Le Pingouin / Les pingouins n'ont jamais froid

by Andrey Kurkov, Nathalie Amargier (Translator)

Les 2 best-sellers d’Andreï Kourkov réunis en un volume. A Kiev, Victor tente péniblement de survivre. Journaliste au chômage, il a adopté Micha, un pingouin dépressif, rescapé du zoo. Lorsqu'un patron de presse propose à Victor de préparer des nécrologies de personnalités encore bien en vie, Victor saute sur l'occasion. Mais voilà que ces personnes se mettent à disparaître à une vitesse alarmante...
Crimes commandités par la mafia ou règlements de comptes politiques ?

Genres: Fiction, Russia

1137 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Andrey Kurkov is a Russian and Ukrainian writer who writes in Russian (fiction) and Ukrainian (non-fiction).

Kurkov was born in the small town of Budogoszcz, Russia, on April 23, 1961. When he was young, his family moved to Kyiv, Ukraine. In 1983 Kurkov graduated from the Kyiv Pedagogical Academy of Foreign Languages and later also completed a training in Japanese translation.

Among Kurkov's most famous Russian novels are 'Smert postoronnego' (1996, translated into English in 2001 under the title 'Death and the Penguin') and 'Zakon ulitki' (2002, translated into English in 2005 as 'Penguin lost)'. Kurkov's only Ukrainian non-fiction book is 'Ruh "Emanus": istoriya solidarnosti' (2017).

Reviews

[Ronald Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every so often - once a year or so - I feel compelled to read some crime/mystery/suspense/popcorn type books. Typically I just hit some local used book stores and buy a couple bags of books that look interesting - I lean heavily towards non-american non-english-language stuff, but have a soft spot for a couple bestselling american pulp authors as well - and just spend a month or so reading that stuff until I'm bored with it. In one such binge a came across Andrey Kurkov through his The Milkman in the Night, a delightfully weird Russian crime novel which caused me to seek out some more of his stuff, and here I am.

It appears this book - at a minimum the first volume (Death and the Penguin) - is pretty well known (and well regarded) but was completely unknown to me up until about a month ago. My copy - and the other Kurkov books I have on my shelves now - are all British editions, so maybe he's just not as well known here stateside, or maybe it's only my fleeting dalliances with this type of book that keeps me in the dark.

It's quite funny (both books, together, that make up this volume), and manages to fairly deftly balance being both a dark story line while also being a light and fun read. It primarily does this through Kurkov's treatment of the two main characters - Viktor and his penguin Misha - who manage to make it through mostly all events unscathed, while everyone else is dying around them. The book is described - right there on the jacket copy - as a tragicomedy, but it is more comedy than tragedy (though there are some truly tragic moments); through it all the balance of tone is a real strength of the book.

The two books are not quite as weird as The Milkman in the Night, but still manage their moments of weirdness. If you're going to check them out, I really recommend tracking down this volume with both included, as the second novel is pretty much just the second half of the first.

[Bryan D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrey Kurkov has created a bizarre charming world where Misha, the penguin, is so well crafted that I began to accept him as a logical pet if living in Russia. Death and the Penguin is a clever thought out mystery which enthralled me to the point that I forgot about other distractions, but the second tale is very good until the last act which slowed it down a lot, but as a whole, the book is full of interesting characters with intrigue, threat and Misha, a delightful creation who would make me re-read Death and the Penguin every couple of years solely to enjoy his personality. I believe he would be in good company with Marvin the Paranoid Android and Eeyore

[Simon Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's not much to dislike here, but not much to like either. It crawls along at a snail's pace, and I disengaged before anything notable happened. I kept reading for the penguin.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 romans comme un tourbillon mais doux et naturel pour des événements pas du tout doux et naturels.
J'ai beaucoup aimé, pourtant c'est assez capillotracté mais on se laisse porté, c'est drôle, léger malgré tout un contexte cruel, lourd, pourri ... dépeint en toile de fond.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death and the Penguin: 3,5*
Penguin Lost: 3*

"Misha had appeared chez Viktor a year before, when the zoo was giving hungry animals away to anyone able to feed them. Viktor had gone along and returned with a king penguin. Abandoned by his girlfriend the week before, he had been feeling lonely. But Misha had brought his own kind of loneliness, and the result was now two complementary lonelinesses, creating an impression more of interdependence than of amity"

Viktor è un aspirante scrittore di Kiev, vive con un pinguino di nome Misha come unica compagnia e tira avanti scrivendo articolati necrologi per persone ancora in vita. Questa particolare attività finirà col cambiare la vita di Viktor, portando non solo nuove e spesso stravaganti persone nella sua vita, ma mettendolo pericolosamente in contatto con la criminalità organizzata e ad un passo dal perdere per sempre Misha.
La storia, a tratti surreale, ci porta nell'Ucraina post-URSS (e brevemente anche a Mosca e in Cecenia), toccando temi come la politica, la corruzione e la guerra e mescolando satira e dark humour che il Daily Telegraph, come riportato nella copertina di questa edizione che raccoglie i due romanzi della serie, definisce "a tragicomical masterpiece". Sul tragicomical non posso che essere d'accordo, sul masterpiece un po' meno. Amo le tragicommedie, col loro umorismo amaro che fa sorridere e riflettere, rallegrandoti e lasciandoti a fissare il vuoto per minuti interminabili, motivo per cui ho cominciato Death and the Penguin con tante buone intenzioni che, alla fine, non sono state deluse. Ammetto, senza tanti giri di parole, che la presenza di un pinguino chiamato Misha e i toni tragicomici sono state le ragioni che mi hanno spinta a cominciare il libro e che me l'hanno fatto divorare in una settimana, complice poi il particolare rapporto tra Viktor e Misha, con le loro solitudini e percorsi complementari. L'aspetto surreale, spesso e volentieri, va oltre ogni immaginazione, o per lo meno supera quel limite non ben definito entro cui riesco a sopportarlo senza fermarmi a chiedermi cosa sto leggendo e perché, ma ciò non toglie che la lettura meriti e che tutto, nel piccolo universo creato da Kurkov, abbia senso e funzioni nonostante le domande e i dubbi che possono sorgere.

[Neal Kerrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book's very good. I liked everything about it. In the first part of the second book, Kurkov spends a little too much time in the travel but then gets back on track, but much of the energy is lost. The sequel isn't as good but still necessary to finish the story. These have to be read together.

[Brriimmaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death And The Penguin - A slow paced, bizarre and charming tale set in Ukraine; centred around aspiring author, Viktor and his adopted pet penguin, Misha - riddled with death, corruption and companionship! 4/5

Penguin Lost - An equally outlandish sequel following a lengthy and monotonous journey over 3 countries, ending in positivity for all besides the obvious reunion! 3/5

[Jacqueline Burns-Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Kurkov's a genius. I bloody loved these 2 novels. Thanks to my Mum and Dad for getting me hooked on the first one.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13182150

[Just This · Rating 3 out of 5]

funnier than the average bear.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first book, but it had such a plodding, depressive feel to it that I decided not to read the second one. Then I did.