Death and the PenguinDeath and the Penguin
Score Modern
What it's about
Depressed would-be writer Victor lives with Misha, a penguin he rescued from Kiev's struggling zoo. His luck seems to turn when he's hired to write obituaries, but the subjects are people who are still alive.
Why it's worth reading
It's on the Guardian's list of 1,000 novels everyone must read.
You'll love it if you liked
The Silver Bone
The Master and Margarita
Convenience Store WomanGood to know
It's darkly comic.
By the numbers
- Readers11 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics30 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller8 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #597 of the 623 mysteries and thrillers we rank
- #1574 of the 1,647 modern books we rank
- #2951 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Gripping
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Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,647 ranked
Books of the 1990sTop 25 · 305 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 ranked
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 333 rankedQuick answers
Is Death and the Penguin worth reading?
Yes. It's on the Guardian's list of 1,000 novels everyone must read. It ranks #2,951 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 54.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Death and the Penguin about?
Depressed would-be writer Victor lives with Misha, a penguin he rescued from Kiev's struggling zoo. His luck seems to turn when he's hired to write obituaries, but the subjects are people who are still alive.
How long does it take to read Death and the Penguin?
About 6 hours (242 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Death and the Penguin?
If you liked it, try The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov or Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.