'Death and the Penguin' by Andrey Kurkov
Title: Death and the Penguin
Author: Andrey Kurkov
Pages: 228
Genre: Er... Tragic-Comedy?
Country: Ukraine
Year: 1996
My Synopsis: Starting of as a seemingly normal obituary writing job (albeit the people were still alive), Viktor soon finds himself in a world of murder, the Mafia, his pet penguin Misha and now with the charge of a child.
Blurb from the back: In today's Ukraine, all that stands between one man and murder by the Mafia is a penguin. Viktor is an aspirigin writer with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company. Although he would prefer to write short stories, he earns a living composing obituaries fora newspaper. He longs to see his work published, yet the subjects of his obituaries continue to cling to life. But when he opens the newspaper and finds his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. He and Misha have been drawing into a trap from which there appears to be no escape.
Rating: 5/5
Review: Funny, tragic and brilliant are the only words I can think of to describe this story. The story itself is unique and captivating, and Misha is an adorable penguin in all his depressive glory. I'm certainly looking forward to reading more from Kurkov and I would heartily recommend this to anyone after a different sort of story.
Next: 'The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Stories' by H.P Lovecraft (and 'Arthur Conan Doyle and the Meaning of Masculinity' by Diana Barsham for an article I'm writing...)
(cross posted in book_worm & bookshare)