The Case of the General's Thumb

by Andrey Kurkov

The corpse of a distinguished general is found attached to an advertising balloon—and minus his thumb. Police Lieutenant Viktor Slutsky is sent in to investigate. So, too, is KGB officer Nik Tsensky. They begin their investigations unbeknownst to each other, but quickly find themselves mystified about developments caused by the other.

Thus begins a comedy of very dangerous errors as the two crisscross Europe, Russia, and the Ukraine, catalysts in a bizarre battle between the Russian and Ukrainian secret services.

What ensues is simultaneously hilarious, tragic, and suspenseful, with a fascinating cast of characters who would seem absurd if they weren’t so compelling: a larger-than-life hitman, a deaf-and-dumb blonde, and a turtle. Then there’s the gun that shoots backwards...

And as the two faithful investigators find themselves to be pawns in a story of post-Soviet collapse, it becomes—as usual in the work of this modern Russian master—an inspiring tale of resilience against the dark forces of the day.

Genres: Fiction, Ukraine, Russia, Mystery, Crime, Satire, Contemporary

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Andrey Kurkov is a Russian and Ukrainian writer who writes in Russian (fiction) and Ukrainian (non-fiction).

Kurkov was born in the small town of Budogoszcz, Russia, on April 23, 1961. When he was young, his family moved to Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1983 Kurkov graduated from the Kyiv Pedagogical Academy of Foreign Languages and later also completed a training in Japanese translation.

Among Kurkov's most famous Russian novels are 'Smert postoronnego' (1996, translated into English in 2001 under the title 'Death and the Penguin') and 'Zakon ulitki' (2002, translated into English in 2005 as 'Penguin lost)'. Kurkov's only Ukrainian non-fiction book is 'Ruh "Emanus": istoriya solidarnosti' (2017).

Reviews

[Jacob Sebæk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rule of thumbs (if you still have some left...)

Trust nobody, particularly not if they belong to any state agency.

Follow the money.

Oligarchs are per definition evil creatures.

A funeral hearse creates less attention than you would have thought.

[Mehran · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب خوش‌خوانی بود و اولین تجربه‌ی من از این نویسنده محسوب می‌شه.

درباره‌ی داستان کتاب چیز خاصی نمی‌شه گفت (شاید اسپویل بشه اگه دقیق توضیح بدم)، اما شخصیت‌پردازی نیک و ویکتور رو خیلی دوست داشتم. مخصوصاً که داستان به صورت موازی از نگاه همین دو نفر روایت می‌شه.

نکته‌ی مهم اینه که قبل از خوندن کتاب باید بدونید با یک رمان معمایی/جنایی معمولی طرف نیستید. قرار نیست قتلی اتفاق بیفته و بعد با یک پیچش هوشمندانه همه‌چیز روشن بشه. این کتاب بیشتر شبیه یک نقد تن و طنز آمیز به یک سیستم فاسده تا حل یک معمای کلاسیک.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurkov must be nailed on for a Nobel Prize although it probably won’t be for this book. It’s still good – what’s not to like about a volume where newly liberated citizens of Eastern Europe regularly pop into McDonald’s? As ever, he captures the bling absurdity of various territories but also historical antecedents and I love his sense of geography and ability to update the picaresque for our times. The book emphasizes the lawlessness and new power structures of Ukraine and Russia, albeit before the more recent troubles in the two countries but is perhaps a bit slight. For me, the author’s Ukraine Diaries and The Good Angel of Death are the high points of his output so far.

[Michael Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally, I really enjoy Kurkov. But this story is so convoluted with characters and a plot that’s often incomprehensible that I was pretty confused most of the time.

“Like lost dogs. Lost, despite still having masters and food.”

That pretty much sums up my feeling finishing this book. It doesn’t lack substance I suppose. But I’m not entirely sure how I got here, nor do I really understand where I came from.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable but not incredible read. I recommend this novel be gulped not sipped - like a shot of vodka or a 200ml Kölsch. An quirky noir story from Ukraine. The first few chapters left me pretty mixed up, to be honest. It was easier to track the further the story progressed. Calling this novel a meeting of Bulgakov and LeCarre is overstating the case. But its heroes have merits and a subtle, dark humor.

[John Defrog: global citizen, local gadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the same Ukrainian writer who brought you Death and the Penguin and A Matter оf Death аnd Life, both of which I liked a lot. This one is more of a spy novel with the prize being KGB gold, but it comes with the usual concise prose, quirky characters and Ukrainian politics Kurkov puts in his other novels. That said, this one’s not quite as good as the other two, but still pretty enjoyable.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Brilliant! Carry on like this, keep your nose clean, and you'll have your flat!" Viktor grinned. "But I'm not sure where this photograph get us."
"Look at his hands."
Viktor took the print over to the window. The body lay arched, right arm fliung back, left arm reaching forward. The tips of all fingers had been burnt away, but while the left thumb was more or less intact, the whole of the right thumb was missing!

[Sara! · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Kurkov’s books and upon coming home from Europe, was eager to buy some that weren’t available on Kindle. This was not my favorite - though the story was compelling, the characters felt somewhat flat. It was enjoyable, but I wouldn’t recommend over the Penguin series.

[Venky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satire has a new superstar! Andrey Kurkov with his masterful treatment of dark humour not only warms the very cockles of the reader's heart, but also evokes in a nostalgic vein, the storied memories and magnificence of Mikhail Bulgakov and even to an extent Jules Cervantes. Characters of a Quixotic mien waft in and out of Kurkov's pages delighting, disappointing and dumbfounding the reader in equal proportions.

The distinguished and now murdered General Bronitsky is found suspended in an advertising balloon - sans his thumb. This sets off a process of investigation that is at once farcical and formal. Police Lieutenant Viktor Slutsky, who is ill equipped to handle cases of such proportions is miraculously assigned to the case and is promptly set off on a wild goose chase. A proven officer in the KGB Nik Tsensky is also formally tasked with the responsibility of bringing the killers of General Bronistsky to book. Neither Nik nor Viktor is aware of the other's interest in the peculiar case involving a General with a missing thumb.

The two separate patterns of investigations set off an exercise in dangerous absurdity involving near dances with death, criss-crossing of the European continent, involuntary travels involving a modified hearse, a deaf and dumb blonde and a hungry turtle named Nina. The plot represents a brilliant canvas upon which Kurkov paints an inimitable picture of hubris, haughtiness and hollow pride. The socio-economic effects triggered by the post-Soviet collapse and the civilian impact of the disintegration of the Great Bear is brought to full view by the literary brilliance of Kurkov. Nik and Victor, the two unsuspecting pawns in a pre-determined play of farce denote with great vigour the calamitous plight of the citizens inhabiting a post-Soviet era - an era characterised by uncertainty and futility.

Combining morbid humour with a deadpan narrative, Kurkov dazzles and leaves the reader gasping for more. The absurdity quotient even parallels Dostoyevsky at times while the rapier like sarcasm would have won the whole-hearted accord from even the likes of Yevgeny Zamyatin and Arthur Koestler. However within the confines of the humour and sarcasm is embedded a harsh lesson - a lesson to be imbibed by both the politicians and the people who cast their votes in electing their representatives. There is a message and a method to the madness of Kurkov. The underlying essence of such a message is startlingly simple - the dark forces of the day do not represent a spontaneous creation. They are the culmination of factors that are both avoidable and inevitable - the avoidable shedding precious and invaluable lessons for future generations to come.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to warm up to The Case Of The General's Thumb: At first, it struck me as being an earlier effort than Andrey Kurkov's two penguin novels -- Death and the Penguin and Penguin Lost -- but it looks as if it were written between the two. In The Case of the General's Thumb, there is no Mischa the Penguin, but there is a tortoise named Nina. It must be said, however, that Nina has not a hundredth the character of Mischa.

Kurkov was born in Leningrad and writes in Russian, but he appears to be a self-identified Ukrainian. (This leads me to think that this is not an unusual situation these days.)

The case of the General's Thumb, like the two penguin novels, is a murky stew of various security agencies going at one another hammer and tongs. We see the story through the eyes of Viktor Slutsky (not the same Viktor as the penguin novels) of one unnamed Ukrainian security agency and Nik Tsensky, a military translator. Ostensibly, Viktor is on the trail of the person or persons who murdered a Ukrainian general, cut off his thumb, and left his body dangling over Kiev attached to a Coca Cola advertising balloon. Nik, on the other hand, is paired with an assassin and directed by telephone to perform various odd and threatening actions, mostly in Germany. For most of the book, the chapters are interspersed between Viktor and Nik, eventually coming together at the end.

At first, I was disconcerted by the flipping back and forth between the two characters, but as I grew to know Viktor and Nik more, I came to accept it.

If you want my recommendation, however, the penguin novels are clearly better.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Post-Soviet noir: confusion, ambivalence and violence with occasionally humorous results.

[Gehan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm not used to his style of writing, but I found it very disturbing to the flow of the narrative. That and the constant switching between the two main characters and their different situations made it really tough to really absorb what was going on, leaving me confused more often than not. There were a few good moments, and from what I've gathered from other reviews it seems this may have been Kurkov's least impressive work, so I'll hold judgement on him till I read "Death and a Penguin". Otherwise, I would not recommend this unless you're from Ukraine/Russia and longing for a book to remind you of home.

[Chana · Rating 2 out of 5]

One guy is a cop trying to follow leads, another is a guy looking for a flat. Through a series of incomprehensible phone calls, obscure orders and secret agent type travel arrangements we follow them both. There are many corpses, many more bottles of vodka, a hearse and an adopted tortoise. They are looking for a thumb and some money, Good luck! Same Russia, different shtick.
"It was all money, money, money today. Ideology was out."

I have a feeling it would have been much funnier if I was Ukrainian or Russian with the proper cultural understanding and if I had read it in the original language (Russian) that it was written in.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid noir Russian thriller, this was enjoyable and a bit surreal but no way Bulgakov, just no way...

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

1999 novel when the Soviet breakup was new. It's called a black comedy and satire, and I guess I don't know enough about the time and place to get that - to me it was a thriller about people who work for ghosts without really understanding what they are doing, but leaving bodies everywhere. Isn't that just how the world is? Full of the absurdity of people running roughshod over others, like how it is when you have to drive in Atlanta? So, I liked the part about the Moscow hotel fees - satire? or real? The fun of driving around Germany in a hearse - completely believable but ok you could say there's a symbolism there. And I loved that there's a German town with a mustard museum - I'm sure there is one, after all Wisconsin has one. Many of the characters were likable, even the assassins, and the relationship between Moscow and Kiev, reading it as I am in 2022 after the second major invasion of Ukraine, was fascinating. Excellent translation, by which I mean, you could hardly tell it was there.

[Mojtaba R · Rating 2 out of 5]

«پرونده انگشت ژنرال»، یک رمان جنایی و معمایی و نقدی ضمنی بر فساد بومی و فرهنگ گانگستری روسیه و اوکراین پس از سال 1992 است. داستان به قلم آندری کورکوف که با ترجمه سهیل سمّی توسط نشر خوب به چاپ رسیده، درباره یک بازرس پلیس اوکراین است که در حال تحقیق در مورد قتل یک ژنرال و متعاقباً برخی دیگر از افراد مرتبط با او، و یک افسر KGB از استان‌های خاور دور است که نمی‌دانند چه کاری انجام می دهند و چرا این مأموریت ها انجام می‌شود. هر دوی این افراد، رؤسای مرموز و ناشناسی دارند که دستورهایشان را با تماس تلفنی به آنها منتقل می کنند. این دو نفر زندگی خانوادگی دارند که می‌خواهند به آن بازگردند. هر دو کاملاً گیج هستند و سر آخر به این فساد سیستماتیک تن می دهند تا آرام بگیرند و جان خود را حفظ کنند. این امور مستقیماً زندگی آنها را تحت تأثیر قرار می دهد. این یک معمای خنده دار، سریع، سبک، اما بسیار تاریک است که حول پیوند خطرناک پلیس و فساد مالی پرداخته شده است و بیشتر به دوران پس از شوروی در بسیاری از کشورهای بلوک شرق می پردازد.

[John Benschoter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast and funny read into how corruption in Russia and Ukraine are so intimately linked. The story follows a Ukrainian police inspector investigating the murder of a general, and subsequently some other folks connected to him, and a KGB officer from the far eastern provinces who has no idea what he's being tasked to do or why. Both have mysterious handlers who call them with instructions, both have family lives they want to get back to, both are wholly confused until the end when they are exasperated and willing to accept the corruption as long as they get a little taste and it doesn't directly effect their lives. It's a quick read, and I like Kurkov's style. I will likely read his Penguin novels next, though his latest Grey Bees is high on my list.

[John Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a writerly crime caper and an implicit critique of endemic corruption and the gangster culture of post 1992 Russia and Ukraine - then known as ‘The’ Ukraine, part of the CIS, a ‘nominally’ autonomous satellite of the former USSR. As such, like ‘Death and the Penguin’ and ‘The Bickford Fuse’ it lends invaluable, nuanced insight to the culture and mores of Ukraine’s all-too-recent but almost incomprehensibly anarchic transition away from Russian surveillance culture and ill-managed authoritarianism into what appears to be a Ukrainian version of the same.

Worth reading on that count alone. It’s entertaining and warm, fast-paced, surreal in parts, almost a Netflix script treatment, which is not necessarily a recommendation. In fairness to Andrey Kurkov, who comes across as a thoughtful, balanced humanist and a wry and sympathetic observer of the human condition in all its aspects - even his criminal nihilists are well-observed in Death and the Penguin - the language of this narrative seems secondary to the plot lines. This could be down to the translation, or maybe it’s deliberate: the book is on one level a satire of ‘spy vs spy’. It is unclear whether the series of wild goose chases across borders is intentional or accidental, likewise the assassinations. There are hallmark Kurkov elements of surrealism and black comedy but somehow the very contrivance of the plot seems - contrived.

Still ‘n all, I’m loth to put anyone off. Kurkov is a master and an all round good guy.

[Jonathan Corfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've written about this chap before.
He writes in a world where, in post-Soviet Eastern Europe, anything can happen, it always does and no one is the least bit surprised. A General falls from a Coca Cola advertising balloon but it's actually a massive heart attack that killed him and someone has cut off his thumb?
Not a problem. Pass the wodka.
A couple of chaps are sent to Germany to throw fish over the wall of someone's house and picks off their guard dogs with a sniper rifle?
Not a problem. Pass the wodka.
You get the gist, now pass the wodka.

[Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really enjoyable to read. Other reviews explain the plot well so I won't repeat anything on that front. The book jumps between the two characters with each chapter and because it happens so quickly it was sometimes hard to remember what each character was doing or what information one has vs the other. If you are reading this in one sitting, I think this shouldn't be an issue but it can be challenging if you have to put the book down often. Otherwise no complaints and the animal survives so I enjoyed it :)

[Thomas Hübner · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=1159

"Kiev, night of 20th-21st May, 1997
Sergeant Voronko of the State Vehicle Inspectorate loved his snug little glass booth on Independence Square in the heart of Kiev, and never more than in the small hours, when Khreshchatik Street was free of traffic, and nipping out for a smoke was to experience a vibrant, blanketing silence very different from the fragile night stillness of his home village."

But on that particular late evening, things turn out to be very different from usual for Sergeant Voronko. First he gets a call to go urgently to another post due to an emergency there, and when he has almost arrived there with his old Zhiguli car, he gets another call to go back again to his glass booth at Khreshchatik Street because his presence at the other post is no longer needed. When he is arriving back at his usual workplace, a corpse is hanging attached to an advertising balloon. The deceased is not only a distinguished general but also a presidential advisor and the circumstances hint at a crime with a political background. And, strangely enough, one of the general’s thumbs is missing. (At the end of the book we will know why.)

It is clear from the very beginning of the book that this is not an ordinary crime. The general’s connections, his links to the Ukrainian and also Russian Intelligence networks are uncovered step by step by the young investigator lieutenant Viktor Slutsky. Slutsky, and not one of his more experienced colleagues is dealing with the case – maybe someone thinks the rookie Slutsky will get (conveniently for certain people) lost in this complicated, entangled and twisted network of relations between all the players involved; or maybe he can be easily directed by someone who is pulling the strings behind the scenes? Both is very probable, and indeed Slutsky gets permanently calls on his mobile phone by a mysterious voice that is always strangely very well informed and tells the lieutenant what to do next. But when Slutsky meets Refat, a mysterious Tartar who works for the Russian Intelligence, he starts to be for the first time keeping a few secrets from the voice on the phone…

The other main line of the story follows Nik, an ethnic Russian that was recently expelled from Tajikistan with his family. Nik, with a background in police/intelligence work and a sound knowledge of German, is trying to get a job in Ukraine where he was born and where he intends to relocate his family too. Luck seems to be on his side when he is offered a job where exactly his abilities and experiences are needed. But he soon realizes, just like lieutenant Slutsky that he is mainly a pawn in a political chess game. He and Sakhno, the other agent he is joining to do some unclear business - including tossing fish over a garden gate, or carting a parrot around - in not exactly exciting German cities like Koblenz, Euskirchen or Trier, are always told what to do without any explanation – and they are also not supposed to ask too many questions.

It would spoil the fun if I would retell the story here in detail, so I better stop here with the synopsis.

You can read Kurkov’s novel like you would read any fast-paced crime/espionage genre novel. It is a real page-turner and I read it in one evening. There is a lot of action, good dialogues, very credible characters and an interesting story. All ingredients you need to enjoy a book of this genre.

But there is also a second, less obvious layer of the story. Kurkov is a master of intertextuality. The book is full of allusions to other works and writers of the genre but also to Russian literature. Ian Fleming, Eric Ambler, John Le Carre, but also Michail Bulgakov, Ilf & Petrov, Yevgeniy Zamyatin, to name just the few references which I have discovered – and I am sure there are much more in the book. If you are well-read, you will enjoy this book therefore even more.

Additionally, there is a dry humor in many scenes, for example in an early chapter when Slutsky goes home after work to his family:

"Now, up to the eigth floor, and supper. The lift had yet to be installed, a fact for which the tenants, except perhaps the elderly couple on the twelfth floor, were physically the fitter."

And, although on the surface this is not the main topic of the book, the strained relations between Russia and Ukraine cast already their long shadows over the story:

"RUSSIA AND UKRAINE – NEITHER PEACE NOR WAR? Ran the eye-catching Izvestiya headline. It was a question, it appeared, of determining the frontier, or, more exactly, of the two sides being able to agree where it ran."

In this novel, things are rarely as they seem to be at a first glance. Even an innocent turtle keeps a dark secret.

Kurkov is a compassionate author. Viktor Slutsky and Nik Tsensky, the two main characters in this book share the same dream: to have a normal life in a decent flat with their families. And when Kurkov is granting almost all surviving characters in the story a happy end, it is like he is winking at us readers. They might be pawns in a political chess game, but they keep their dignity, and as a reward deserve a fairy tale-like ending.

Andrey Kurkov was a new discovery for me: it was the first book by him I read, but it will be definitely not the last.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very similar story to ‘Death and the Penguin’ but without most of the charm. It’s still enjoyable, if confusing, but didn’t really deliver on what could’ve been a more interesting story about the dead general and his missing thumb. If you’re tossing up between the two books, go with Penguin.

[Robert Burgon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Black comedy isn't my usual go-to type of reading but, having been inspired by Kurkov's recent letters from a Ukraine under invasion, I was prompted to try one of his works of fiction. At times, the humour is pretty dark, but the setting of a country in a tense relationship with Russia makes it somewhat real.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
not familiar with the eastern european politics so it's a bit difficult for me to comprehend the connections and hierarchy of departments of countries post-soviet time.
the revelation is interesting though. finally it all makes sense regarding the general's thumb.
the boss is always the boss. yeah.

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't mind Kurkov but, as other reviewers have noted, this is difficult to follow. On the plus side there's a tortoise, but on the negative the tortoise doesn't get any memorable (or indeed any) lines.

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just really not my kind of book, there was a personality clash here but I made myself read it as it was a book club pick and I wanted to engage in the discussion. But this made me resent the book I think leading to a very punishing 1 star review I don’t think it really deserves.

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Kurkov's work, but this one's plot was too confusing with alternating characters caught up in competing Russian and Ukrainian intelligence assignments. The turtle is a nice touch.

This translation is in British English.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

بیشتر به نظر میاد برای کسانی که با خرده فرهنگ و عادات مردم شوروی قبر از فروپاشی و به طور خاص اوکراینیان آشنایی دارن جالب باشه
کتاب تند خوانشیه
ولی در جذابیت پلیسیش خیلی نمیشه حرفی زد
و در یک کلام نسبت به مرگ و پنگوئن چندان حرفی برای گفتن نداشت

[TS Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An austere absurdist delight.