Death and the Penguin

by Andrey Kurkov

Book Overview

"No summary can do justice to the strange appeal of this unusual, short book, which is at once a crime novel, a comic novel and a serious political satire on contemporary Ukraine." --Anne Applebaum, The Wall Street Journal

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, newly-free Ukraine is a shell-shocked land . . .

In poverty-and-violence-wracked Kyiv, unemployed writer Viktor Zolotaryov leads a down-and-out...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1935554557
• ISBN13: 9781935554554
• Release Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Melville House Publishing
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Kurkov is a master....my Favorite Book EVER!

This is my #1 favorite book. Historical, in part, and humorous, sad, zany, and unexpected. I can't wait to read the follow-ups to this. It is translated form the Russian. If you love penguins, pre-21st century Russian lit, or maybe you are an obituary writer or love, this is the book for you.

Fun and (don't wince) cute!!

I was assigned this book for a college course. I have to say that I've never enjoyed an assignment quite so much. I loved how quirky and human-like Misha the penguin behaved, his endearing relationship with the humans around him, and the delightful way Misha and his humans met with a brave face and not a look back the seemingly endless stream of troubles that came their way. I also absolutely adore the way Kurkov writes and the tone he uses. I read this book in a single weekend, and next weekend I plan to make equally quick work of the sequel!! A delight, I definitely recommend!!

Calmly Absurd

This is one of my favorite books. The story follows Viktor, a struggling, unambitious Ukranian writer as his life forms around him. No matter how surreal the events that take place (the adoption of a sickly pet penguin, getting involved in political murders) Viktor remains calm and detached until the very end of the novel, when he is finally shaken out of his apathetic state. This book is a hilarious satire that does an excellent job of describing the depressing monotony of everyday life, even when it is anything but.

Surprising

I literally just finished reading the book. The ending took me by surprise which is unusual these days. I thought I knew what was going to happen. A very easy read and an enjoyable story. Highly recommended.

A Fascinating Book

Death and the Penguin is an excellent novel that gives you a first hand look at a collapsing society. We are taken to a world where zoos sell exotic animals because they cannot afford to keep them, where paramedics need to be bribed to find room for a dying man in a hospital and where gang warfare is commonplace.I was especially pleased to discover that Misha, the penguin of the title, is a real character in the book as well as having important symbolic purpose. The other characters are not as vividly drawn as in some novels, but that seems appropriate for the setting in which they find themselves. I was slightly unsatisified by the ending, but overall this book was well worth reading, even if you do not often gravitate to foreign fiction.