Customer Reviews

Penguin Lost

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While not as breathtaking as Kurkov's orginal "Death and the Penguin", this sequel was still highly amusing and captivating. After Viktor abandons his pet penguin to save himself at the end of the last novel, "Penguin Lost" picks up with Viktor trying to make ammends for his earlier actions. A great book, but you should read "Death and the Penguin" first, if you want to follow the plot.

After reading the marvelous Death and the Penguin, I almost decided not to read this, fearing it was a lesser sequel. I was extremely pleased however, to find that this novel is, in many way, even better. A highly recommended four star novel - I reserve five stars for literary masterpieces only.

I must say that I enjoyed this second book even more than the first.

Twists and turns abound as Viktor races to locate the penguin he left behind; the penguin whose place on the boat to Antarctica he stole. Along the way he finds himself embroiled in a political campaign and even cremating corpses, in a story that retains the wonderful satire of the first book, but is definitely more action-packed.

This second offering by Kurkov moves at a faster pace than the first and introduces a few new characters as well as old friends. I loved some of the new characters, especially the aspiring Deputy who gave the opportunity for some wonderful political satire.

This novel is a must for anyone who read and enjoyed the first book and who longs to know if Misha will ever make it to Antarctica!

I received this book as a free e-book ARC from NetGalley.

When I read "Death and the Penguin", I found myself carried along by the prose, even when nothing much was happening. This time, even though it's the same translator, the prose was clunky and graceless. It's still Kurkov, but I keep stubbing my mental toes on phrases that just don't belong in an English sentence. A shame. I really liked "Death and the Penguin".

When we last saw Viktor Zolotaryov (at the end of Death and the Penguin), he was fleeing the crime syndicate that threatened his life, leaving Misha, his penguin, in an animal hospital in Kiev. Now on an island near Antarctica, Viktor is offered the opportunity to adopt a new identity. Returning to Kiev, the melancholy with which he was afflicted in Death and the Penguin is replaced, at least temporarily, with "a cheerful touch of mystery," largely the result of a happy encounter with a part-time prostitute named Svetlana. Still, the murder of his former editor reminds him that "every story must end at a full stop, and none bolder or more final than that of death."

Viktor's search for Misha brings him back into contact with some shady characters. Even worse, he becomes a political consultant, a job that gives Andrey Kurkov the chance to lampoon politicians, their image makers, empty promises, and hypocrisy. Fans of cynicism will find much to love in this novel, but so will fans of humanity. The tender relationship that Viktor established with a little girl, Sonya, in Death and the Penguin continues in Penguin Lost, but Viktor's time in Kiev is limited. Soon he is off to Moscow, on three missions: one for the man whose identity he borrowed; one for his political employer; and most importantly, one of his own -- his search for Misha. Viktor will do almost anything to recover Misha, but does that include traveling to Chechnya?

The Russia and Ukraine that Kurkov describes are full of problems and (as one of the characters advises us) woefully short of individuals who are capable of solving them. The characters in Kurkov's novels are resigned to their dismal fates, but they persevere in their grim lives -- even Misha. Viktor endures his trouble-filled life yet always retains a faint hope that something better might come along; a hint of optimism flickers throughout the story as Viktor ponders the nature of fate.

Of course, there is always the chance that what comes along next will be death, but death might not be so bad. Viktor finds something enviable in the death of fisherman whose frozen body he finds on a lake; he deems the man "worthy of respect, though, not having known him, he could not say in what particulars." The comment is typical of Kurkov; respect for the living and for the dead who surround them is inherent in his work.

The story Kurkov tells is odd (the supposedly dead don't always stay dead in Penguin Lost), filled with strange twists and unexpected turns, but in Kurkov's view, life in Ukraine and Russia (and particularly Chechnya) is odd. "The absurd here was amazingly real," Kurkov writes. "Life here was ruled by it." Victor doesn't feel real; in his isolation, "noticed by too few to feel real himself," he wonders if he even exists. He wants to feel something, to recover himself, but only in rare moments does he have the power to control his own life. Fortunately, if there is one thing that can be counted upon in a dismal world, it is a man's love for his penguin.

Kurkov balances the story's darkness with light touches, comic moments that provide relief from the gloom. Of course, political corruption is always good for a laugh, and any scene centering on a penguin is bound to provoke a smile. Reading Kurkov's short chapters is like eating tasty snacks -- they're easy to devour and it's difficult to stop. If I could, I would give Penguin Lost 4 1/2 stars.

This is very much a sequel to Death and the Penguin, Andrey Kurkov's first novel, and if you have not already read that you would do well to do so before reading Penguin Lost.

In Death and the Penguin we meet Viktor Zolotaryov, who adopted a king penguin, Misha, at a time when Kiev Zoo could not afford to feed all its animals. Misha lived with Viktor in his one bedroom flat, initially alone. As the novel proceeds, Viktor, as warm hearted as his name suggests (in Russian, zoloto is gold) acquires some other flatmates too, but is separated from Misha.

In Penguin Lost, Viktor sets about not only recovering Misha but, having done so, returning him to his natural Antarctic habitat. The name of the novel, Penguin Lost, is derived from some posters that a small girl, Sonya, makes to stick up around Kiev. Her nanny advises that the advertised 5000 UHR reward will produce five penguins straight away, some from as far afield as Moscow. It doesn't work out that way, but Viktor's pursuit of Misha's trail does take him to Moscow - and on to Chechnya, just at the time of the Second Chechen War! As in Death and the Penguin, gangsters and local mafias are never far away, and it becomes necessary for Viktor to do business with more than one of them. As ever with Kurkov, the absurd and surreal are given an absolutely lifelike setting, with Kiev and Kievans particularly well described.

I enjoyed this novel. Written six years after Death and the Penguin, the style is more mature and, because the 1999-2000 setting was by the time of writing in the past, Kurkov is more sure of the background. Death and the Penguin involved some predictions for the future, not all of which actually came true. All in all, Penguin Lost is a good read, with some solid food for thought and reflection afterwards, but do read Death and the Penguin first.

If you're wondering what happened to penguin Misha, hold on to your seat... it's quite a ride. Kurkov is a master at the fine line between humor and horror.

In this volume we follow the most recent adventures of Viktor the writer and Misha the penguin, whom we've first met in Death and the Penguin.
Andrey Kurkov does in this book exactly what he did in the previews one: he throws his hero into the most extreme and extravagant situations and using black humor as his weapon of choice he once again comes to describe the world as it came to be after the fall of the Soviet Union.
At the beginning of the novel we meet Viktor on-board a big ship heading for Antarctica, where he's supposed to settle in a research facility. During the journey he becomes a very good friend with a mysterious man called Stanislav Bronikovsky, a man who's very sure, and afraid, that someone's following him. While playing chess and drinking vodka the two men will come so close to each other that the latter will trust the former with a very serious and kind of mysterious mission, and he'll also offer him the means to see it through. So, using Stanislav's Polish passport, Viktor will return to Kiev, his home town, which he had to leave in a hurry not so long ago, hunted as he was by some criminals.
Arriving there though, he'll come face to face with a few surprises, as things during his absence seem to have taken a turn for the better and for the worse at the same time. On the one hand he'll find out that his life is no longer under threat, but on the other he'll also discover that his girlfriend Nina and his kind of adopted daughter Sonia are now living in his house with another man. For some reason though he'll not get as upset as one would expect about that. Besides, he has other things in his mind. Firstly he has to learn where his beloved Misha is, and then he has to honor his word and deliver a package to Stanislav's wife in Moscow.
How is he going to do that? Well, he'll once again be blessed with good fortune. Thus from the one day to the next he'll find himself landing a great job, as he will be hired by an ambitious politician to write his speeches. The latter will not only pay him good money but will also do whatever he can to discover the whereabouts of missing Misha. As they are both soon to find out Viktor can thrive in a job like this: he does not only write outstanding speeches but also organizes a few quite original events for his employer, while when needed he's not unwilling to offer his not so outlandish advice: "Once elected, you never stop promising."
His career in the political arena will not last for long, but during it he'll play his part in some outrageous events, while its end will find him on his way to Moscow. There he'll meet, as planned, Stanislav's wife and thus fulfill his duty. Hell, he'll do even more than that. However, as a man on a mission, he cannot stay still, so soon enough he'll hit the road once again, heading for Chechnya this time, where, according to his sources, Misha is. As expected when there he'll once again go through a kind of hilarious, for the reader, hell before reaching his promised land, the penguin. But that is not the end, since it's exactly then that his new odyssey into unknown waters will begin.
Kurkov, repeating the feat of Death and the Penguin, tells us a story that doesn't seem to take anything seriously, not even itself, and which can be read as an adventure or a comedy or even as social commentary. However, no matter what the Americans insist to say, for me this is not a crime novel. The author is interested in entertaining the reader, but not through the suspense and the action. He simply seems to say: "Just relax, and everything will be fine." Relax and enjoy, I would say instead!

This is a great mystery novel. I absolutely loved it. Be prepared for dark humor when choosing to read this book.