Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

14 reviews

best_rat's review

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Albeit an atmospheric read, fares as shittily as a flockful of bird droppings as a crime novel, and unfortunately, that was the intended purpose of my reading. But even more problematic than that is the constantly antagonizing, preachy tone adopted throughout the narrative and the main character's deranged psyche left completely uncharted.

As a transparent mystery, the plot is granted autheticity only through inexplicable idolatry of a set of degenerate esoteric interests. The inner monologue of the main character is filled to the brim with cognitive biases remained unresolved and unsorted, and although blaming her surroundings of vile hypocrisy, we see in her vicious lashout against animal cruelty (the bane of her worries) the reductionary quality of other kinds of cruelty against the living. When confronted with violence, responding with violence to demonstrate your disapproval is neither revolutionary nor logically consistent. It is also pretty much useless (which is a valid point if what you're aiming for is long-standing justice), and only causes more destruction. It is, more importantly, a petty move that makes nill of a perfectly sound cause and does it, moreover, even injustice. The revenge plot may move you emotionally, yet it virtually changes nothing in the system opposed to. One still ends up being stuck in one's ivory tower. The protagonist at some point early on also seems to be acknowledging this fact. "My efforts are insignificant" is declared, in a morbid passage on the ephemeral condition of human existence, one of the few parts of the text that truly got me thinking. Unfortunately, the grief-stricken, eccentric mind of an ethically charged murderer is somehow managed to be left alone in a sort of lazy man's first-person narrative, with minimal disruption in the form of occasional nightmares. While executing the very act of cruelty that has shaken her to the core in "Anger", she remains desentisized, unperturbed, and even proud and full of self-righteousness. Almost the very image of hypocrisy and the "insignia of power" she shed tears in opposition to, yet no more. Because they killed, so you kill. So, all is well, you think. Another pure sensibility doomed to corruption through human ill conduct, the source thereof remaining indisputable. Only one layer of this two-fold tragedy is observed by the author, however.

Imagine all the fun duality that left unexplored. For shame, surely not what Raskolnikov should've taught you! At the end of the day, this reader was simply disappointed by the lack of self-directed questioning in a novel seemingly contemplative, whose criminal elements were chronically of secondary importance to begin with. Guess we're just out to hunt down the bullies in an attempt to lick our wounds for this one. But what is lost remains lost all the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Sexism and Mental illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Drug abuse

mpanac's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Mental illness

bedtimesnack's review

dark funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Child death, Fatphobia, Confinement, and Sexism

noahfence's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

yeah, so. prepare to enter the world of janina duszejko. like, really prepare. its not for the faint of heart.

i have never read anything quite like this book. it is a story that will question your perception of madness, animals, astrology and religion—and you will probably finish it with a very different view of the world.

the plot follows the story of the sickly, elderly woman janina duszejko and her life in a lonely polish village on the border of the czech republic. the book drags you along on her investigation into the strange, unsettling murders of several members of the town’s hunting society, filling you with intrigue, awe—and perhaps horror, depending on your attitude towards animals. do you treat them like they have souls, or not? are you willing to face their wrath?

drive your plow over the bones of the dead is everything i could ever ask for in a book. the weather is strange, the animals are vengeful, the stars are sentient. it is a beautifully dark exploration into feminism, animal rights and murder, and although at first it may just seem like the story of a lonely old women, the prose grips you by the throat and really doesn’t let you go. you will come away from the book wondering if your horoscope could show you how you will die, and if you should really continue eating meat.

drive your plow over the bones of the dead is a deliciously dark read. so go on—take the plunge. 🤭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Chronic illness, Medical content, Sexism, Cursing, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

ramreadsagain's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A great work of literary mystery eco-fiction. I was intimidated by this book at first as it’s won so many prizes but once you get used to the narration and flow it was really easy to read.

I enjoyed the plot, and the main character was written so vividly. Really liked the mystery too, and how it developed. 

Also super recommend for vegans and/or people into astrology. 

My only complaint is that, while the plot was engrossing, it never really evoked any emotions from me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Animal death

Moderate: Mental illness and Murder

Minor: Alcohol and Medical content

basonok's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I lost track of the plot of the book midway through. I wanted to like this book but ableist and fatphobic commentaries ruined the book for me. I could see the author’s background in psychology possibly seeping into the writing, but it was in such an ignorant and irresponsible way towards neurodivergence and mental illnesses. While attempting to make a social commentary on the value of certain age groups, people with chronic illnesses and other groups in society, it was written poorly in my opinion and had at times the opposite effect in devaluing the appearance, mannerisms, and capabilities of other characters in the story (especially those not in the main character’s friend group). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Mental illness, and Ableism

horizonous's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Great sense of place, interesting main character, but I just didn't care about the horoscope passages or William Blake's poetry and to me it was also very obvious where the story is going. However, this won't be my last book by Olga Tokarczuk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Animal death

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Vomit

◦ Medical content = Dentistry
◦ Mental illness = Depression
.. and some passages about insects

cecim17's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Murder, and Car accident

nabila99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

there aren't enough audacious, passionate, idiosyncratic, philosophical, and simply unhinged older ladies in literature! it was such a delight being in our protagonist's world, despite the astrological jargon completely flying over my head. what a gorgeously written, poignant, atmospheric, story (def would classify this as a character study rather than a thriller, although it was truly a kick when

the final few chapters of the book finally furthered the plot and the unreliable narration!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Grief, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Alcohol

clarabooksit's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

While this isn’t a go-to genre for me, I liked the many threads to this story and how Tokarczuk wove them together. There’s a lot of good story and character crafting here. However, the ending ruined it for me:

not only was it predictable, but the lengthy, detailed description of exactly how and why the murderer killed the people they did was unnecessary and annoying. There are enough layers to the story that just a brief reveal of why they did it would’ve brought the threads together nicely, no need to spoon-feed the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Mental illness, and Sexism