Ukraine: Andrey Kurkov Book Review
Written byVeronica Khokhlova
Kevin Kinsella at Languor Management disagrees with Victor Sonkin, a book reviewer who is being too harsh on Andrey Kurkov, a Ukrainian writer whose novels, originally in Russian, have been translated into many languages: “I'd call it ‘pleasantly surreal’ as opposed to Sonkin's ‘without rhyme or reason’ – despite also being a straightforward and, in most respects, realistic portrait of Kiev life (and death) in the 1990s.”
Written byVeronica Khokhlova
Top World Stories
Cancel this reply
1 comment
I found Death & the Penguin to be that rare thing – a book I am impelled to recommend to all my friends. It’s a stonking good read, look here am I, an ordinary reader stumbling upon this website because I want to know more about the author – and track down more of his work.
The novel worked for me on many levels: I loved the sly humour, the menacing “others”, the fact that the characters weren’t appealing – but flawed, and the plot. Isn’t life often without rhyme or reason – it would be very boring otherwise?