Summary of Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead
“Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead” is a mystery novel set in a Polish village near the Czech border, where hunting is a favourite activity among the local men. The novel resolves around a series of murders in the village and the investigation led by Janina, an eccentric woman who believes that the men have been killed by animals as retribution for their cruel treatment of wildlife.
Reasons to read Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead
“Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead” is more than just a murder mystery. It is a reflection on contemporary issues such as animal welfare, vegetarianism, and feminism. The novel raises the question why the killing of animals is viewed differently from the killing of humans. Despite its grim title, “Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead” is a witty and philosophical novel, and it is perhaps Olga Tokarczuk’s most accessible book. Olga Tokarczuk is a renowned Polish writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018. She has received various other literary accolades, including the Man Booker International Prize in 2018 (for her novel “Flights”) and the Polish Nike Award in 2008 (for “Flights”) and in 2015 (for “The Books of Jacob”).
Setting: Silesia (Poland)
Book set in southwestern Poland (Silesia), in between Lewin and KĹ‚odzko.
Original title: Rowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych
Year of publication: 2009
Nr of pages: 288
