Ivan Repila

Recently, I've been incredibly fortuitous (or perhaps adroit in my book buying!) to have read some great books, which I've given the full complement of stars. At a slimline 128 pages, 'The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse' is both the most recent and shortest to receive 5 stars. It is quite incredible what Iván Repila has managed to encapsulate in so few pages - an allegorical masterpiece, rich with pregnant, figurative prose, incredibly well written and above all a simple, powerful story.

Two young brothers, Big and Small, are trapped inside a well on the edge of a wood. The walls are high, slippery and unassailable yet the brothers are determined to escape. The chapter numbers are the total days they have been down in the well and as time goes on, the duress of the situation intensifies the fractiousness of their relationship. Eating bugs from the walls of the well to sustain themselves, Big drafts a plan of escape fraught with danger. Meanwhile, after initial injury from a previous escape attempt, his younger malnourished brother struggles to stay alive. As his lucidity falters he appears to transcend his experience and the well towards something skin to a Jungian collective unconscious; he recounts strange, dreamlike soliloquies of stealing a horse and destroying the world that alienate his brother but beguile the reader.

In many ways, 'The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse' is faultless. The writing reminded me of 'Grief is a Thing with Feathers' but is also a class apart. I feel I have only scratched the surface of its meaning with one read and will definitely visit it again. The most impressive part - and what I consider is often the most important factor when considering a book to be a 5/5 - is the ending. A great book has to deliver on its early promise and Repila masterfully brought his novella to a significant end, well worthy of the highest accolades and highly recommended.… (more)

I can understand this book get some people raving about it. I also enjoyed it, front to back, yet I guess I perhaps didn't really "get it".

The tale is nice, albeit rather straightforward in itself, but the real magic lies in reading it beyond the metaphor it is. I'm afraid I didn't succeed there, and am sure I must have missed the point [a:Repila|5862584|Iván Repila|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] was making.

So, in short, three stars after my first reading.… (more)

A Spanish author wrote a very metaphorical book about two boys in a hole in the ground, a deep hole. With no way to get out of the hole their situation deteriorates quickly and then the downfall of themselves, physically and mentally, begins. Without any doubt full of allegoric stuff, metaphors, parallels, and other references to the real world. For many reasons a lot of people will see very philosophical stuff in it. Certainly there is a lot of stuff i missed.
But, hey, i don't really care. As from some chapters i lost all connection. It's too bizarre, too weird, too unrealistic. So, yep, i missed probably all the intellectual stuff.
The style of writing is OK, the tension build up is OK till somewhere half of the book, the "numbering" of the chapters is original (no, no spoiler), but .... it didn't get a grip on me. Sorry.… (more)