Death and the Penguin. A. Kurkov

Reading this book made me think about the value of the individual and their role in society, as well as the fact that the value of a person taken in isolation is quite considerably exaggerated in contemporary society. Yet the question of why the author chose a penguin as the supporting character made me think even more.

The novel's protagonist - Viktor, a journalist by profession who had a talent for writing short thematic texts. A man in the prime of his life, yet living alone in a one-room flat in a block of apartments. The action takes place in 1990s Ukraine, in Kyiv. It must be said, the setting and atmosphere described will be very recognisable to readers who lived through the nineties right here in Latvia. :)

The supporting character, who was almost always at the protagonist's side even in the most unimaginable situations (at funerals, for instance) - Misha the penguin. During the turbulent times, the Kyiv Zoo decided to give away its animals to anyone who could care for them. That is how Misha, a king penguin whose natural habitat of Antarctica would have suited him far better, ended up in Viktor's one-room flat.

As events unfolded, the situation developed in such a way that Viktor began working at a newspaper, where his duties included writing obituaries - obituaries for well-known members of society, but the strangest thing was that these were for people still alive. The materials and biographical facts about each person were supplied by the editor. By a complete coincidence of circumstances, Viktor had the opportunity to look into the editor's safe alone, and discovered to his profound surprise that some obituaries had been marked "done" - which in effect meant those people were no longer among the living. Considerably later Viktor tracked a suspicious character who, as it turned out, had been gathering information about Viktor himself - and, more disturbingly, had already written an obituary for him.

The times were rather strange; various murders and robberies were happening all around, and Viktor's only comfort upon returning home was Misha the penguin. Viktor was no fighter and happily trusted to fate, not averse to accepting fate's gifts and challenges without particularly reflecting on or assessing the consequences. One such gift was a little girl, Sonya, left by a gangster (also named Misha) - along with a considerable bundle of money and a pistol; this same gangster, while alive, would from time to time commission Viktor to write an obituary. Fate was also kind enough to "supply" the girl with a nanny, Nina, who over time became Viktor's companion and sweetheart. But Viktor was not a family man, and fate's gifts seemed pleasant to him but not especially necessary. It might appear that the only thing Viktor truly loved and for whom he would have been prepared to give everything was Misha the penguin.

Viktor used to go for walks with Misha, especially in winter - to the delight of passers-by and the penguin himself. They also went to a nearby river, where the penguin would take a plunge in a hole in the ice, briefly startling any fishermen nearby. Viktor and the penguin also attended the funeral of Misha's former keeper at the zoo. One of the heavyweights' funeral bodyguards witnessed this and found it sufficiently "striking", with the result that the penguin was hired out for funeral events - for which Viktor was paid considerably more than he would have earned writing his "little crosses" (as obituaries were called in slang).

But the penguin fell ill. He had a congenital heart defect and needed a heart transplant. Fate was kind once again, and the financial side was taken on by the same heavyweights who had been renting the penguin for funerals. One small detail - the penguin was given the heart of a human child. Fate delivered yet another blow: Viktor learned that an obituary had been written about him, which meant that someone would be coming for him too. There was only one option left - to flee. To flee, leaving behind the family that had formed and the sick penguin. To flee to Antarctica…

In conclusion

The book is very easy to read. A good, fluent translation without losing meaning or emotional tone. The novel does not address any single specific problem; rather, it subtly points to various nuances of life situations that, as time has passed, have become the norm, but when looked back on after a longer interval, appear strange or even unacceptable. The book has been translated into 22 different languages and many reviews have been written about it. Reading this book made me think about the value of the individual and their role in society, as well as the fact that the value of a person taken in isolation is quite considerably exaggerated in contemporary society. Yet the question of why the author chose a penguin as the supporting character made me think even more. A single definitive answer, most likely, does not exist.

Death and the Penguin. Andrey Kurkov. Publisher - Zvaigzne ABC. Translated by Haralds Šēnknehts.

P.S. The book also has a sequel - "Закон улитки", written in 2005, which I read in Russian immediately after finishing "Death and the Penguin". I very much hope that "Death and the Penguin" will be well received by readers and that we will also see a Latvian edition of "The Law of the Snail"!