12 essential books by Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Tokarczuk is a Polish writer, essayist and poet. Her work has been recognized and valued by critics worldwide.
In October 2019 she became the twelfth woman in history to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for the year 2018, she with whom she was recognized for “a narrative imagination that, with encyclopedic passion, represents the crossing of borders as a form of lifetime".
In her novels, important values such as feminism, commitment to nature and a new point of view on the relationship between human beings and animals are hidden. To all this, there is a good use of language and the creation of worlds and characters as original as they are complex.
1. The journey of the men of the Book (1993)
The journey of the men of the book (Couldż ludzi Księgi) is the first novel by Olga Tokarczuk. In it, the writer's interest in mysticism, travel and the secrets of the past is discovered.
It is inspired by France in the seventeenth century and tells how members of a secret society set out on a journey to find a book, hidden in a monastery located in the Pyrenees, that could influence the future of humanity.
2. E.E. (1995)
What is the secret of personality? What is the meaning of life and the world?
The novel is a metaphor about human personality, the search for the meaning of life and the world. The book, set in 1908, raises some of these questions through her protagonist, Erna Eltzner, a 15-year-old girl who has the ability to contact the dead.
E.E. It is the second book by Olga Tokarczuk, with it she established the recognition of her among readers and literary critics.
3. A place called yesteryear (1996)
A place called yesteryear (Prawiek i unnecessary czasy) is one of the best-known novels of the Polish author internationally, since it has been translated into different languages. It is a work that portrays very well the transience of the passage of time and the destiny of the human being.
It is set in Prawiek, a small Polish town. It tells the life story of three generations of peasants who try to fight for their happiness and its future during the most turbulent years of the 20th century, from the First World War to our days.
4. The wardrobe (1997)
The wardrobe (Szafa) presents three different stories in which each of its protagonists tries to fight with the world around them, at the same time that they face their internal demons.
Underlying this book is the theme of identity and existential problems, which make the reader reflect on his own life experience.
5. Daytime house, nighttime house (1998)
Daytime house, nighttime house (Dom dzienny, dom nocny) andIt is one of the most important contemporary Polish novels and has also been recognized worldwide. It stands out for its timelessness and for being one of the most ambitious works of the writer.
The story revolves around R, a woman who moves with her husband to a border town in western Poland, a place of transit and changing identities. He soon learns the stories of the locals thanks to Marta, one of her neighbors, and discovers that they all have secrets. Each of these stories help her to know the place where she has settled.
6. Latest stories (2004)
stories last (Ostatnie historie) is one of Olga Tokarczuk's most moving novels. It is a book divided into three stories that deal with the theme of transience and loss.
It consists of three different narratives, with independent time and space, but with a common denominator: the way in which the protagonists face death.
This is the story of three women: grandmother, mother and daughter, each of them has to face a difficult situation alone and they will face it differently.
7. Anna In in the graves of the world (2006)
Anna In in the graves of the world (Anna In w grobowcach świata) is based on the myth of Inanna, the goddess of love and war in Sumerian mythology.
The writer tries to transform this myth and creates a modern and universal story.
8. The Wanderers (2007)
The Wanderers (Bieguni) also had international recognition thanks to the translation into English (Flights) performed by Jennifer Croft.
The original title "Bieguni" refers to a branch of the Old Orthodox believers who believed that evil appears when a person leads a sedentary life. So the only way to avoid evil is to travel and move.
In it the author delves into the theme of metaphysical and existential travel. It consists of several chapters that, apparently, are not related and in each one of them different travelers from the world and from different times are presented.
The Wanderers it is more than a travel story. It is a philosophy of life that opens a window to self-discovery and, at the same time, arouses curiosity about the world.
9. On the bones of the dead (2009)
Olga Tokarczuk often participates in campaigns to defend the environment and animals. On On the bones of the dead (Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych) deals with the species that live in the forest and the main role they play. It also tries to make visible the responsibility that man has over nature.
The novel revolves around Janina Duszejko, an old woman who lives in a remote place surrounded by mountains with her dogs. Unexpectedly, a series of murders begin to take place whose victims are poachers in the area. Soon, the woman decides to investigate on her own account the mystery behind these crimes.
10. Jacob's books (2014)
With a thickness of 900 pages, the novel Jacob's books (Księgi Jakubowe) is the most extensive work of the writer.
His argument is set in the Podolia region during the second half of the 18th century. Rabbi Jakub Frank arrives in the area and begins to spread his ideas in the local community. Soon, for some, he becomes a heretic. However, for others he is like a kind of savior ”or prophet.
Jacob's books is a novel about Poland's past and is packed with historical details. But, above all, it is a reflection on history itself, with its changes and the moments that determine the course of events.
11. Lost soul (2017)
Lost soul (Zgubiona dusza) is an illustrated book that is not only aimed at children but also at adults.
This story is a metaphor about self-knowledge, about losing yourself and finding yourself. His protagonist is an ordinary man who one day, looking in the mirror, discovers that he had lost something very important: his own soul.
It is a book that talks about the passage of time and the fleeting nature of life that sometimes prevent us from having full attention on ourselves, on our own soul.
12. Bizarre tales (2018)
Bizarre tales (Opowiadania bizarne) is divided into ten stories developed in different spaces. Through them the reader is trapped without knowing what will happen on the next page.
It is a work that allows us to reflect on the world, its "oddities" and on the changing reality that surrounds us in which nothing is what it seems.
Biography of Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Nawoja Tokarczuk was born in Sulechiow (Poland). She graduated in psychology from the University of Warsaw and later worked in a mental health clinic.
Her debut as a writer she did in 1979 as an editor at the magazine Na przelaj. There she forged the first stories of her and did so under the pseudonym Natasza Borodin. In 1989 she published her first book The city of mirrors(Miasto w lustrory), which would be the only volume of her poetry.
In 1993 she began in the world of the novel with the publication of The journey of the men of the Book (Could ludzi Księgi), with which she was awarded by the Polish Association of Book Publishers. Two years later, in 1995, she delighted with her second novel E.E.
With his next novel A place called yesteryear (Prawiek i Inne czasy) gained notoriety and was nominated for the Nike Award in 1997. In 1998 she was again nominated for this award for her work Daytime house, nighttime house (Dom dzienny, dom nocny).
In 2004 she published Latest stories (Ostatnie historie), which portrays the history of Poland and Ukraine through three women: grandmother, mother and daughter.
With the book Anna In in the graves of the world (Anna In w grobowcach świata), in 2006, takes a leap into mythology. A year later she presented her novel The Wanderers (Bieguni), with which she had great success abroad, thanks to the translation by Jennifer Croft, and became the first Polish to receive the Man Booker International award (2018).
In 2009 she saw the light of one of her most controversial books On the bones of the dead (Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych), which was adapted for film by Agnieszka Holland and Katarzyna Adamik with the title Pokot (2017).
In 2019, she was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature by the Swedish Academy.
Bibliography published in Spanish
Olga Tokarczuk's bibliography is written in Polish, however, some of her books already have a Spanish translation. These are the titles:
- A place called yesteryear (2001)
- On the bones of the dead (2016)
- The Wanderers (2019)
