A Matter of Death and Life

Tolya's life, what there is of it, is falling apart. His wife is in the process of leaving him for another man and he can't even muster enough interest to care. Continuing to exist in a meaningless void feels less of an option the more he thinks on it but taking his own life is also out of the question. Nobody would care if he just vanished from the face of the earth. But what if he got someone else to do it for him? Would people remember him then? Would his death be more interesting than his life has been? So he sets the idea in motion by hiring a contract killer to perform such a task. The date, time and place are all set. The only thing he's forgotten is a way to call it off should he change his mind.

Like other books I've read from show more the author this is a black comedy and very similar in tone to Death and the Penguin. Loosely asking questions on the meaning of life with a plausible situation taken to the extreme. It's a very short novel and simply told with George Bird once again doing a fine job of the translation. A fun, quick read and I'm still on the lookout for more of this author's works. show less

Enjoyable and macabre, easy to read, lots of dialogue, the hero gets himself into a right fix. The background must be Soviet. His wife has left him and he decides to end it all by getting a hit man to kill him and not his wife’s lover. Things changes for the better and he has to enlist another hitman to kill his hitman. Women suddenly appear on the scene, a lovable prostitute and the wife of one of the hitmen. The epilogue helps tie up loose ends.

Kurkov is a fantastic author. He writes so concisely and yet his novels are so visual. He sets up bizarre situations that appear plausible. Very dark and very funny.

The plot and style of this novella are very similar to Death and the Penguin. The main character, a thirty year old unemployed male whose wife has just left him, decides to contract a hit-man to kill him. He changes his mind when his life, suddenly, improves, but then he fells that he cannot cancel the killing... The narrator is the main character, a man with flat feelings, and no many hobbies or friends, who spends his time drinking coffee in a small cafe and whose life is dictated by his relationship with women much more interesting that himself. This is an easy, uncomplicated book, which nevertheless makes reference (very lightly) to a couple of important moral issues.

Short - perhaps too short for some, though I personally enjoy a book that doesn't overstay its welcome. It's also bitter-sweet in the way I have come to expect from Kurkov after reading the Penguin series. I am looking forward to reading more from this author - though the newest Kurkov novel I'm about to read should provide some contrast as it's considerably longer.

Novella by a great Ukrainian writer whose starting to get his books translated into English. I read the first one, Death And The Penguin, last year and highly recommend it. Oddly, I saw the movie version of this book (A Friend Of The Deceased) years ago at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and when I picked up this book, the story seemed familiar (depressed cuckold in Kiev doesn’t have the nerve to commit suicide, so he hires a contract killer to kill him. Then, life gets better and he changes his mind. Black comedy ensues). I double-checked, and yep, same guy. In fact, Kurkov wrote the screenplay for the film version. I recommend both (though be warned, the film version is pretty slow).

Du bon Kourkov, une thème assez classique, celui de l'homme qui veut se faire tuer et qui ne veut plus. Le traitement est excellent. Une mélancolie russe ou plutôt ukrainienne à toutes les pages. J'aime ces personnages à coté de la société qui tente toujours de s'y raccrocher et y arrive d'une façon toujours surprenante. C'est un joli morceau d'humour noir ou plutôt d'humour dépressif. Kourkov a un talent certain...