Olga Tokarczuk - Drive Your Plow over The Bones of The Death

 





I think this is a very original view on the detective story. It's being told by a eccentric old woman with two hobbies: the poetry of William Blake, which she is studying to translate and astrology. Aspects of these hobbies are woven in the murder investigation story, everything in the story seen from her eyes. In my opinion a lot of thinking by the old woman about nature and society she lives in resembles the views of Olga Tokarczuk herself on ecology and the order of life in a country like Poland. Often the words of the woman are laughed about and swept aside, just coming from an "old mad woman". She doesn't fit in her world, being independent as a woman and not attending church. The authorities don't listen to her on other matters and so it's logical that her thinking about the murders doesn't count at all. I could imagine the scenery in which the story is situated, even in modern times life is quite harsh over there. All in all I loved the story and I certainly would love to read more of Olga Tokarczuk's work.



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