Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
By Olga Tokarczuk
Hard to believe more than a month has passed since I last finished a book. School has drained so much of
me. It is only October, and it is hard to imagine spending another eight months with these kids. Then again, it is Monday and I've been up since 3 or so. For many reasons, perhaps more life circumstance than anything to do with the book, this was a slog.
The novel is set on a remote Polish plateau near the border with the Czech Republic. I hadn't noticed it, but a review I read after-the-fact pointed out that borders are one of the central motifs, if not themes, of the book. It is a study in lines, the ones we hold dear, but others do not, and what it takes to cross the ones that others take for granted.
The protagonist is Janina, though she insists that it is a name that does not suit her. Given names are a line for her. She gives names to the other characters in the book based upon her impression of them, which is often backed up by her astrological research. Oddball. Big Foot. Black Coat.
Another important line for Janina is the killing of animals. She cannot stand it, which is problematic in a culture that, if this book is to be believed, worships hunting. She takes down illegal snares and bothers locals out for a day of shooting. When some of those hunters start winding up dead, Janina is convinced that it is the animals taking revenge. She tries to convince others of the same. But the truth -- that she has convinced herself that she is acting upon the animal's behalf -- is not far beneath the surface of her deceit.
It all sounds like a good read. Perhaps when I've figured out how to leave school at school and leave some brain for home, I might take up some of Tokarcuk's other novels. Flight in particular has been lauded and helped her earn the Nobel Prize for literature. In the meantime, I might look for something that is a quicker read.
