Author: Andrey Krukov
Series: Penguin #1
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Crime,Comedy
Publication date: June 1, 1996
Format: Audiobook
Publisher and Translator: Inaudio
Narrator: Mario Grande y Mercedes Fernandez
Book Description: Viktor is an aspiring writer with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company. Although he would prefer to write short stories, he earns a living composing obituaries for a newspaper. He longs to see his work published, yet the subjects of his obituaries continue to cling to life. But when he opens the newspaper to see his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. He and Misha have been drawn into a trap from which there appears to be no escape.
Thoughts:
It is a bleak, satirical work with surreal elements and dark humor. This is a character-based story with little plot, or at least not an action or suspenseful plot, so you will find it slow-moving. I assume this book was written with the intent of social commentary on the state of life for people after the Soviet Union was dissolved. Kiev like many places in the former Soviet Union swings from recession to recession, with a failing currency and a tottering state, with the spaces created being filled by corruption and organized crime. But to most people, the government is just there taking up space and they try to live their life without really paying attention to it all. Viktor, our main character is a typical middle-aged man who is struggling with his life. As an aspiring writer, he takes what he can. He takes a job at a newspaper, a job which he is not too keen on accepting but he does need money to pay the bills so it would have to do.
he represents the many. An aspiring writer, but he does not even try to write all that often anyway. He has a pet penguin but without doing the research on how to take care of them before accepting the animal. You have to suspend disbelief a lot in the story regarding the penguin.
The newspaper hires Viktor to write obituaries of people, nothing too fancy, but the catch is that the people he's writing about are notorious in society for one reason or another and they happen to be alive and well. He gets told to write about known people, he gets a few tidbits of information about them that the newspaper graciously gathers for him. He will not be published until they happen to casually die. Nothing suspicious about that surely.
This is not really a crime thriller is more of a comedic relief with a backdrop of a man getting caught with organized crime. We see him go from being alone to suddenly having a young girl to take care of, of finding a relationship out of the blue, a really weird relationship so he can play family. One of the most bizarre things is that he and Misha (the penguin) are hired, without the option of declining, as funeral attendants.
Kurkov uses Misha as a sort of mirror of Viktor. Throughout the story, Misha is also lost, unhappy, and generally out of his element, literally and figuratively. I get that, but throughout the whole story, I couldn't stop thinking about how insane its the idea of keeping a penguin in a house and just filling the tub with cold water to appease him from time to time.
One of the striking themes of the novel is Viktor's tendency to go from justifiably paranoid appraisals of his increasingly dangerous position to a serene, almost childish, peace of mind. As such there are many elements of existentialist thought in the text.
But it's an interesting read, it just did not capture me as wholly as I thought it would. I might need to get used to the author's style. Also, I think this type of story is one not improved by rereading, I am not going to be putting that to test anytime soon, maybe never.
I gave this
This was used for the following challenges:
Around the world: Russia. I wanted to use it fr Ukraine, but the author was actually born in Russia so I'm a bit torn on where to place him.
Translated works
Comments