- Published: 1 October 2014
- ISBN: 9780099571872
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 320
- RRP: $29.99
The Gardener from Ochakov
- Published: 1 October 2014
- ISBN: 9780099571872
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 320
- RRP: $29.99
Kurkov is a master story teller, using a simple lean style for a narrative that reads like a fable or myth, rich in invention, brought to life by the deadpan depiction of local people and local events
The Bay, Swansea
Kurkov masters the details superbly, writes with constant consummate wit and soufflé lightness
Tom Adair, Scotsman
Some see him as a latter day Bulgakov; to others he’s a Urkanian Murakami… With a characteristic mix of realism and fantasy it [The Gardener from Ochakov] will delight fans… Kurkov combines the mundane details of life in modern Ukraine (minibus taxis, tins of sprats and bottles of moonshine) with surreal elements from thrillers and sci-fi: knife wielding gangsters, or quantum leaps in the midnight suburbs. The plot rattles along like a Kiev commuter train, regularly stopping for vodka, salami and salted cucumbers…
Phoebe Taplin, Guardian
Quickly becomes an absorbing rollercoaster, an understated fantasy with an unlikely but likeable hero
Matthew Dennison, The Times
More than a clash of ages… It’s also a tale about fathers and sons and what they need from each other
Lesley McDowell, Glasgow Sunday Herald
Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin, has perfected a brand of deadpan magical realism; his latest reads like a mixture of Mikhail Bulgakov and a rejected script for the amiable 1990s sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. Kurkov’s unadorned style accentuates the narrative’s simple, fable-like quality but The Gardener from Ochakov is thematically rich: one might read it as a reflection on the role of alcohol in Ukrainian society, or the no less pernicious effects of post-Soviet nostalgia
David Evans, Financial Times