50 Must-Read 50 Beta
← The Must-Read 50
Cover of Flights by Olga TokarczukFlights
Modern · Fiction, Classics, Literary Fiction

Flights

by Olga Tokarczuk
2007 · 416 pages · Fiction
68.5Must-Read
Score Modern
Critics' pick
≈ 10 hours to read · about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day

What it's about

Olga Tokarczuk's Flights is a series of imaginative, mesmerizing meditations on travel in all its forms: stories, essays and fragments about the philosophy and meaning of movement, and anecdotes that take us out of ourselves and back again.

Why it's worth reading

It won the International Booker Prize. Tokarczuk later won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

You'll love it if you liked

Cover of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga TokarczukDrive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the DeadOlga Tokarczuk
Cover of The Books of Jacob by Olga TokarczukThe Books of Jacob
The Books of JacobOlga Tokarczuk
Cover of Austerlitz by W.G. SebaldAusterlitz
AusterlitzW.G. Sebald

Good to know

It's fragmentary, without a single plot. It's best read slowly, dipping in.

By the numbers

68.5Must-Read Score
  • Readers38 out of 100 · counts 42%
  • Critics59 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
  • Bestseller20 out of 100 · counts 14%
  • Buzz7 out of 100 · counts 10%

Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.

Where it ranks

Why it made the list

Won
International Booker Prize winner (2018)

Reads as

Moving, Thought-provoking

How we rank

Already read it? Upload your Goodreads or StoryGraph history and get the 50 best books you haven't read, tuned to your taste.Get my 50

More by Olga Tokarczuk

Cover of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga TokarczukDrive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the DeadOlga Tokarczuk
Cover of The Books of Jacob by Olga TokarczukThe Books of Jacob
The Books of JacobOlga Tokarczuk

If you like this, read next

Cover of For One More Day by Mitch AlbomFor One More Day
For One More DayMitch Albom
Cover of Norse Mythology by Neil GaimanNorse Mythology
Norse MythologyNeil Gaiman
Cover of The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise ErdrichThe Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No HorseLouise Erdrich
Cover of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty SmithA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith
Cover of Beloved by Toni MorrisonBeloved
BelovedToni Morrison
Cover of Midnight's Children by Salman RushdieMidnight's Children
Midnight's ChildrenSalman Rushdie

Explore the best-of lists

All 36 best-of lists →
Literary novelsTop 25 · 309 rankedModern booksTop 25 · 1,573 rankedBooks of the 2000sTop 25 · 490 rankedFantasy booksTop 25 · 459 rankedMysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 555 rankedMemoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 rankedScience fiction booksTop 25 · 313 rankedRomancesTop 25 · 233 ranked

Quick answers

Is Flights worth reading?

Yes. It won the International Booker Prize. It ranks #1,467 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 68.5 (the best book we found scores 99).

What is Flights about?

Olga Tokarczuk's Flights is a series of imaginative, mesmerizing meditations on travel in all its forms: stories, essays and fragments about the philosophy and meaning of movement, and anecdotes that take us out of ourselves and back again.

How long does it take to read Flights?

About 10 hours (416 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.

What awards has Flights won?

International Booker Prize winner (2018).

What should I read after Flights?

If you liked it, try Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk or Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald.