Image: The cover of the book is a graphic illustration with bold colors composing the trunks of trees or possibly vines with small, short, pointed branches or thorns sticking out of them. The 10 lines making up the trunks are mostly of similar size. 6 are all black and 4 are pink on the bottom and black on top. The background is a cerulean blue. On the second tree from the left, in small script, is the worlds "a novel" in white. The next trunk over has "drive your plow over" in larger white letters. The next two lines have "Olga" and "Tokarczuk" in capital black letters on the pink sections and "the bones" on the white section. The next over has small pink letters too small for me to read. The next trunk has "of the dead." There is a gold nobel prize stamp on the upper right corner.
It will be difficult to review Olga Tokarczuk's "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" without giving spoilers, but I am going to do my best. I chose this book because I saw others on my feed rating it highly, but I went into it only really knowing that it was a small Polish town murder mystery. I didn't know ahead of time that the author was a vegan feminist. I was pleasantly surprised, as the book progressed, to see speciesism, sexism/mysogyny, ageism, ableism, and other oppression as themes central to the novel. They are themes pleasantly smashed into bits by the novel's protagonist. It feels somewhat odd to call a murder mystery "pleasant," but this book was truly a joy to experience.
Not only did Tokarczuk include feminism, animal liberation, etc in her story, her story was well researched. I enjoyed the mentions of the very long and interesting history of consideration for animals within social and legal realms going back centuries. Most people don't know about this history. There were times were certain animals were given (likely quite unfair) trials and appointed attorneys (and sometimes won) their court cases. There have been a large variety of ways that humans have interacted with various species over time. I think we often learn about animals suffering immensely in current society and captivity and we tend to think it has always been that way. Some even think things have gotten better for animals over time which, in the big picture (most mammals in the entire world for instance, are farmed animals, followed by humans) they have certainly not. The history is more complicated, ever changing.
The biggest things that stand out in this novel for me is that the murder mystery is only really a small part of the story. It is mostly about our vegetarian astrologist narrator, Janina and her musings on the world. She is a not-young woman (to be honest, I never know what words to use anymore, but basically she is old enough to be called an "old woman" pejoratively often.) She suffers from chronic illness, much of which as a mystery, echoing the worldwide issues with womens healthcare. She is outspoken about her beliefs but also has the cooperative nature of someone living in a small town with rough, cold terrain. She still uses some animal products throughout the book, but seems like the type of vegetarian that would go vegan (in whatever ways were possible and practicable for her) in a heartbeat after having a conversation with someone who explaineddairy, egg, down feather, etc sources to her. She is human and imperfect like all of us, but immensely likable, relatable, and interesting. She has an appreciation and adoration of other animals that she expresses widely to the people she interacts with. Most of all, it's about Janina not being taken seriously, especially by the men around her. She is called crazy and dismissed due to her gender, age, love for animals, and outspoken nature. We eventually learn that the community refusing to take her seriously and see her as a valuable member of their community (despite her constant care taking and helping others) is one of the main reasons they can't solve the case. Janina helps us figure out and understand what happens over time, and the big reveal in the ending is very rewarding.
I adored this book as a vegan feminist but also as someone who enjoys good writing. Many books include great themes, but lack decent plot or writing. Some books with wonderful writing have horrific mistreatment and misunderstanding of marginalized people. This book excels in both arenas. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
This was also posted to my goodreads.
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