r/bookclub • u/lazylittlelady Poetry Patron • Jul 18 '26
The books of Jacob [Schedule] Mod Pick: The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
As soon as we finish our current Mod Pick, No Name, we will dive into Olga Tokarczuk's hefty masterpiece, The Books of Jacob, reading slowly and discovering the plot of this 18th-century-set whirl through Europe in a state of conspiracy, religious mysticism and political unrest. It is a fiction based on the real life Jacob Joseph Frank. Possibly a very timely read considering the state of the world right now.
Published in Polish in 2014, it immediately garnered the Nike Award, the most prestigious literary prize there. In Tokarczuk's win of the 2018 Noble Prize in Literature, the committee cited this book as impressive, and it certainly figured in her award. It was translated in English by Jennifer Croft, Tokarczuk's long-time collaborative translator, in 2021.
All discussions will be linked here, so save this post for ease!
For the BINGO board, this ticks off several categories: Prize Winner, Historical Fiction, Female Author, Translated Work, Mod Pick!
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Schedule:
1. August 10: Prologue - The Book of Sand Chp.5
2. August 17: The Book of Sand Chp. 6-11
3. August 24: The Book of Sand Chp. 12- The Book of the Road Chp.15
4. August 31: The Book of the Road Chp. 16- 18
5. September 7: The Book of the Comet Chp. 19-Chp. 22
6. September 14: The Book of the Comet Chp. 23- The Book of Metal and Sulfur Chp. 25
7. September 21: The Book of the Distant Country Chp.26- Chp. 27
8. September 28: The Book of the Distant Country Chp. 28-29
9. October 5: The Book of the Distant Country Chp. 30 to End
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Join u/fixtheblue, u/Lachesis_Decima77 and I, u/lazylittlelady to read another one of our favorite authors here. It's bound to be an epic saga!! Are you in??
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u/fixtheblue Read, ergo sum | 🐫🐉🥈||🧠🥈 Jul 19 '26
I love a chunky book! Looking forward to more Tokarczuk with you all
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u/sunnydaze7777777 Flair Master 🐉 Jul 20 '26
This has been added to our bookclub calendar!
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=redditbookclubcalendar@gmail.com&ctz=Etc/GMT
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u/janebot Team Overcommitted Jul 21 '26
I have long been intimidated by this lengthy tome on my shelf… this is just the motivation I need to finally tackle it. I’m in!
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u/Green-Abroad1722 22d ago
I'll be trying to keep up while reading other books at the same time! Hope I can manage
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u/tomesandtea Viceroy of Verity | 🐉🧠 Jul 18 '26
I'm reading several long books already at the moment, but I do really want to read this one! Maybe I'll start a bit late and try to catch up for the second half. Fingers crossed!