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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
220 reviews
liesbethvv's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This book had been on my TBR for so long and I’m happy BOB bookclub finally made me pick it up. It read like a gloomy thriller with an unreliable narrator and a big focus on the main characters loathing of hunting and killing animals.
The set-up was predictable (to me) yet executed in an entertaining way.
I could have done without the lengthy rants about astrology, though they did feel like part of the main character’s eccentricities. If you’d like to read something of
The set-up was predictable (to me) yet executed in an entertaining way.
I could have done without the lengthy rants about astrology, though they did feel like part of the main character’s eccentricities. If you’d like to read something of
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, and Animal death
Moderate: Blood and Chronic illness
sneha_m's review against another edition
funny
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As the main character and narrator of this darkly funny novel, Mrs. Duszejko steals the show. A fierce old woman who lives alone in a house on a remote Polish plateau, she has a big personality as an eccentric astrologer, vegetarian, non-Catholic, and translator of William Blake. She patrols the area surrounding her home daily and has a few, select friends. After her neighbor, “Bigfoot,” is found dead, a series of deaths unfolds, but no one will hear her theories about stags and stars. Ultimately, this is a story of a woman in a significant amount of grief. Beata Poźniak’s narration is exemplary—just perfect.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, and Death
Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Medical content
mandaleigh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Moderate: Murder
jnunmont's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Just wow.
Without saying anything that can spoil it. The ending took my breath away. I see a lot of people calling the book boring and saying it’s not what they expected.
I found this book difficult initially, but once I was in, I was in. I loved living inside the head of Janina Duszjeko. And I hope she’ll forgive me for calling her by the name she was given at birth. I loved the setting and all of the characters. I really fell in love with it all. I understand why this book may feel like a slog to some. But I really loved it. I didn’t see the ending coming whatsoever. And it landed magnificently. Olga Tokarczuk is an absolute force. Just from this book alone I can tell she deserves all the awards, and all the flowers. Wow. Just wow.
Without saying anything that can spoil it. The ending took my breath away. I see a lot of people calling the book boring and saying it’s not what they expected.
I found this book difficult initially, but once I was in, I was in. I loved living inside the head of Janina Duszjeko. And I hope she’ll forgive me for calling her by the name she was given at birth. I loved the setting and all of the characters. I really fell in love with it all. I understand why this book may feel like a slog to some. But I really loved it. I didn’t see the ending coming whatsoever. And it landed magnificently. Olga Tokarczuk is an absolute force. Just from this book alone I can tell she deserves all the awards, and all the flowers. Wow. Just wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Animal death
whatthekatdraggedin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gore, Animal death, and Murder
laurenw22's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Animal death
floatinthevoid's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.5
This is a strange one.
I came in with little to no expectation. I heard about Tokarczuk a lot, but i don't want to read Flights yet, because it seems like a challenging read so i chose this one.
This book is surprisingly quirky? But from my experience it's not the insufferable quirky type. Philosophical musings inside the head of the main character happens a lot. Although i'm a bit wary at the beginning, it doesn't really bother me that much later on.
Janina Duszejko is one of a kind main character. So authentic yet realistic. Almost like an amalgamation of mad woman and witches archetypes. She is a middle aged woman, living in a barely isolated area in the forest, near the poland-czech border. She does a lot of things: an english teacher, a (sort of) housekeeper, a translator, an ex engineer. She has a strong fixation with astrology to the point that it drives her to do definitely very bad things. As a character, she's fascinating to observe. It's very clear that beneath her odd layers, she's a lonely and depressed old woman.
Despite that, i found that a big chunk in the middle part is so mind-numbingly dull. I know the mystery aspect is not meant to be a whodunit as the main focus, but maybe it should be shorter and weirder. The few murders that happened in this book feels like forever to read. What pushed me to keep reading forward is unrelated to the book itself (if i see my reading progress is already more than 70%, it's very likely i'll finish the book).
The writing style is beautiful, though a bit dense if i may be honest.
My favorite part of the book is the quote below. Despite Janina's offputting aura, the things that she did in her elementary classroom? I respect that.
'Rumours have reached me before now of your unconventional teaching methods. Apparently you burn candles, some sort of fireworks during lessons, then other teachers complain about a smell of smoke in the classroom. The parents are afraid it’s something satanic, Satanism. Perhaps they’re just simple people… And you give the children strange things to eat. Durian-flavoured sweets, for instance. What on earth is that? If any of them were poisoned, who’d be responsible? Have you ever stopped to think?'
I came in with little to no expectation. I heard about Tokarczuk a lot, but i don't want to read Flights yet, because it seems like a challenging read so i chose this one.
This book is surprisingly quirky? But from my experience it's not the insufferable quirky type. Philosophical musings inside the head of the main character happens a lot. Although i'm a bit wary at the beginning, it doesn't really bother me that much later on.
Janina Duszejko is one of a kind main character. So authentic yet realistic. Almost like an amalgamation of mad woman and witches archetypes. She is a middle aged woman, living in a barely isolated area in the forest, near the poland-czech border. She does a lot of things: an english teacher, a (sort of) housekeeper, a translator, an ex engineer. She has a strong fixation with astrology to the point that it drives her to do definitely very bad things. As a character, she's fascinating to observe. It's very clear that beneath her odd layers, she's a lonely and depressed old woman.
Despite that, i found that a big chunk in the middle part is so mind-numbingly dull. I know the mystery aspect is not meant to be a whodunit as the main focus, but maybe it should be shorter and weirder. The few murders that happened in this book feels like forever to read. What pushed me to keep reading forward is unrelated to the book itself (if i see my reading progress is already more than 70%, it's very likely i'll finish the book).
The writing style is beautiful, though a bit dense if i may be honest.
My favorite part of the book is the quote below. Despite Janina's offputting aura, the things that she did in her elementary classroom? I respect that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death
itsmebee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Animal death
rusina's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, Sexism, Chronic illness, and Death
Minor: Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, and Blood