A review by diannastarr
House of Day, House of Night, by Olga Tokarczuk

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The best way to describe House of Day, House of Night is that it is a poetic anthology.  Focusing on the small town of Nowa Ruda, it chronicles the perspectives of those inhabiting the town and those that shaped it over a span of decades, if not centuries.  At a glance, it doesn't seem like much.  The chapter's are short - if you could even call them that, and very few are over 4 page long limits.  It's not this great, sprawling story with an intricate plot or character's that develop and change over time.  If anything, a lot of the novel feels stagnant, little slivers of time that add up to something that you can't really see, even after reaching the last page.  It doesn't talk about much, but in the end, that is the point of House of Day, House of Night.  It is a quiet novel, one in which the silence makes the loudest noise.  It doesn't even have much of a plot or a center of focus (outside of the town itself), but each little story about the tiniest of details connects and weaves together into something more, something universal, quintessential, timeless.  Tokarczuk's use of prose is beautiful and her ability to make this town and the world around it feel as if it something far more human than those inhabiting it is a wonder to read.  This is the perfect novel to carry around in your bag to read in between appointments, or even to pour over a chapter or two just before bed.