Review: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Tia
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Nature and revenge
This is an easy to read, cozy murder mystery. The setting is an isolated village in Poland.
It revolves around a woman in her 60s who is the village ‘crazy lady’.
Mysterious deaths start to occur, and we get a feeling something supernatural might be involved. The protagonist is very vocal about what she believes happened, but no one will listen to her.
The title and cover art are brilliant, but lead me to expect something ghostly, or a scene unearthing dark secrets in a field. I wanted the book to draw more from Polish folklore. If you’re looking for a dark, creepy retelling of a fairytale, this is not it.
I also had been expecting the main character to be doing her own investigations in to the murder. She is involved, but not out and about hunting for clues.
Rather she spends a lot of time tucked up at home, ruminating on determinism, star signs, and mortality. Most of this whimsical mysticism could have been left out to make the book even shorter.
The main theme is animal rights. In Poland this book stirred up a lot of controversy about hunting. It’s fantastic to see writing as a form of activism. But I just felt lukewarm about it.
There was a lot of missed opportunity to depict the violence of hunting and fox farming. One interesting comparison was made that the empty fox farm might one day become a house of horrors with a museum. This was a reference to Auschwitz.
I found that comparison intriguing and was expecting more like it. But the protagonist was flipping so much between anger about hunting and astrology that I couldn’t connect with her message. All the eccentric ramblings were just too distracting.
Some readers may enjoy the protagonist because she challenges stereotypes about women in older age groups. She is independent, sexual, and stands up to authority. However, the book also continues the idea that women who speak up for their values are somehow mad, and even dangerous. It depicts an older woman as witchy, the bane of society, and suffering from hysteria.
It just wasn’t for me.
Only 2 out of 5 furry footprints.
