Play Book Tag discussion
May 2023: Indigenous
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Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk ★★★
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Great review! This was a 5 star read for me. Janina is definitely different but I was really cheering her on.
I loved this book also. It really surprised me with the direction it took. Not sure why it’s indigenous though
I looked up to see what people were indigenous to Poland and found it was the Borals. Since I don't who if the protagonist is Boralic, please disregard on the count. I would delete it but it would look odd with the comments.
I loved her wonderful observations - like elected officials living off the citizens and doing nothing for them. And I thought the translation was excellent. This is a weird book. The main character was weird. That's ok. Some people think I am weird, too. peace, janz
When her neighbor Oddball informs her that he has found their neighbor Big Foot dead apparently having asphyxiated on a chicken bone, he requests her assistance in preparing his body for burial. Within the weeks that follow, a number of deceased people are killed in a number of creative ways, including the Commandant, the chief of the police, who was found headfirst in a well with only his legs visible. Since all loved to hunt, Janina believes that all were killed by animals seeking revenge. Although she informs the police of her theory, she is not taken seriously since she has a reputation of being a crank.
Although this Polish translation is touted as a whodunit, there is little sleuthing that occurs. It is primarily a character study of the protagonist. I found the translation unusual since some of the common nouns are capitalized. Not being familiar with the Polish language, I don’t know whether this a common practice or was there some significance that the author was implying. I enjoyed the novel but found it dragged on at times and thought the climax lacked drama.