Andrei Kurkov

The Profile

Ukrainian novelist and columnist, born 1961, writing primarily in Russian; best known internationally for Death and the Penguin.

Api grigie (Grey Bees) is noted in the review as written in 2019. Kurkov's novels have been translated into multiple languages.

The review discusses Andrei Kurkov's Api grigie (Grey Bees), a 2019 novel about Sergey, his beehives and survival in a Donbass no man’s land. Kurkov's prose is described as minimal, delicate and laced with sharp jokes. Themes include memory, the senselessness of war and the contrast between human behavior and bees.