Some years back, I made a choice to no longer read novels by cis het white guys. There were two main reasons for this. One was politically motivated, in that I wanted to consciously give more money and attention to marginalized authors. The other was personally motivated, in that I was sick of men writing women badly. Not that cis het white guys are the only men who write women badly, but they are often the worst offenders.
Anyway, I make a few exceptions to this rule. I’ll occasionally read a novel by a cis het white guy who seems to be a good ally and/or has a proven ability to write women and other marginalized people as well-rounded characters, especially if it’s a continuation of a series I was reading back in the day. And I’ll also make exceptions for filling book bingo prompts.
Which brings us to Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov, translated by George Bird. There are so many translated works by women and people of color that I could have read, but a friend recommended this* and the concept sounded really entertaining, so I decided to give it a chance.
First, the good. This book is written by a Ukrainian author and it has a sort of dark, absurd humor that I think would translate well into a movie, maybe something A24 would distribute. The chapters are mostly very short, so it’s compulsively readable. And there’s a penguin!
But then there’s the bad. It’s the sort of bad that shows up so often in books by men, especially white cis het men. That is to say, at a certain point, the author appears to have asked himself, “What is this book missing? I know, my main character needs to be sleeping with a much younger woman.” The fact that this woman is working for him just makes the fact that she barely seems to consent that much worse. If the book wasn’t so short and readable, I would have DNFed it as soon as the first barely-described sexual encounter happens, but I stuck it out.
Ultimately, this was an interesting read, and I can see why it’s well-regarded, but I just can’t with middle-aged men who sleep with their nannies (gee, why does Neil Gaiman keep coming up in so many of these reviews? No, I’m not mad at all). As such, I can’t particularly recommend this book, when there are so many other great works in translation. For an example, check out my review of What You Are Looking For is in the Library.
*She later admitted that it had been so long since she read it that she really only remembered the penguin. I should learn to ask people when they read the book they’re recommending, and since this friend has given me a lot of good recs in the past, I’m giving her a pass this time.
CWs and TWs: Violence, death, animal illness, implied off-page death of a child, vague sexual content around a dubiously consensual relationship, smoking, and drinking.
Format and Source: I got this as an ebook from Seattle Public Libraries, although I had to wait a few extra weeks because of the worthless scumbags who ransomwared the library.
Book Bingo Prompts
SAL/SPL Adult Summer Reading: In Translation. I think it’s great to read books in translation, as it not only often gives you insight into life in other parts of the world, but also the literary trends and preferences around the globe. I try to read at least a couple translated works a year, and book bingo definitely helps with that. This is just one of my least-favorite translated books I’ve ever read.
Book Bingo Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 17 out of 25 prompts complete. 2 bingos.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 14 out of 25 prompts complete. 0 bingos.
SAL/SPL Adult Summer Reading: 11 out of 23 prompts, 0 bingos.