I’ve finally read through Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, a Polish writer. I remember what my mother told me before about Polish writers, that they’re kind of insane with their storytelling. And after having finished this book I think she’s right. It’s the second book of a Polish writer I’ve read, and this one’s only a slight bit less insane. Just a tad.
So I’m still reading with the theme of old ladies with murder cases here, except this lady isn’t quite investigating the murder cases per se. More like, she’s actually convinced that it should have been like this, because the stars told her so. She’s a complete astrology nut and tries to make horoscopes to explain everything in life. She’s also Vegan, and anything harming animals is outright murder. All those people who got killed were hunters, so it served them right too. The Animals (yes with a capital A there) probably took revenge on them. Of course nobody believes her, and many think of her as a madwoman.
When reading, I simply went with the flow of the story because it was all quite surreal. It was like watching a movie where you don’t know wtf everybody was smoking, but you just can’t stop watching. She doesn’t name people by their real names but has given all of them nicknames that suits them (according to her logic). Big Foot, Oddball, Dizzy, Good News, etc. I’m also thinking the people in her area are somewhat strange, which is probably an understatement. The difficulty is that I can’t get into too much detail here lest I might spoil the story. This whole book has been quite a weird trip.
Was it a fun read? Well, it’s kept me occupied. Was it interesting? Well, yes, but it was also weird. Do I understand this person? Not really, no. Except a bit near the end, some stuff kind of got explained to attribute to this turn of events. At least she’s got friends who cares about her, which is quite a redeeming factor in this story.
#Books @faticake
@lydiaconwell The other Polish novel I have read when I was a teenager: The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosiński.
That had... oh lessee... incest, bestiality, shitton of violence, rape, even more violence, racism, superstition, ungodly more violence.
It was for our English literature reading list so I've read all that shit when I was like 15 years old. 👀
@trinsec That sounds even better.
@trinsec well I’m glad you were at least entertained. I know it didn’t fit in exactly with the genre you described but I enjoyed reading this book and thought it would be a good recommendation. I didn’t relate with the old lady either but the characterizations were great and the turn of events highly engaging. Honestly I’m surprised you’re already finished. I assumed you had a long list
@faticake I tried to read 'The Thursday Murder Club' in Dutch but found the translation to be terribly stifling, so that got dropped and bumped off my list. And the advantage of being in charge of my own reading list is that I can bump up anything to top anytime I like.
With your recommedation still fairly fresh in mind I decided to go for this one immediately, also because that title was just crazy enough that my curiosity was piqued. ;)
I didn't think it was that quick, though. It still took me almost 2 weeks before I finished it.
I'm now continuing with my suggested alternatives to the Thursday Murder Club, and am reading the second book in this list now.
@trinsec it’s been a while since I’ve finished a book, so I guess that’s why it felt quick. It’s not murder mystery with a lady at all, but maybe check out A Cruel Madness by Colin Thubron should you run out of recommendations or would like a change in theme. It’s a psychological novel that I remember really creeped me out near the end
@faticake Mmm, I don't think I like psychological novels in general. I might skip that suggestion, but thanks!
@trinsec Sounds quite interesting. I might look it up.
The only Polish novel I've read is Solaris and that doesn't have a crazy story. It's doesn't really have a story. It just has things happen.
But it's a good novel and full of great ideas. I've read it twice.