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Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv by Andrey Kurkov

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Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv

Narrator
Andrew Byron
Publisher
Quercus
Publish Date
11 May 2023
Run Time
10 hours 17 minutes
Format
Audiobook

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What to expect

"Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before" Sunday Times

"Ukraine's greatest living novelist" New European

"A Ukrainian Murakami" Guardian

A love letter to the beautiful city of Lviv, by the author of Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees.

Strange things are afoot in the cosmopolitan city of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea . . .

A ragtag group gathers round a mysterious grave in Lychakiv Cemetery - among them an ex-KGB officer and an ageing hippy he used to spy on. Before long, Captain Ryabtsev and Alik Olisevych are teaming up to discover the source of the "anomalies".

Meanwhile, Taras ­- who makes a living driving kidney-stone patients over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra - is courting Darka, who works nights at a bureau de change despite being allergic to money.

The young lovers don't know it, but their fate depends on two lonely old men, relics of another era, who will stop at nothing to save their city.

Shot through with Kurkov's unique brand of black humour and vodka-fuelled magic realism, Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv is an affectionate portrait one the world's most intriguing cities.

Translated from the Russian by Reuben Woolley

Critics Review

  • Playful and ebullient, shot through with magical twists and supernatural turns . . . A reminder of Kurkov's prodigious storytelling gifts and a throwback to an earlier, happier age

    Observer

  • This beguiling literary postcard from a recent, now supplanted past brims with the bittersweet charm and rueful satire of the books, such as Death and the Penguin, that established Kurkov's international reputation

    Financial Times

  • Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before

    Sunday Times

  • Entertaining and poignant . . . A multi-layered, Chagal-like picture of modern-day Ukraine.

    Glasgow Herald

See more reviews
  • A craftily constructed novel that undermines and transforms itself in a consistently enjoyable manner without the haze of purple prose.

    Irish Times

  • Charming . . . A love letter to Lviv, Ukraine's linguistic and cultural capital

    Guardian

  • The characters are lovingly drawn and exude the sort of warmth with which the author imbues all of his creations. You enjoy the time spent in their company

    The Times

  • Kurkov draws us with deceptive ease into a dense complex world full of wonderful characters

    Michael Palin

  • A latter-day Bulgakov . . . A Ukrainian Murakami

    Guardian

  • A post-Soviet Kafka

    Daily Telegraph

  • A kind of Ukrainian Kurt Vonnegut

    Spectator

  • Ukraine's greatest living novelist New European

    New European

User Reviews

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Details

Author
Andrey Kurkov
Narrator
Andrew Byron
Duration
10 hours 17 minutes
Release Date
11 May 2023
ISBN
9781529431834
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Quercus
Genre
Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Fiction in translation

Synopsis

"Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before" Sunday Times"Ukraine's greatest living novelist" New European"A Ukrainian Murakami" GuardianA love letter to the beautiful city of Lviv, by the author of Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees.Strange things are afoot in the cosmopolitan city of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea . . . A ragtag group gathers round a mysterious grave in Lychakiv Cemetery - among them an ex-KGB officer and an ageing hippy he used to spy on. Before long, Captain Ryabtsev and Alik Olisevych are teaming up to discover the source of the "anomalies".Meanwhile, Taras ­- who makes a living driving kidney-stone patients over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra - is courting Darka, who works nights at a bureau de change despite being allergic to money.The young lovers don't know it, but their fate depends on two lonely old men, relics of another era, who will stop at nothing to save their city. Shot through with Kurkov's unique brand of black humour and vodka-fuelled magic realism, Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv is an affectionate portrait one the world's most intriguing cities.Translated from the Russian by Reuben Woolley

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