Focusing on the journey of an award-winning translator, this coming-of-age story explores the deep connection between language and healing. It delves into themes of empathy and sisterhood, highlighting both the beauty and challenges that arise from understanding others through words. As the protagonist navigates her experiences, she learns to embrace the complexities of communication and the transformative power of love in its various forms.
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE A visionary work of fiction by "A writer on the level of W. G. Sebald" (Annie Proulx) "A magnificent writer." — Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Prize-winning author of Secondhand Time "A beautifully fragmented look at man's longing for permanence.... Ambitious and complex." — Washington Post From the incomparably original Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Flights interweaves reflections on travel with an in-depth exploration of the human body, broaching life, death, motion, and migration. Chopin's heart is carried back to Warsaw in secret by his adoring sister. A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear. Through these brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, playful, and revelatory meditations, Flights explores what it means to be a traveler, a wanderer, a body in motion not only through space but through time. Where are you from? Where are you coming in from? Where are you going? we call to the traveler. Enchanting, unsettling, and wholly original, Flights is a master storyteller's answer.
The narrative follows eight translators on a thrilling quest to locate a missing world-renowned author in a mysterious Polish forest. As they navigate the challenges of language and culture, the story explores themes of identity, the power of words, and the complexities of human connection. The novel weaves together the translators' diverse backgrounds and perspectives, creating a rich tapestry of experiences that highlight the intricacies of communication and the search for meaning in both literature and life.