Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4679 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-27
• Original language: Russian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 230 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The publication of Death and the Penguin, Andrey Kurkov's debut novel, heralds a unique new voice in post-soviet satire. Set in the Ukraine in the years immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this dark, deadpan tale chronicles the journalistic career of Victor, who shares a flat with Misha, his depressed Penguin, rescued from the under-funded zoo in Kiev. Victor is asked to write obelisks, obituaries, for a prominent city paper about notable figures in the community, and quickly transforms himself from struggling writer to wealthy journalist. It soon becomes apparent that there is a more sinister motive at play, and Victor finds himself descending in a Kafkaesque realm of suspicion and unease.

This strange, thoughtful and gentle novel will leave the reader satisfied and perplexed at its conclusion. Kurkov seems to question whether Victor or the Penguin is lonelier and more out of place in his environment. The Death in the title is ever present, though not in an oppressive way, but this also makes one want to question Victor's belief that a long hard life is better than a quick death. Many comparisons will undoubtedly be made between Kurkov's novel and the writing of other authors from the former Soviet republics to make it to print in the United Kingdom. Certainly it's fair to say that this belongs to the tradition of Russian satire made well known in this country by writers such as Mikhail Bulgakov and Venedikt Yarofeev. It is also interesting to read this alongside the works of contemporaries such as Evgenev Popov and Viktor Pelevin. However, where Pelevin drifts off into the fantastical and esoteric, Kurkov keeps it deadpan and very real. It is important to remember that many of the strange events that occur in this book are grounded in fact: amals really were given away by Kiev zoo--truth is often stranger than fiction. --Iain Robinson

Review
"Pathos and humour shine through to make this a black comedy of rare distinction, and the penguin is an invention of genius" John de Falbe, Spectator; "A minor tragi-comic masterpiece" Martin Booth, Daily Telegraph; "The deadpan tone works perfectly, and it will be a hard-hearted reader who is not touched by Viktor's relationship with his unusual pet" Anthea Lawson, The Times; "A brilliant satirical take on life in modern-day Kiev. Watch out, though, as Kurkov's writing style is highly addictive" Punch

Martin Booth, Daily Telegraph
"A minor tragi-comic masterpiece. This appears at first to be a bizarre comedy but it darkens, gripping the reader and drawing him into the grey world of post-communist Russia, where serious crime flourishes, revenge and greed are paramount, violence gratuitous and terrifyingly sudden, and where anything can be bought with a crisp American dollar bill"

Customer Reviews

Original concept, subtle and quirky satire at its best
Kurkov's tale of a freelance writer hired to write a stock of obituaries for a Kiev newspaper is easily one of the most rewarding books I have ever bought. The plot and style of this work offer a piece that is unpretentious and accessible yet, at the same time, very deep and ingeniously funny.

Viktor, working under a lonely naivety and distracted by the care of his penguin 'Misha' (rescued from a cash strapped zoo), becomes unknowingly embroiled in the dark politics of Ukrainian politics and feuding Mafia gangs, whilst he searches for the cure to his lonely existence.

Getting a job as a writer hired to write obituaries of the most notorious characters in Kiev, he soon grows suspicious when the subjects of his premature tributes begin to conveniently die. We never see anything of the bloody feuds behind the scenes but are fed enough snippets via Viktor's own misguided speculation to begin to piece together the dark underlying truth.

The ending was perfectly executed, without being too obvious and yet remaining true to the plot and tone of the rest of the book. The whole novel left me feeling deeply satisfied, I cannot recommend this novel enough.

I have just read this book along with Joseph Conrad's 'The Secret Agent' and Christian Cook's 'Broken Eggshells' and can wholeheartedly recommend these three as a complimentary set. Conrad's as a historical backdrop to the genre and 'Broken Eggshells' as a nice, but subtly different, contemporary cousin to Kurkov's own work.

Quirky, deadpan and very good
Kurkov's understated humour and perfect, deadpan style makes this quirky little story, full of quirky characters, a gem. Death and the Penguin is the nectar of booklovers and Misha, a penguin rescued from a struggling zoo, is one of the most animated, engaging and touching characters in contemporary fiction. But there's more to Kurkov's writing than a sideways laugh at human foibles. Death of Penguin shows many pictures of loneliness and human isolation. Viktor is an aspiring writer but lacks the energy to follow his dreams and, by settling for bread today and giving up on the idea of jam tomorrow, finds himself drawn into a mafiaesque world of crime and assassination in the chill starkness of post-Soviet Kiev. Misha comes to live with him when the local zoo can no longer afford to feed him. Both are lonely, Viktor isolated from human society and Misha alone amid it. Yet it is Misha who seems able to make strong relationships - first with Sonia, a little girl who comes to live with Viktor when her father is swept away into oblivion by his life of crime, and then with the reader: who cannot fail to adore the quiet, reliable, predictable animal, or to delight in his pleasure in fish and cold bathes, or sorrow over his inability to adjust to life in a climate so much warmer than his native land?



Here too is a stark, if one-sided, portrayal of life in the former Soviet state of Ukraine. And it's not a nice life. It's cold, it's hard and seemingly pointless. Deprived of the structure of the state, each seems to struggle to embrace with vigour the concept of democratic freedom. What Death of a Penguin amounts to is a strong indictment of a political reform which has left a population, bereft of communist community, without any societal fabric at all: without hope, without security and unable to realise the promise of liberty. This book is very funny. It's very sad. And it's very, very good.

excellent, quirky insight into life in the old USSR
Black humour at its best and you do not have to be a fan of Russian, rather morbid sense of humour to enjoy this. Enjoy the first principles, who after all takes on a penguin as a pet, and then let the story unfold with grim inevitability.
Well worth it.
A special mention must go to George Bird the translator who has managed to keep the 'flavour' of the orginal language cadences without making it hard to the eye of the Western reader