Death and the Penguin

Andrei Kurkov

2 ideas

1. Obituarist whose subjects die on schedule

   In mid-1990s Kyiv, Viktor Zolotaryov, a failed writer who lives with Misha, a depressed king penguin adopted from the bankrupt city zoo, is hired by a newspaper editor to pre-write obituaries of living politicians, businessmen and officials. The men start dying soon after he files, Misha is rented out at $1,000 an appearance to mourners at gangster funerals, and Viktor ends up minding a mobster's small daughter. When Viktor finally finds his own obituary already written, he flees on the ticket to Antarctica meant for the penguin and leaves Misha behind.

2. Complicity sustained by paid incuriosity

   Viktor is useful to the unnamed machine because he does not ask what his obituaries are for. Money, comfort and a steady routine are enough to keep the question unasked, so he keeps working even as the evidence piles up. His guilt never comes from a decision to do harm. It builds up through a string of small choices not to know.

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