Scan barcode
A review by joanaprneves
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Did not finish book. Stopped at 47%.
I found the book frustrating because it did not manage well
It’s fragmentary form. There are two types of fragments in the book: theories, opinions, musings and storytelling. The storytelling fragments felt unfinished albeit very well written. However, the characters are uninteresting, they could have been described exactly as such in the 1950’s. The theories were exciting at first: nomadism, constellations thinking rather than linear thinking etc,, but they did not get anywhere but to draw a line between those who stay (the static ones) and those who leave (the nomadic ones). Perhaps this basic difference will be discussed after page 196 but I don’t have any more
time or interest to give it. Surprised the author won the Nobel Prize of literature but her other books may be great. She is a very very skilled writer. I do understand that this is auto-fiction - other at least is wants you to think it is - but I don’t wasn’t rendered in a way to really feel the traveling, the moving, the pilgrimage. Also, at a time where airplanes are responsible for a big part of climate change, it is irresponsible to write a book called “Flights” without explaining why one would wax poetic about airports.
It’s fragmentary form. There are two types of fragments in the book: theories, opinions, musings and storytelling. The storytelling fragments felt unfinished albeit very well written. However, the characters are uninteresting, they could have been described exactly as such in the 1950’s. The theories were exciting at first: nomadism, constellations thinking rather than linear thinking etc,, but they did not get anywhere but to draw a line between those who stay (the static ones) and those who leave (the nomadic ones). Perhaps this basic difference will be discussed after page 196 but I don’t have any more
time or interest to give it. Surprised the author won the Nobel Prize of literature but her other books may be great. She is a very very skilled writer. I do understand that this is auto-fiction - other at least is wants you to think it is - but I don’t wasn’t rendered in a way to really feel the traveling, the moving, the pilgrimage. Also, at a time where airplanes are responsible for a big part of climate change, it is irresponsible to write a book called “Flights” without explaining why one would wax poetic about airports.