Fiction

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

  • Downloads：7853
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-12-25 09:53:38
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Olga Tokarczuk
  • ISBN：0525541330
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Summary

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

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？

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Reviews

Jessica Rosner ，

Maybe 3 1/2 stars。 In a rural Polish town people are dying in mysterious ways。 Our narrator has her suspicions that it is the animals; deer， foxes， hares， beetles that are finally taking revenge on the hunters and destroyers of their habitat。 She writes letter after letter to the local police who consider her a slightly looney hermit。 She does have friends。 A poet translator of William Blake， her neighbor whom she calls Oddball， and a kindly woman who runs a sort of thrift store which seems to h Maybe 3 1/2 stars。 In a rural Polish town people are dying in mysterious ways。 Our narrator has her suspicions that it is the animals; deer， foxes， hares， beetles that are finally taking revenge on the hunters and destroyers of their habitat。 She writes letter after letter to the local police who consider her a slightly looney hermit。 She does have friends。 A poet translator of William Blake， her neighbor whom she calls Oddball， and a kindly woman who runs a sort of thrift store which seems to have everything one could need。 She has her reliable car， the Samurai， and immerses herself in astrology， which she believes is the key to everything that happens。 She teaches English to the children until she is fired for slandering the local priest。 She is nearly self reliant except when she isn’t。 I found the writing to be a little off， probably because of translation， and at first a little confusing。 But for me， worth reading。 The moral is sketchy but isn’t it always？ 。。。more

Laura ，

4。5 stars; an interesting read that’s quite different than your typical thriller。 It posed great questions about hunting vs poaching。 It is beautifully written

frogbear ，

So good！

Helen ，

Oh。 Ok。That’s what I said out loud when I reached the last chapter of this book。 I had been expecting something experimental， weird and difficult to follow， and although it was indeed somewhat experimental， and quite a bit weird， it was also rather sweet and very easy to follow。 The main character， who is also the narrator， is really interesting， and the book’s message is plain to see on every page。 I did not see the end coming， though。 I was so busy wondering whether mustard soup was actually Oh。 Ok。That’s what I said out loud when I reached the last chapter of this book。 I had been expecting something experimental， weird and difficult to follow， and although it was indeed somewhat experimental， and quite a bit weird， it was also rather sweet and very easy to follow。 The main character， who is also the narrator， is really interesting， and the book’s message is plain to see on every page。 I did not see the end coming， though。 I was so busy wondering whether mustard soup was actually a thing and whether I would like it or hate it， that the revelation that followed came as quite a shock！Under the guise of a mystery story， this book is designed to make you think about human values， and the relationship between humanity and the rest of nature， with a generous helping of quotations from the poetry of William Blake。 Also， a shout out to Antonia Lloyd-Jones is much deserved for an excellent translation – just how do you go about translating a passage from Polish into English about someone translating a poem from English into Polish？ 。。。more

Arvid Kühne ，

Det er en ommer med korrekturlæsningen， Gyldendal！ 🧐

Isabella ，

Holy fucking shit。 One hell of a book。 A must read。

Nick Burnham ，

i find myself in a similar place now as i was when i finished the seas: that is to say， morally conflicted about the idea of writing about this book at all because it is so confidently distinct from basically anything else I’ve read。 I was reminded of many things while reading it—collections like the dark dark， her body and other parties， magic for beginners， books like piranesi， and， vividly， what remains of edith finch—but connecting any of those stories to each other feels like a disservice t i find myself in a similar place now as i was when i finished the seas: that is to say， morally conflicted about the idea of writing about this book at all because it is so confidently distinct from basically anything else I’ve read。 I was reminded of many things while reading it—collections like the dark dark， her body and other parties， magic for beginners， books like piranesi， and， vividly， what remains of edith finch—but connecting any of those stories to each other feels like a disservice to all of them， so in lieu of writing more， i’m just going to share a few quotes that resonated with me。 “It is in the feet that all knowledge of Mankind lies hidden; the body send them a weighty sense of who we really are and how we relate to the earth。” “The air had turned blue， sharp as a razor。 The deep， dull howling filled it with alarm。 Death is at the gates， I thought。 But then Death is always at our gates， at every hour of the day and Night。”“The tree trunks revealed their secrets to me。 The most ordinary stumps turned out to be entire kingdoms of Creatures that bored corridors， chambers， and passages， and laid their previous eggs there。 The larvae may not have been beautiful， but I was moved by their sense of trust—they entrusted their lives to the trees， without imagining that these huge， immobile Creatures are essentially very fragile， and wholly dependent on the will of people too。”“The human psyche evolved in order to defend us from seeing the truth。 To prevent us from catching sight of the mechanism。 The psyche is our defense system—it makes sure we’ll never understand what’s going on around us。 Its main task is to filter information， even though the capabilities of our brains are enormous。 For it would be impossible to carry the weight of this knowledge。 Because every tiny particle of this world is made of suffering。” 。。。more

Dawn ，

Uni required reading for literature module。 This book has a very strong voice and very beautiful prose。 It isn't really an effective mystery but was enjoyable。 I am not into astrology or the history of hunting and animal rights movement in Poland so it is interesting to read about that。 But it definitely felt meandering at points and the murderer was very easily guessed from the beginning。 Not sure the protagonist was meant to be a hero or also part of the hypocrisy she criticize。 But the idea p Uni required reading for literature module。 This book has a very strong voice and very beautiful prose。 It isn't really an effective mystery but was enjoyable。 I am not into astrology or the history of hunting and animal rights movement in Poland so it is interesting to read about that。 But it definitely felt meandering at points and the murderer was very easily guessed from the beginning。 Not sure the protagonist was meant to be a hero or also part of the hypocrisy she criticize。 But the idea presented is certainly interesting enough。 。。。more

Andre ，

Bij hoofdstuk 5 heb ik t opgegeven， ik kom er niet in of doorheen。 Ik vermoed e veel details of uitleg of zoiets， heb vaker met vrouwelijke schrijvers。

Mireia ，

Considerada por la mayoría de sus vecinos como una vieja un poco loca y trastornada， Janina Derszejko vive en un pequeño pueblo en la frontera polaca con República Checa rodeada de nieve en invierno y bello verde en primavera y verano。 Es ingeniera retirada， maestra de inglés， dedicada a la astrología， a la naturaleza， al cuidado de los animales y de todo lo que tenga vida。 Un ser peculiar。En este contexto， empiezan a sucederse una serie de asesinatos en los que Janina se involucra。 Las víctimas Considerada por la mayoría de sus vecinos como una vieja un poco loca y trastornada， Janina Derszejko vive en un pequeño pueblo en la frontera polaca con República Checa rodeada de nieve en invierno y bello verde en primavera y verano。 Es ingeniera retirada， maestra de inglés， dedicada a la astrología， a la naturaleza， al cuidado de los animales y de todo lo que tenga vida。 Un ser peculiar。En este contexto， empiezan a sucederse una serie de asesinatos en los que Janina se involucra。 Las víctimas han demostrado crueldad hacia los animales: cazadores， depradadores。 Aunque no es una novela policial， mantiene cierta intriga a lo largo de todo el libro， caracterizado por su humor negro y su carga poética y filosófica。 El final cierra la historia de forma genial。Sus partes de astrología se pueden hacer densas。 Es una novela profunda y ecologista para una lectura lenta y tranquila。Puntuación: 4Lo habéis leído？ 。。。more

Elizabeth Iola Loveless ，

I nearly dnf after 50 pages but it got much better from there。

Cynthia ，

Bizarre， poetic， compelling characters， engaging plot， perfect audio narrator--what more could you want？ Yet I found it somewhat difficult to continue listening to， but it might have been because it is so convoluted at times in terms of the prose passages since the narrator of the story itself goes off on odd tangents and unexpected responses。 This is one book I would have rather read despite how much I liked the audio narrator's speaking style。 More to come 。 。 。 Bizarre， poetic， compelling characters， engaging plot， perfect audio narrator--what more could you want？ Yet I found it somewhat difficult to continue listening to， but it might have been because it is so convoluted at times in terms of the prose passages since the narrator of the story itself goes off on odd tangents and unexpected responses。 This is one book I would have rather read despite how much I liked the audio narrator's speaking style。 More to come 。 。 。 。。。more

Elalma ，

Il titolo è una citazione di William Blake， autore che la protagonista insegnante di inglese traduce。 La scrittura di Olga Tokarczuk è elegante， il romanzo piacevole， ma non ho ritrovato l'innovazione， la stravaganza de I Vagabondi。 Il titolo è una citazione di William Blake， autore che la protagonista insegnante di inglese traduce。 La scrittura di Olga Tokarczuk è elegante， il romanzo piacevole， ma non ho ritrovato l'innovazione， la stravaganza de I Vagabondi。 。。。more

Will Chin ，

Follow me on Instagram: www。instagram。com/thisotherbookaccountEnthusiasm ran high when I chose this book to be my next read a few days ago。 Unfortunately， the stars were not aligned for this one。 In fact， I was in a different star system altogether。 Despite being short- and long-listed for the #InternationalBookerPrize and the #NationalBookAward — even snatching Tokarczuk a #NobelPrizeinLiterature — this book proved to be a complete dud for me。Set in a remote Polish village， the book is told who Follow me on Instagram: www。instagram。com/thisotherbookaccountEnthusiasm ran high when I chose this book to be my next read a few days ago。 Unfortunately， the stars were not aligned for this one。 In fact， I was in a different star system altogether。 Despite being short- and long-listed for the #InternationalBookerPrize and the #NationalBookAward — even snatching Tokarczuk a #NobelPrizeinLiterature — this book proved to be a complete dud for me。Set in a remote Polish village， the book is told wholly from the perspective of Janina， a reclusive， eccentric old lady who prefers the company of animals to humans。 Her world is turned upside down， however， when members of a local hunting club are found murdered in the woods。Let’s get this out of the way: the murder plot is merely a distraction。 Tokarczuk treats it with as much attention as an afterthought or a shopping list for her grocery run。 The ‘meat’ of the book， if you can call it that， are the screwball ideas that Janina cooks up in her weird， wacky mind， such as her obsession with #Astrology。 The book often veers off into tedious monologues about Jupiter entering Venus’ house while Mercury is in retrograde， only to find out that Pluto got there first — but don’t worry， nothing bad will happen because， I don’t know， you’re Leo and it’s December， or whatever。 There are also passages about William Blake’s poems， which Janina spends her freetime translating — but I don’t like poetry， and I REALLY don’t like Blake’s poems。 Since you spend 95% of the book in Janina’s head， all I wanted to do was to get the hell out。And I did after 70%。 Yes， there are philosophical diatribes against hunting， meat-eating and humanity as a whole， but what others call ‘quirky’ and ‘whimsical’ just come across as disjointed， unhinged ramblings to me。 The murder plot？ Laughable， according to spoilers。Or， maybe I’m just missing what others are seeing。 。。。more

Jennifer M。 ，

Wow， amazed。 Finished it， read it again。

Madison Duhon ，

Giving this book the award for Best Book Title Ever 🏆。 Love a story with an unreliable narrator！ This whole book felt like having a conversation with someone who you know is crazy and spouting nonsense， but you are so thoroughly entertained that you can’t walk away or tell them you don’t believe them。

Jen ，

2。5/5 Perfect atmosphere and imagery and very interesting themes。 The downside？ It's super slow。 I had to listen to the audiobook at 2。25x speed。 I also probably shouldn't have read this while recovering from vaccine side effects。 Oh well。 2。5/5 Perfect atmosphere and imagery and very interesting themes。 The downside？ It's super slow。 I had to listen to the audiobook at 2。25x speed。 I also probably shouldn't have read this while recovering from vaccine side effects。 Oh well。 。。。more

Joonas ，

Ma alustasin seda raamatut kaks korda。 Tegelikult oleks võinud esimese korraga lõpuni lugeda， sest kraam oli täiega lahe。Seda raamatut võib lugeda juba huumori pärast。 Kuiv nagu seenemets enne vihma。Mulle tundub， et lugu， lokatsioon ja karakter oma mõtteviisiga on sedavõrd kokku põimunud， et see raamat ei saakski kuidagi teisiti joosta。 Lõpu kiirustamine oma konarustega muutis asja veel mõnusamaks。 Muidu olekski liiga hea olnud。 Liiga magus。 Vahukoorele ei pea ilmtingimata mett lisama。Aasta üks Ma alustasin seda raamatut kaks korda。 Tegelikult oleks võinud esimese korraga lõpuni lugeda， sest kraam oli täiega lahe。Seda raamatut võib lugeda juba huumori pärast。 Kuiv nagu seenemets enne vihma。Mulle tundub， et lugu， lokatsioon ja karakter oma mõtteviisiga on sedavõrd kokku põimunud， et see raamat ei saakski kuidagi teisiti joosta。 Lõpu kiirustamine oma konarustega muutis asja veel mõnusamaks。 Muidu olekski liiga hea olnud。 Liiga magus。 Vahukoorele ei pea ilmtingimata mett lisama。Aasta üks toredamaid leide。[…]Pärast seda tantsu kuulutati välja parim kostüüm。 Võitjaks osutus abielupaar Transilvaaniast， kes olid riietatud kärbseseenteks。 Auhinnaks oli seeneatlas。 Teine koht oli meie ja saime seenekujulise tordi[…]LK 178[…]1659。 aastal Itaalias saatsid Röövikute hävitatud viinamägede omanikud neile kohtukutse paberil。 Paberilehed kohtukutsetega kinnitati viinapuudele， et Röövikud saaksid tutvuda süüdistusaktiga[…]LK 167 。。。more

Olaleks Sob ，

Boring！ Probably the most boring book I’ve read。 Total waste of time。

Sara Echevarría ，

qué bien me ha venido y qué bien escrito está

2TReads ，

I thoroughly enjoyed this book， even when Janina waxed on about her astrology and links it to the happenings in her town and to the people who are dead， I was just enamored of her fight and whimsy rolled into one。Older female protagonists for the win。 I've read a few very good ones this year。 I thoroughly enjoyed this book， even when Janina waxed on about her astrology and links it to the happenings in her town and to the people who are dead， I was just enamored of her fight and whimsy rolled into one。Older female protagonists for the win。 I've read a few very good ones this year。 。。。more

Agnė ，

but is it bad that the trees were cut to print this book？

Heli Pekkarinen ，

Hämmentävä， erilainen， mystinen， hyvä。 Pääosassa yksin asuva vanhempi nainen， jota kukaan ei ota tosissaan。 Syrjäisen pikkukylän ihmisiä ja eläimiä kuvataan osuvasti。

Shirli Gal ，

פשוט מבריק。 כשסיימתי את הספר הצלחתי להבין מדוע זכתה בנובל。 נוגע במה קורה כשהחמלה לבעלי חיים גוברת על כל רגש אחר。 מצוין ומפתיע

Tati ，

Slow burn。 Almost tediously slow but you will be invested the entire time。

Barbara ，

This was a very unusual read。 It was at once odd， funny， touching and dark。 I really liked Janina， although she would hate me calling her that。 She was an odd duck with a big but warped heart。 The side characters， most of whom were descriptions rather than actual named characters were either endearing or vile but regardless， added to the overall theme of the story。 Not sure what to say about it other than it will not be for everyone。 The writer is clearly talented， as most Nobel prize winners ar This was a very unusual read。 It was at once odd， funny， touching and dark。 I really liked Janina， although she would hate me calling her that。 She was an odd duck with a big but warped heart。 The side characters， most of whom were descriptions rather than actual named characters were either endearing or vile but regardless， added to the overall theme of the story。 Not sure what to say about it other than it will not be for everyone。 The writer is clearly talented， as most Nobel prize winners are， but this is not the easiest of reads。 One day when I feel ambitious， I will try another of her works。 。。。more

Sara ，

Me ha explotado la cabeza （para bien） cómo reflexiona sobre el valor que se le da a la vida no-humana a lo Judith Butler。 Oscuro y poético。

Anna Bracewell-Worrall ，

Really loved this。 Look me a while to get into it - perhaps the first quarter was a bit， like， who is this lady？ But then I gulped it down。 Gave me the heebie jeebies big time。

Lori ，

Audible version: The invisibility of an aging woman is one focus of this book。 Another is the sad fact that illness can ruin a good life。 Yet this woman finds a modicum of peace and friendship in her little town in the middle of nowhere。 Then the deaths begin。 So there are mysteries to be solved and we get hear the stories and wisdom and rantings of the woman who doesn't like her name。 It's kind of surreal at times， but never boring。 There's so much to absorb in her stories and musings。 At this Audible version: The invisibility of an aging woman is one focus of this book。 Another is the sad fact that illness can ruin a good life。 Yet this woman finds a modicum of peace and friendship in her little town in the middle of nowhere。 Then the deaths begin。 So there are mysteries to be solved and we get hear the stories and wisdom and rantings of the woman who doesn't like her name。 It's kind of surreal at times， but never boring。 There's so much to absorb in her stories and musings。 At this point， I'd read anything by this author。 She's just got such a laser pointed focus on the human condition。 I love it。 。。。more

Ester ，

3，5

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0