characters and descriptions of places. The author often shifts tense between past and present without indicating that it is happening and this makes for confusing reading. Guaranteed to put you to sleep should you have insomnia, what with its long paragraphs!

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Barbara
To Siberia
This page turner quickly drew me into the book with its vivid imagery of rural Denmark which serves as a backdrop for the lives and struggles of powerfully portrayed characters, who could really be living anywhere. It also explores how the lives of ordinary people change over time , before, during and after war.

The various themes should bring out lively discussion for any book club. It should be required reading for high school students as it could make them think about how their dreams and choices, despite circumstances, can effect their futures.

To Siberia haunted me, leaving me with much to think about long after the final word was read.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Brenda
In Siberia
In "To Siberia," Petterson creates a mood of a pervasive cold and barren landscape and tightly held emotions. The narrator is a young girl from the pre-teen years through early adulthood during and immediately after World War II in Denmark. You never learn her name, which creates a distance between the reader and the story, additionally contributing to the mood. The narrator's emotions are so in check and tightly held that you just know if she ever let go, everything around her would melt.

I didn't enjoy "To Siberia" as much as the previously published "Out Stealing Horses." "Siberia" has the same spare and elegant language, but I felt too detached from the characters.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Linda
Not my favorite WW Two saga
If you want to read a book about a dysfunctional family during WW 2, this is the book for you. I selected this book because I hoped the novel would link to the history and politics that time, but it was lacking. I do not plan to include To Siberia in my collection of WW 2 books for middle/high school reading.

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by Joan,Walnut Creek CA
To Siberia - Disappointing Reading Experience
What a disappointment To Siberia was! Being a fond reader of historical fiction I had looked forward to this book with great anticipation. The opportunity to develop a meaningful story based on the teen viewpoint of the Danish resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of WWII as alluded to on the book jacket, slipped through the fingers of the author.

The reader was left with two unsympathetic teen characters living in a very were dysfunctional family struggling through a meandering dark story of the war years.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by DeeAnn
Difficult to finish, but glad I did
Although I didn't really enjoy this book, I did love the powerful images and the moving story. However, I did find it hard to follow the author's flow of the story, there were connections that were difficult to make as he jumped around in time. This is probably the reason he is so popular, however, the style did not appeal to me. I have read some about WWII and the German occupation, but this was the first time I have read anything set in Denmark, which was very interesting to have a perspective from there. I would recommend this book, however, being selective in the reader to whom I would recommend.
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