The Books That Inspired Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead

Olga Tokarczuk is the author of Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead – Dua’s Monthly Read for January for the Service95 Book Club. Her novel follows Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman who prefers the company of animals to people, whose world is upended by the mysterious murders of local hunters and the disappearance of her two beloved dogs. Tokarczuk’s writing crafts a gripping exploration of religion, the value of animal life, and the injustices faced by marginalised people – here, she shares the books that influenced her gripping novel...

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer

“This book gave me, many years ago, the language and arguments to understand that one of humanity’s great ethical tasks is to grant rights to animals.”

The Complete Poems by William Blake

“I read William Blake’s poetry in my youth. For me, he is a subversive, radical, and extraordinarily original poet. In my neighbourhood, there were as many as three translators of Blake, so we had plenty to talk about – something I describe in my book.”

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington

“A wonderful, funny, yet profound novel told from the perspective of an elderly woman. It helped me craft my own narrator, Janina.”

Elizabeth Costello by JM Coetzee

“A magnificent and moving discursive novel about the ethical challenges posed by our human relationship with animals.”

Eternal Treblinka by Charles Patterson

“One of the first brave and shocking books that changed my life.”