Reviews

I really enjoyed how Tokarczuk interwove and played with the themes of travel, movement, bodies, life, and death. It was hard for me to arrive at that enjoyment because the short, seemingly scattered chapter structure took me a while to get used to. I think that's the point of the structure, just like when moving or traveling you can't get too comfortable either, but in the end it did reduce my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

sculpthead's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.25

hannahfoster832's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

honnari_hannya's review against another edition

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4.0

A nebulous and strange collection that definitely requires a second or third or fourth read. Will come back to this review after I've spent more time with it, but definitely deserving of its Man Booker International win.

Tokarczuk's thoughts on travel and transmutation and topography are all nested in one another, and you get the sense from rereading this collection that the "loose connections" binding individual stories may not be as loose as you first thought.

As always, shout out to the translators bringing these works to readers around the world. Croft did an exceptional job.

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