Frank Wilson says Out Stealing Horses is well-worth it.
A lesser novel would gather up all the dangling threads of narrative – there are plenty more besides those mentioned – and tie them into a nice neat bow of an ending. Not this one. It is, in fact, Petterson’s refusal to do precisely this that makes his novel so lifelike. After all, life boasts far more loose ends than pat endings.
He overlooks another possibility. Petterson may have just lost track of his plot lines. This is common with Norwegians.
This is apparently what happened to George Martin in his latest opus. As I gather he was completely lost… and another writer came in and offered him a way to escape his dilemna. (You might want to read his interview in Locus.)
I well believe it. It didn't solve his dilemma for this reader though. I gave up on the series.