Mark Reece's Blog - Posts Tagged "surreal"

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There is a strong sense of the uncanny in Death and the penguin, where events are invariably described with a flat, laconic tone that intrinsically downplays the absurdity of events. In that way, the novel reminded me of Gogol, although the events in this work had a greater degree of realism than was typical with Gogol.

The protagonist of Death and the penguin- Viktor- is a dispirited fiction writer who acquired a penguin (Misha) after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unable to find regular work, he agrees to a proposal by a newspaper editor to write a series of obituaries about public figures. However, over time, it becomes evident that his writing is being used to identify the subjects as targets for assassination, by a state or criminal organization.

There is a sadness and emptiness to Victor's life that is epitomized by his domestic situation. He is asked by a friend to look Sonya- a young girl- and despite his lack of social connections, he starts a romantic relationship with the niece of another friend- Nina. This seemingly gives him a family setup, but Victor is always distanced from his partner and adopted daughter, partly by his work, which takes up a lot of his time and puts him in danger, but also by his general sense of alienation. As time goes on, his life seems increasingly like a facade, having genuine affection for only Misha. At one point, Nina says that she knows Victor does not love her very much, a statement that Victor does not even try to contradict.

The novel has an excellent ending, which potentially casts Victor's relationship with Misha in a different light, when Victor also acknowledges the absurdity of his situation for the first time. Death and the penguin is a brilliant book, with recognizable influences from great Eastern European authors.



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