by Olga Tokarczuk
What did I just read? The subtitle is “A Health Resort Horror Story”. There is some horror here and there (particularly at the end) but it’s a slow build. I don’t think I fully understand what happened.
I picked this up because I loved DRIVE YOUR PLOW so much, but perhaps I loved that one mainly for the protagonist. I was sympathetic with the protagonist here as well, which kept me slogging through, even when it felt too much like THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, which was also about a sanitarium of the same era, with similar grotesque descriptions of the clientele. MAGIC MOUNTAIN I abandoned – it was too unpleasant, slow, and thick. This one at least is a pretty quick read.
Tytania 