Case of the General's Thumb

The Case of the General's Thumb / Andrey Kurkov
London: Harvill, 2003.
224 p.

This book has just been released by Melville House Books in North America -- however, my copy has been with me for quite a while, as it is the UK translation which I picked up at a small English language bookshop when I was in Kyiv in 2008. I know, I know, why has it taken so long to read it? Well, I was saving it, hoping to hang on to that sense of possibility and anticipation for as long as I could. However, I've since read two other books by Kurkov (Death and the Penguin and Pengin Lost) which I got via the library -- and they were both very good. So I decided it was silly not to read this book which was just sitting on my shelf easily available to me.

It is definitely in the same line as his other books, though perhaps a little more slapstick, a bit more action oriented. The bizarre nature of the tale can be seen in this cover -- a Bonnie & Clyde style adventure that includes driving a hearse, tossing fish over gates, and carting around a parrot. Too bad it doesn't show the turtle... As you can see, there is a large serving of absurdity in this tale.

It begins in Ukraine, in the Maidan (main square) where a general is found dead, attached to an advertising balloon, missing a thumb. A police officer and a KGB agent are assigned to investigate, neither of whom trusts the other. Add in a criminal or two also on the trail, and the resultant chaos leads the story all over Europe -- from Ukraine to Germany and beyond. The surreal characters are weird but compelling, and the action is as incomprehensible to the characters as it is to us at times. But it is darkly funny and I read it very quickly and with great enjoyment. There is something about Kurkov's sense of irony and humour that appeals to me, and even the bleak violence of life as a Ukrainian criminal is bearable when he writes about it.

His style is very particular -- in this one there is a lot of jumping back and forth from various characters' perspectives and perhaps has a feeling of not being as consistent as the others I've read. And the ending is rather sudden and/or anticlimactic. Still, definitely worth a read for its absurdist essence and strong evocation of a particular cultural moment. Since this is the UK translation, I did notice some word choices that stuck out as odd -- perhaps the American edition will solve that issue for American readers. In any case, I enjoyed it, and Kurkov is still on my must-read list. Glad to see that he is getting wider distribution as I think he has a distinctive voice that is well worth sharing.

Penguin Lost

Penguin Lost / Andrey Kurkov; translated by George Bird.
Brooklyn: Melville House, 2011.
160 p.

This is the follow up to Kurkov's first novel about Misha the penguin, Death and the Penguin. I read and enjoyed that book a while ago now, and was eager to get to this one, which I ended up reading via Netgalley.

I enjoyed it a lot, though it had a different feel than the first: for one thing, Misha is "offscreen" a lot of the time (thus the title) and I missed his silent seriousness. In this book, Viktor Zolotaryov has returned from his Antarctic exile where we left him at the close of Death and the Penguin. Conveniently he has also come into a lot of money so off he goes back to Kyiv, where he finds his foster daughter Sonya and her adult companion Nina living in his apartment with a new man. He wanders around Kyiv, gets involved with a young prostitute, falls into a handy job writing for a politician wanting re-election (which comes with room and board), then heads off to Chechnya to find Misha -- rumour has it that Misha was last seen there, in the midst of the conflict.

There is a lot of action in this tale, unlike the first one which felt melancholy, stolid and full of Soviet resignation. Viktor travels around outside of Kyiv for most of the tale -- from Antarctica to Moscow to Chechnya and eventually to South America. Actually, it reminds me a lot of another of Kurkov's books that I've recently read, The Case of the General's Thumb, with all the farcical coming and going and a full cast of eccentric bad guys.

Still, once Viktor arrives in Chechnya he ends up working at a makeshift crematorium in the woods and things get pretty dark and serious. He patiently waits for this newest trial to pass so that he can contact Misha's last known owner, a mobster. Eventually he does find Misha, living in a dog enclosure with protective huskies.

From then on there is a lot more complicated finagling to get Misha back to Kyiv with him -- and eventually to get them both out of Kyiv altogether. While parts of this scheme were pretty amusing, it was awfully convenient to have a beautiful young woman decide to marry him and take him along on a sea journey to South America. Still, this led to the poignant ending in which Misha finally finds freedom. I admit I got a bit teary saying goodbye to Misha at the end. Viktor I could take or leave, but Misha was truly endearing.

I've been waiting to read this book for a couple of years now, so took my time and reacquainted myself with the characters slowly. Even with the different feel to this book I really enjoyed it and was glad to find out more about Viktor's progress and miraculous survival! There was a lot of broad humour to be found in this one and I found it entertaining. Though the first book was deeper and felt more "Literary", this was a fine follow-up that I still liked a lot. Misha was the symbol of Viktor's search for meaning and connection, and it seemed that Viktor was only able to let his responsibility to his penguin go once he had forged a new life outside of Ukraine. Interesting conversations about nationality, one's place in the world, and responsibility to others could ensue if you decided to discuss this one over drinks! I really like Kurkov's writing and find lots to think about even in his lighter novels. This one, having Misha in it, was of automatic interest and lived up to my expectations. Definitely one I'd reread someday.

Playing Catch Up!

I can't believe it's been more than a week since I've posted...busy busy this week. Work stuff, yard work, heat wave causing brain cell meltdown, resulting in watching lots of Agatha Christie and then watching Dr. Who meeting Agatha Christie... but not much posting. Dewey's challenge of last week, to catch up on outstanding reviews, is very relevant to me, but I didn't get to it last week! :)

This week the challenge is to post a photo, so I will post a couple that are related to my busy-ness.... preparing for this:




And this:









<--- Kyiv, Ukraine -->

Edited to add:

Ok, I'm feeling a bit guilty that I didn't make it clear that I didn't take the photo of the Kyiv bookstore. I found it on Flickr, taken by Olechko, who is also a wonderful artist. Check her out. But I do plan to go to that bookstore!
So I will share a couple of photos my sister has taken recently (she is living there). First, a view of Taras Shevchenko street:





Then, a simple picture of a statue of a Cossack:

I'll have to post some of my own once I return!