I try to give this a go, twice. The main character floats through this “adventure”. I couldn’t make it ( )

This book was lacking a lot of the humor and charm of Death and the Penguin - mainly it was missing the penguin (Misha). Misha doesn't make an entrance into this sequel until well past the middle. I felt like much of the reading to get to Misha was a complete chore whereas the first novel was 100% joy. ( )

A naive city boy in a world of post-soviet gang thugs. A Candide guy and his penguin written in a simple childlike style (Kurkov writes children's books besides his murder mysteries) for an entre into a world of murder, theft, gangsterism, and the Chechen war. Much about crematoria. The search for the penguin gives the young man's life purpose. Not much purpose, though. ( )

The direct sequel to [Death and the Penguin] finds Ukrainian writer Viktor hiding out at a science station in Antarctica. He’s feeling bad about leaving Misha behind and when an opportunity presents itself Viktor is quick to return home and try and locate the penguin and make it up to him. Unfortunately this proves not such a simple task as visiting the veterinary clinic where he left him and Viktor is soon caught up in other troubles once again. Employed as a political aide by Andrey Pavlovich, a local entrepreneur running for Deputy, it offers a modicum of protection against those who still may seek to do him harm. In return for his services to the campaign, Viktor is offered help in his search for Misha.

The black comedy of the first book continues in this one though the narrative doesn’t flow quite so well being more episodic in nature. It continues to cast light on corruption within all levels of society, the role of the media and also delves into Russia’s war with Chechnya. An enjoyable farce if not quite on a par with the earlier book which you really should read prior to this. ( )

If you read Death and the Penguin, then of course you must read this one. Kurkov's quirky Viktor Zolotaryov,the Ukrainian writer, again is the protagonist, who leads us from one escapade to another, all in his almost laconic, existentialist manner. The book opens not long past the ending of Death & the Penguin, Viktor staying out of Kiev -in case shady criminal types try to do him in - by sailing on a polar expedition ship near Antarctica. What he really wants to do is locate Misha, his penguin, and put his life back in some sort of order. Even before the voyage is over, Viktor meets up with a mysteriously ill one time Russian banker, who bequeaths him a letter to his wife, and his credit card, making him promise to deliver them to her. Soon enough, he returns to Kiev and tries to pick up the threads of his life with his adopted daughter Sonya, his friend's niece Nina,and Lyosha, once in the employ of the criminal types who rented out Misha for mob funerals. Lyosha is now in a wheelchair due to an unfortunate accident. While pondering how he will find Misha (who was taken by one crime lord, but is no longer in Kiev) Viktor visits the banker's wife, meets Andrey Pavlovich, an ambitious local entrepreneur and criminal who wants to run for political office, his driver Pasha, and finds himself helping Andrey run his campaign. From Kiev,we follow Viktor to Moscow, and then a nightmarish trip all the way to the war front of Chechnya,all part of his quest to locate his beloved Misha. But the plot twists continue when Viktor (unbelieveably) extricates himself from Chechnya and returns to Kiev. Some may find Kurkov's cast of characters,and Viktor's ability to move relatively unscathed through every twist and turn too improbable,but the journey with Viktor is always worth the trip. The ending -while wildly abrupt and unlikely - fits the amazing luck and Viktor Zolotaryov's emerging longing "to be his own man" and start anew. A fast read.