What can’t be denied is the observational talent of the author & the capability to construct such intricately bound stories. It was apparent, that it was a well researched topic, with a lot of historical & technical details provided. Besides those, I was always thrilled when some more details about preserved specimens popped up (animal & human bodies, organs, etc.), which was a recurring topic. Most of all, I’m also not a fan of open endings, which is how they ended. With two of them, I still felt disappointed that they somehow were suffocated and that not enough space was given to them to develop. Those were four of the longest stories within the entire book, which shows clearer what kind of type of reading I rather prefer. I did have some favourite stories that have crystallised themselves out like, “Kunicki”, the story of a married couple & the woman disappearing with the child “Flights”, about a family where the mother takes care of a sick child at home “Godzone”, long time lovers reaching out of nowhere for the most unexpected reasons or “Kairos”, a professor on the topic of Greek culture being the protagonist, along with his younger wife, forming a complex relationship. Yes, it’s a style & it’s the specific choice of the writer to put them there that way, but I simply wasn’t a fan of them. These, in my opinion, didn’t fit into the rhythm, often seemed out of place or awkward. there are some “stories” that are as short as 4-5 sentences. There is a red line that ties the individual stories together, which consists of two parallels: movement, motion & travels, on the contrary to stillness & getting stuck in one place. There is huge potential to this book though & other readers who are not as against short stories as I am might find something enjoyable within it. Some hints about it could be read out through the reviews, I nevertheless decided to give the book a try & had to learn it the hard way. I’ve realised that I’m not a fan of these at all, so I would’ve preferred to be warned about it. What I do have to say is that the book should be labelled as a collection of short stories.

Personally, getting through this book was a pain… I didn’t feel motivated to continue reading it, struggled through it for almost a month, my interest wasn’t sparked by it, it just wasn’t my thing. Having picked up the book for an upcoming book club but most of all having been curious about it because of Olga Tokarczuk having received the Nobel Prize for Literature, I’ve got to say that I was underwhelmed to say the least.

Flights olga tokarczuk nobel prize