Review by Booklist Review
Aging, vodka-quaffing hippies bounce through the streets of Ukraine's cultural capital, surrounded by absurdities and unrepentant in their irreverence. In Lychakiv Cemetery, the convoluted necropolis at the heart of Lviv, two Jimi Hendrix fans cross paths, paying their respects to the great guitarist's amputated hand, said to reside within. It's awkward. One is a former KGB man, the other a bohemian he interrogated back in the Soviet years. An entrepreneurial taxi driver speeds down cobblestone streets, jostling his clients' kidneys free of stones. He dreams of a date with the enigmatic Darka, who works at the bureau-de-change but can't abide the smell of money. Strange maritime elements--hostile seagulls, briny odors, a displaced starfish--suggest Lviv isn't as landlocked as everyone thinks. Maybe it's up to the hippies to save the day? Following the February 2022 Russian invasion, Kurkov (The Silver Bone, 2024) has been reporting on the war. This novel, originally published in 2012, then longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2023, rather ruthlessly satirizes a milder if still politically complicated moment in Ukrainian history.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
NBCC/Barrios Prize winner Kurkov (Grey Bees) blends magical realism and absurd comedy for a charming portrait of 2011 Lviv, Ukraine. Among the endearing characters are Taras, a cab driver who specializes in helping people find relief from their kidney stones by offering bumpy rides; his kindly friend Oksana, who works at a homeless shelter; and Alik, a frequent visitor to the shelter who's not actually homeless. Alik, an aging hippie, meets ex-KGB captain Ryabtsev, a self-described "secret hippy sympathizer," who apologizes to Alik for spying on him and the city's other longhairs back in the '60s. Both remain big fans of the late Jimi Hendrix, and in one hilarious scene, they argue over who was responsible for obtaining one of Hendrix's hands after his death in 1970 and burying it in Lviv. Later, Ryabtsev recounts how the city was built on an ancient seabed and claims the sea is making its return, as evidenced by the recent appearance of flocks of seagulls and salty breezes, prompting Alik to band with Ryabtsev to save Lviv. Entertaining hijinks ensue, and their mission culminates in a satisfying denouement. Kurkov's fans will soak this up. (Aug.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Ukrainian city finds itself under siege from a series of threats straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie or an episode ofScooby-Doo, Where Are You!"You know…some cities only exist so people can dream about going there," one character tells another in Kurkov's novel, originally published in Ukraine in 2012. "And sometimes the dreaming is more important than the going." Now in English, his story paints a dreamlike portrait of Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine, and a strange mystery that dares to be solved. Chief among the sleuths are Taras, a young man who drives patients with kidney stones on cobblestone streets to shake them out; Alik, an old hippie who joins his long-haired brethren every September in Lychakiv Cemetery to memorialize Jimi Hendrix (whose right hand is rumored to be buried there); and Captain Ryabtsev, a former KGB officer who once spied on Alik and wants to be his friend. Such eccentric characters are a Kurkov staple, and so is the surreal situation confronting them: Rumors abound that a prehistoric sea may be rising under Lviv, which would explain a spate of violent seagull attacks and a strong smell of iodine that won't go away. The search for an explanation forms the backdrop to Taras' tender romance with Darka, a currency exchange clerk who's allergic to handling money. Captain Ryabtsev goes on a similar search, and Kurkov's characterization of the captain, who lost his sense of purpose when the Soviet Union collapsed, strikes a sad note in an otherwise lighthearted tale. Though the novel isn't overtly political, Ryabtsev's crisis of identity echoes Ukraine's more than 20 years into its independence. And when Taras gets home after a kidney stone session and hears the national anthem on the radio--"The glory and freedom of our Ukraine has not yet perished"--reading those words now is much more poignant than it was when Kurkov first wrote them. Kurkov gives us a rich cast of endearing characters and a glimpse of life in an old city on the eastern edge of Europe. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
