Ratings74
Average rating3.8
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE "A brilliant literary murder mystery." —Chicago Tribune "Extraordinary. Tokarczuk's novel is funny, vivid, dangerous, and disturbing, and it raises some fierce questions about human behavior. My sincere admiration for her brilliant work." —Annie Proulx In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind . . . A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?
Reviews with the most likes.
One sentence synopsis... A literary whodunnit, set in a desolate Polish village, examining the line between sanity and madness, humans and animals. .
Read it if you like... deep readings of astrology, examining the poetry of William Blake, or truly strange, wacky ensembles of characters. .
Dream casting... Stellan Skarsgard as Oddball, a future older version of Renée Zellweger as Janina.
It simply wasn't my cup of tea. The author just wasn't concerned about the happenings in the book and was more focused on sharing her beliefs about a lot of things in general. I would say the reveal at the end was unexpected and good but if there was just no good lead up to conclusion. To me it was just it was a random reveal. One of the longest 250 pages i had read.
I was waiting for the right time to read this book, which I thought would be Fall but was actually Winter. Perfect book for when the nighttime comes at 4pm.