Death and the Penguin: A blackly comic, bittersweet satirical novel about Ukraine
Jun 2011 · Random House
4.4star
9 reviews
Ebook
240
Pages
About this ebook
A BBC Two Between the Covers Pick
'A tragicomic masterpiece' Daily Telegraph
All that stands between one man and murder by the mafia is a penguin.
Viktor is an aspiring writer in Ukraine with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company.
Although Viktor 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 Viktor opens the newspaper to see his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. Viktor and Misha have been drawn into a trap from which there appears to be no escape.
'A striking portrait of post-Soviet isolation... In this bleak moral landscape Kurkov manages to find ample refuge for his dark humour' New York Times
'A tragicomic masterpiece' Daily Telegraph
All that stands between one man and murder by the mafia is a penguin.
Viktor is an aspiring writer in Ukraine with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company.
Although Viktor 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 Viktor opens the newspaper to see his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. Viktor and Misha have been drawn into a trap from which there appears to be no escape.
'A striking portrait of post-Soviet isolation... In this bleak moral landscape Kurkov manages to find ample refuge for his dark humour' New York Times
Ratings and reviews
4.4
9 reviews
Ryan Truter
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June 11, 2019
A totally brilliant book ! I really enjoyed this books easy way of reading , it was always super relaxing and pleasant to read . Has a nice storyline .
About the author
Andrey Kurkov was born in St Petersburg in 1961. Having graduated from the Kiev Foreign Languages Institute, he worked for some time as a journalist, did his military service as a prison warder in Odessa, then became a film cameraman, writer of screenplays and author of critically acclaimed and popular novels, including the cult bestseller Death and the Penguin.
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