Death and the Penguin
Ukraine

Death and the Penguin

by Andrey Kurkov

Solitude & Exile Mystery Fiction 2001

Summary

In post-Soviet Kyiv, struggling writer Viktor Alekseyevich Zolotaryov lives a quiet, lonely existence with his unusual companion, Misha, a king penguin rescued from a zoo that can no longer afford to feed its animals. When Viktor secures a job writing obituaries for a local newspaper, he believes his fortunes may finally be changing. His editor, however, has an unsettling request: the obituaries must be written for prominent people who are still alive.

Soon, the subjects of Viktor’s obituaries begin dying under mysterious circumstances, drawing him into a dangerous world of political corruption and organised crime. As he tries to understand his role in these events, his apartment becomes a refuge for a young girl and her nanny, bringing unexpected responsibilities into his isolated life.

Blending dark humour, absurdism, and political satire, Death and the Penguin offers a haunting portrait of a society struggling to find its footing after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Through Viktor’s unlikely bond with Misha, Kurkov explores loneliness, moral compromise, and the quiet struggle to remain human in a world where violence has become ordinary.

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Country
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About the author
Andrey Kurkov
Andrey Kurkov

Andrey Kurkov is a Ukrainian novelist, journalist, and screenwriter, born near Leningrad in 1961. He moved to Kyiv during childhood and graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Foreign Languages in 1983. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist, served as a prison guard in Odesa, and worked as a film cameraman and screenwriter. Kurkov is internationally recognised for his distinctive blend of dark humour, absurdism, magical realism, and social commentary. His best-known novel, Death and the Penguin, follows a struggling Kyiv writer who adopts a penguin from a struggling zoo and becomes entangled in the strange realities of post-Soviet society. The novel became an international bestseller and has been translated into more than thirty languages. Other notable works include Grey Bees, which portrays life in eastern Ukraine during the conflict following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv, which was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2023. His nonfiction books, including Ukraine Diaries and Diary of an Invasion, document Ukraine’s political upheavals and Russia’s full-scale invasion. Through fiction and reportage, Kurkov explores the absurdities of political life, the resilience of ordinary people, and the complexities of Ukrainian identity. He has become an important international voice on Ukrainian literature, culture, and the realities of war.

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Details
Published
2001
Author
Andrey Kurkov