Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

154 reviews

best_rat's review

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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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thursdd4y's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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

4.0

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crybabybea's review

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

3.75

What a delightfully weird book. One of the most unique narrators I've ever read.

This is technically a thriller I guess, since it includes a murder mystery, but I'm not sure if it would appeal to general thriller enjoyers as the pacing is actually quite slow and we spend a lot of time in our main character's head than actually in the action. I loved the unreliable narrator and the fact that she's a different type of main character for a thriller read. She's not a cop, or a PI, or even anyone that matters to the investigation. She's just a "normal" (she's actually incredibly odd) person who just finds herself in the middle of a string of murders in a small Polish town. I super enjoyed how she makes you question your own judgment. It felt a bit like a noir film with her unique perspective on the world and the way she constantly narrates the most mundane, seemingly irrelevant things. 

For a while we spent so long in the main character's narration that I wondered what was going to happen and where the story was going. But the ending picks up quite a bit and I found it super satisfying and fun. 
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bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

"In unison, they set about tearing up the plants that had been growing around their house until now, in order to plant others that they'd bought at a shop. It was hard to tell what logic was driving them."

"Deep inside their anthill, the Ants cling to each other in a large ball and sleep like that until spring. I only wish people had the same sort of confidence in each other."

'"Why are you crying?" I asked.
"You're so kind..."
"I know," I replied.
"What about you? Why are you crying?" he said.
That I didn't know.'
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risemini's review

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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chloeam3103's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jstilts's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I didn't know what genre this book was, and I really highly recommend going into this thoughtful, funny, slightly unhinged book without even reading the back cover - nor in fact any more of my review!

The book follows Duszejko - an elderly Polish lady - living remotely enough that in winter she only has two neighbours, and makes an income from keeping watch on and maintaining the houses of those that can't stand to live there in the colder seasons. She spends her time looking after the local wildlife, railing against hunters and poachers, translating Blake into Polish, and researching the horoscope in all sorts of unusual ways.

One morning one of her two neighbours discovers the other dead, and as they tend to the corpse Duszejko becomes convinced he was murdered by the very animals he hunted.

This surprising book reads almost as a stream-of-conciousness from a narrator that is not so much unreliable as mildly out of touch with reality. 

Her worldview is disarmingly cosy and endearing, sometimes heartbreaking, and it's so wonderful to follow her unusual trains of thought - not just of her life but the very mechanics of existence itself - that it's easy to forget that Duszejko's state of mind is probably unhealthy, especially as she rarely if ever seems to be in anything approaching peril.

At once both relaxing and compelling, I honestly didn't want this book to end - but the terrible truths being laid out were done so with such verve it had me laughing in glee at the audaciousness of the author.
Highly recommended!
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egle_va's review

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

5.0

“…I realized that sorrow is an important word for defining the world. It lies at the foundations of everything, it is the fifth element, the quintessence.”
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catarina_fernandes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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megwhitlock's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

One of the most incredible, thought-provoking books I've read in a long time, even if it took me a while to get into it.

The main character is so utterly believable and it's a pleasure to get sucked into her world. 

It's always nice when a book challenges your perspective on things.
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