Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones)
Published by Riverhead Books, 2019 (first published in 2009)
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This is the kind of mixed review that I feel deserves a preface: I can recognise that this is a fantastic book, fully deserving of its critical acclaim. Whilst a couple of things didn’t work for me stylistically, I was consistently impressed by the quality of Tokarczuk’s work, and the skill of Lloyd-Jones’s translation.
The plot centres around an elderly Polish woman who lives in a remote village close to the Czech border. Her love for nature and staunch belief in astrology put her into direct conflict with the community of hunters around her. And when those hunters start dying one-by-one, she is adamant that animals are rising up to take revenge against humans.
Marketing this book must have been a nightmare, as it completely defies all categorisation and genre convention. That said, describing it as a mystery and a thriller feels counterintuitive, partly because of its slower pacing and contemplative tone, but largely because the identity of whodunnit (and why) is wholly obvious from the beginning. It made the eventual reveal miss for me, coming off as anti-climactic and info-dumpy, recounting past events from a different angle rather than offering new insight. If the mystery framing of the narrative had been ditched, Tokarczuk could have delved far deeper into the fascinating psyche of her protagonist from the get to, fully embracing the character study this clearly wanted to be.
On a personal level, I also wasn’t keen on the numerous lengthy tangents into the nature of astrology. Though they tied into the book’s look at fate versus free will, they were very jargon heavy and dry for someone with no real interest in or knowledge of the area.
On the other hand, there was much to admire. I really Liked the evocation of setting and atmosphere, and the singularity of the narrative voice. The quality of the prose is excellent, and Tokarczuk touches on a number of other interesting themes – including animal welfare, society’s dismissal of women, the line between defiance and madness, and the lamentations of life in an aging body. The frequent capitalisation of improper nouns was also noteworthy. It’s a simple but effective way to show our narrator’s different worldview, as she elevates animal species, the landscape, and her beloved horoscopes and astrology to the same level of importance as people – or perhaps even gods. It helps Tokarczuk to pose her novel’s primary question: Why should humans have the right to place their own worth above everything else?
You can pick up a copy of Drive Your Plow… from Book Depository by clicking here. If you’ve already read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Excellent review! As you know I liked this a bit better than you did, but as I was saying before, it’s not the kind of book that’s going to make any of my all-time favorites lists. I just found it very stylistically impressive. Your comment about ditching the mystery framework was interesting – I actually didn’t think the reveal was obvious (embarrassing given how many mystery/thrillers I read, lol), it was kind of like… I suspected it but I didn’t think it was a given, and I liked the uncertainty?
Thank you! Maybe the success of the novel hinges on whether you predict the reveal or not? I think because I saw it coming from the off, I was left expecting more, as though she was going to catch me off guard at the last moment with something else. It’s still a great book though; well worth it for the prose, themes, and narrative voice.
I agree, it is annoying when you can predict the whodunnit from the beginning. It rarely happens to me though, so perhaps I would be alright with this one 😉
With the best stories in the mystery genre, I find that the mystery itself is not key, the characters and their development are just as important and I can even live with a mediocre plot if characters and setting are sufficiently interesting. Doesn’t sound like this is the case here, though.
I think the slight issue I had here was that the mystery framing felt unnecessary. The lead character and themes being explored were enough to sustain interest without attempting to turn it into a whodunnit. It’s a literary character study far more than it is a thriller/crime novel.
Does not sound like the sort of the book I would read, but I appreciate your review 🙂
Great review! I completely agree with your criticisms about not needing to frame the story as a mystery, and the excessive astrology jargon. I loved the narrator’s voice enough that this was still a 4-star for me regardless, but I didn’t entirely guess the mystery- I thought the whodunnit was obvious (which did make the explanation of events at the end feel drawn-out) though I didn’t see the why beforehand. Even so, the clear standout here is the narrator and her unique perspective, and I wish Tokarczuk would have ditched the mystery element to simply explore her character more deeply.
But I’m glad you enjoyed at least some aspects of this book!
Thank you! Yes, I remembered your review as I was reading the book and found myself nodding along with your critique. I really wish the author hadn’t bothered with the mystery aspect; the narrative voice was so interesting, and I would have loved to delve that little bit deeper into her psyche.
Great review! I think this is a book that benefits from very little previous knowledge. I was fortunate to read it as an ARC and I think that helped my feelings about it. I didn’t read it as a mystery or thriller so the weaknesses in that part didn’t bug me but I could see how they would if I read it now.
Thank you! Yes, that’s a good point. I suspect its the kind of book that’s success depends on the expectations the reader has going in. I would certainly try more of the author’s work!
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