Mushrooms

Author : Olga Tokarczuk
Title : House of Day, House Of Night
Published : 28/02/2003
Pages : 304
Format : Paperback
Publisher : Northwestern University Press

 

     The town of Nowa Ruda and the surrounding countryside is a place of shifting identities. Polish now, it has been German, Czech and Austro-Hungarian in the past. Here, in the heart of Europe, where borders move and languages and their speakers come and go, ordinary lives are not as simple as they appear. When the narrator and her husband settle in the area, she soon discovers that all the locals have their secrets and with the help of Marta, her enigmatic old neighbour, she gathers their stories, disentangling the events of their days from the dreams of their nights. House of Day, House of Night is a wonderfully funny weave of myths and dreams, internet findings, recipes and gossip

 

     I cant real pin point the reason for me picking up this book. Its not my usual fair but I had read some good reviews of it. Its touted as more of a collection of stories about a small town and the people that chose to call it home. Something about it just grabbed at me so I thought why not and bought myself a copy.

 

     Normally I would start here talking about the main character of the book and while there is one this is more about all the other people we meet and the there lives. All i will say is that the couple have just moved to the area due to low land coast. Which basically works as the jumping off pont for every thing that comes after.We also get to delve into the history of the town through the strange character of Marta. She is the neighbour of our narrator and while advanced in age she is the keeper of many a tale. Given my time with Marta I would feel happy to live next door to her if only for the strangeness and joy she would bring to my life. She feels like she would insert her self into your life and just kind of feel like she had always been apart of it.

 

    There is a sort of meandering nature to this book which some times comes across as whimsical and other times sad tales of lives lost to time. Some story's start and just as abruptly tale off only to be picked up later on in the book. This is defiantly a book for lazy days spent curled up with a blanket. Some times I founded my self complete engrossed by how this town came to being. Only then to jump to  apart that made me laugh about some completely surreal farce. There are also recipes sprinkled throughout but as we are informed it is properly best not to try these at home. Why you may ask well this is mostly down to the blasé attitude to exactly which mushrooms are put in. They seems to be complete  unworried as to there poisonous nature that some have.  Its difficult for me to categorise certain aspects of this book. I would like to use the word fantasy but I don't feel this is quiet right. There is something very magical about this book but i'm at a loss for words to try and define it. You get to know a lot about these people and I became invested in each of them if only for the brief moment's I got  with them. But thing is its just the right amount.

 

     I suppose each of the story's works as a fable to life. or a metaphor for something much bigger. Things happen out of our control and then everything just kind of moves on. All becoming part of a giant tapestry that makes up the human condition. She manages to capture snap shots of how others live the life. And opens yours eyes to another part of the world that at first might seem very alien but then you begin to realise is so familiar.  The authors approach is very light handed its almost like sitting in a boat gently following the current of a river. You get to taken in everything you pass with out full understanding something completely. A book that is very much about the journey rather than the destination. There are so many things left open by the end which may seem annoying but for me it seemed very fitting for the book.

 

     This review is shorter than both I would like and would normally write but as I previously pointed out its hard to pin down. I enjoyed it greatly and I think it might just be one of my favourites of the year. This book has a so much to offer with out really going anywhere. And shows that even in the smallest of place a whole universe can exist that goes far beyond its boarders. It carry's with it the sensibilities and dark humour that I have come to appreciate from books that come out of eastern Europe. I would definitely recommend it. As long as you are prepared for a dreamlike journey.