“It’s Fine By Me” by Per Petterson (Norway)

Synopsis

Audun is the only one of his family who remains with his mother in working-class Oslo. He delivers newspapers when he is not in school and talks for hours about Jack London and Ernest Hemingway with his best friend – but there are some things Audun won’t talk about. Stories about his family, the weeks he spent living in a couple of cardboard boxes, and the day of his little brother’s birth, when his drunken father fired three shots into the ceiling.

Readers’ reviews

It’s an easy read despite the fact that, like the previous one, it also touches on some tough topics. We also get a good sense of time and place. I didn’t warm to the protagonist, Audun, immediately, but he definitely grew on me and I was touched by his reaction at the end of the book. I liked the writing style and felt the flashbacks gave enough information to give us an idea of what was going on without weighing the story down. In the second half, I thought that the author dwelled a little bit too long on Audun’s job in the printing press – it could have been shorter. Overall, an enjoyable read which I’d recommend. – Nicola

I mostly found this pretty boring. It reminded me of the first volume of Knaussgaard’s “My Struggle” with its aimless, moody teens mooching about and detailing how they make their coffee. And while at first it’s interesting to read about how a paper mill works, it gets a bit wearing after the fourth or fifth time. It’s good at capturing adolescent frustration and the feeling that your life is going nowhere, but I can’t say I enjoyed it. – Simon

Offline Read-Along reading list (Nov 2018 – Mar 2019)

Due to a serious health challenge, Nicola was unable to organise live book club meetings for the winter season 2018-2019. Instead, she continued to choose a Book of the Month and joined other readers on our Facebook Discussion Group where they shared their thoughts with her. The books were:

“Lila” by Marilynne Robinson (U.S.)
“It’s Fine By Me” by Per Petterson (Norway)
“The Guru of Love” by Samrat Upadhyay (Nepal)
“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana)

Extra book:

“How to Stop Time” by Matt Haig (U.K.)