‘Death and the Penguin’ is one of those books which shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. It’s a novel which address serious themes of death, loneliness and the casually oppressive nature of post-Soviet society in Ukraine, and yet it does so with humour. And a penguin.

The story of Viktor, a struggling writer who gets a job writing obituaries for people while they are alive who then strangely start dying off, is enjoyable and written in such a way that it seems perfectly logical rather than as unbelieveable as it should. Andrey Kurkov’s deadpan narrative style works perfectly in this book. It is impossible not to laugh at the very serious way in which Viktor takes his penguin to go swimming in the frozen river, but wraps him up in a towel when he emerges so that he doesn’t get cold. Equally amusing is the thought of someone going into hiding and taking a penguin (not exactly inconspicuous) with him. In a novel in which most relationships are simply based on the characters wanting something out of each other for their own personal benefit, the peculiar bond between Viktor and Misha the penguin stands out and is oddly touching. I expected the penguin to be responsible for a lot of the humour in the book, but not for the emotion as well.

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov.  Published by Harville, 2002, pp. 228.  Originally published in 1996.

N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads.  I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.

The reviews on the cover of this book claim that it is ‘extremely funny’ and ‘mad and hilarious’. While these reviews may be true – the book is indeed very funny – they present a distinctly biased, innacurate picture of what the book is like. The reviews suggest that this novel is a light-hearted and frivolous comedy, but this is far from being the case.

Although the book maintains an almost constant comic tone and has its moments of levity, but the overwhelming impression is of something darker. At times, the story was desperately and surprisingly sad. The more usual humourous tone arises from interactions between the delightful cast of characters who are bitter and resentful, sad and lonely, or an interesting blend of other negative emotions, as they snipe at each other. Throughout the book I was continually aware that when I was laughing, I was laughing at someone and I felt slightly guilty about doing it. The spiteful bickering and snide remarks eventually lead to greater understanding between the characters and a satisfying, happy conclusion, but they do comprise the majority of the book. I liked the book a lot and at times it made me laugh out loud, it was just very different from the happy families comedy I was expecting.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka.  Published by Penguin, 2006, pp. 325.  Originally published in 2005.

N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads.  I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.