Translated form Polish, Tokarczuk’s novel is set in a forest community where mysterious deaths are taking place. The protagonist is a woman in her sixties who teaches English to school children part - time after being forced into retirement. She is a quirky animal lover, solitary nature enthusiast, and an amateur astrologist who safe guards her neighbors homes during their long winter absence. 
“ perhaps that’s the whole point of prayer— to think to yourself in peace, to want nothing, to ask for nothing, but simply sort out your own mind. That should be enough. But after the first few pleasant moments of relaxation the same old questions from childhood always came back to me. Probably because I’m a little infantile by nature. How can God be listening to all the prayers of the world simultaneously? And what if they contradict each other? Does he have to listen to the prayers of all these bastards, devils, and bad people? Do they pray?...”
“ Anger always leaves a large void behind it, into which a flood of sorrow pours instantly, and keeps on flowing like a great river, without beginning or end...”
I enjoyed the writing a great deal. Recommended for those who value nature.

For anyone who has read Tokarczuk's earlier book, Flights, this is another impeccable translation, highlighting a foray into genre fiction. Innovative mystery from the perspective of a rural person with mystical interests. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a smart take on the murder-mystery.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead has been getting a lot of attention this year, especially after Olga  Tokarczuk won the Nobel, so I was excited to read it. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did I was hooked. This book is best read without knowing too much of the plot, but suffice it to say it's a murder mystery (kind of) and the protagonist is Janina Duszejko, ardent lover of both astrology and nature. The writing is beautiful, and the book is funny, satirical, brilliant, and heartbreaking. The characters - most of whom are called by Duszejko's nicknames for them - are all so well drawn I felt like I knew them. This was such a good read, I loved it.

I struggled a little in the middle of the book, but kept going since I’d requested it through Net Galley. I’m really glad I did! I loved the characters and how they supported the main character at the end of the book. I’ve already recommended it to a library patron and I only finished it yesterday.

This is one of the first ARC's I have received that I did not finish. I got to about 50% and just couldn't. I think I am in the minority when I say that I didn't like the writing style, I couldn't get into the plot and found it just too all over the place to really absorb. I love mysteries, crime novels, this one was just too out there for me I think.

This book is unlike anything I usually read, so I tried to get into it, but it just kept falling lower on my reading priority list. It did not keep me engaged or desperate to pick it back up at every available moment. I was hoping it would stick with me because I am of Polish descent and appreciated that aspect of this book, but I had to force myself through it.

I have only recently become acquainted with Olga Tokarczuk thanks to “Flights” being nominated for and winning the 2018 International Booker Prize. I have eagerly anticipated her next English-translated offering “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead”. 

I have not read up on Ms. Tokarczuk’s bio, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she were a great cook who masters in Fusion cuisine. “Flights” touched so many bases. “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” gives us the “Proverbs of Hell” version of William Blake, Astrology, the Russian Mafia, mushroom pickers,wild-game hunters, as well as vengeful forest animals with anthropomorphic tendencies all set on a bleak, mostly Winter outcropping on the Polish-Czech Republic border. The novel is simultaneously a mystery, thriller, and meditation on the meaning of life. 

Ms. (don’t call me Janina) Duszejko is our aging, ailing, not necessarily reliable narrator with few friends, a surprisingly interesting past life, and some rather unique views on the inter-relationship between all sentient beings. She is not afraid to speak Truth to Power. That can be a dangerous lifestyle in this patch of our world.  The novel is flawlessly translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. 

Thank you, Riverhead and NetGally for the eArc. I have my fingers firmly crossed that Ms. Tokarczuk’s “Book of Jacob” is presently being translated into English and will soon be published. I have a feeling that it could be a masterpiece.

DNF at 40% I’m hoping to try again with this one.I have been trudging through this relatively short book and just not getting it. Perhaps it’s lost in the translation or maybe it’s not the book I thought it was going to be but rather a character study of a lonely woman with poor social awareness and quirky mannerisms. The first 40% leans towards the latter possibility.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Olga Tokarczuk should be a household name. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is a masterpiece and one of the best books I’ve read in years.