15 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Case of the General's Thumb
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Case of the General's Thumb (Paperback)

by Andrey Kurkov (Author), George Bird (Translator)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


4 new from £1.98 11 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition) £7.99 £4.99 20 used & new from £0.97
Unknown Binding 5 used & new from £8.93

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

A Matter of Death and Life

A Matter of Death and Life

by Andrey Kurkov
4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  £4.49
Penguin Lost

Penguin Lost

by Andrey Kurkov
2.8 out of 5 stars (5)  £4.99
The President's Last Love

The President's Last Love

by Andrey Kurkov
4.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £5.99
Death and the Penguin (Panther)

Death and the Penguin (Panther)

by Andrey Kurkov
4.5 out of 5 stars (38)  £4.99
The Good Angel of Death

The Good Angel of Death

by Andrey Kurkov
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £9.07
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: The Harvill Press (20 Mar 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1843430169
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843430162
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 12.8 x 1.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 325,420 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

A Russian General is murdered. But why? And, more importantly, what has happened to his thumb? Viktor Slutsky, a young police lieutenant, is sent to investigate it. So, independently, is Nik Tsensky, a former military interpreter. We read in parallel their two stories as they travel across Europe, pawns in a much more complex game than they could possibly suspect. On the way they meet Sergey, a larger-than-life hit-man and hearse-driving sociopath, who has somehow acquired a deaf-and-dumb blonde girlfirend and a tortoise to whom he becomes devoted (a worthy anthropomorphic successor to Misha the Penguin, eponymous hero of his previous novel). As the two investigators gradually close in on the secret, they become involved in a battle between the Russian and the Ukranian secret services over the fabled KGB "Red Gold". Another brilliantly inventive black satire which will both enlighten and entertain.


From the Publisher

An international thriller, shot through with black satire and authentic detail, by the author of the highly acclaimed Death & the Penguin --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Case of the General's Thumb
58% buy the item featured on this page:
The Case of the General's Thumb 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
A Matter of Death and Life
13% buy
A Matter of Death and Life 4.4 out of 5 stars (5)
£4.49
Penguin Lost
10% buy
Penguin Lost 2.8 out of 5 stars (5)
£4.99
Death and the Penguin (Panther)
10% buy
Death and the Penguin (Panther) 4.5 out of 5 stars (38)
£4.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully written and engaging, 12 May 2004
By Barton Keyes "barton keyes" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This superb litle story will stay with you long after you have put the book down. The writing has a bitter-sweet flavour, which makes you smile when you know you should really be crying for the characters involved. Like the author's previous story, about Misha the Penguin, both the plot and the humour help to illuminate the deep flaws of contemporary Russian society as far as ordinary people are concerned. More can be learned from the texture of novels like this than from factual accounts -- however well they relate the details. In the end it is the emotions that count as much as the documents in relating the circumstance of a country.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Deadpan Satire Doesn't Measure Up to Earlier Work, 11 May 2005
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Case of the General's Thumb (Paperback)
I read and enjoyed Kurkov's earlier book Death and the Penguin, but his latest Ukrainian caper doesn't measure up. Set in 1997, the story follows two men sent on very separate secret missions that, of course, ultimately converge. One is lowly Kiev militiaman Viktor, who is assigned to investigate the death of a prominent retired general -- a task that would normally be undertaken at the highest levels. The other is Nik, a lowly KGB linguist reassigned from the Tajik capital Dushanbe to Kiev. Both are being directed by unseen forces.

Viktor receives frequent cell phone calls from the mysterious Georgiy, who basically runs the investigation by telling him where to go, who to talk to, and what to say. Nik is controlled by another KGB agent named Ivan who sets him up with a partner named Sakhno who clearly has some experience wreaking havoc. They are dispatched on a series of seemingly bizarre errands across Poland, Germany, and France, with lengthy periods of waiting around in safe houses. Kurkov takes a while, but eventually it becomes clear that the path both Viktor and Nik are on leads to a secret $400 billion stash that the KGB lost control of and access to in the chaos of post-Soviet restructuring. Viktor is a pawn being pushed around on behalf of an emerging Ukrainian domestic intelligence agency, while Nik is obviously working on behalf of the Russians.

The book is written in the same deadpan voice as Death and the Penguin, and has its moments, but for the most part it lacks that book's absurdist black humor. There are bits and pieces here and there, such as Nik and Sakhno's acquisition of a hearse, a turtle, and a deaf and dumb blonde, but not enough. The detached style combined with the fact that neither Viktor and Nik is particularly in control of their own destiny makes it hard to care much about anything that happens to them. It also doesn't help things that the duo are so lightly characterized that they're hard to tell apart. Things pick up a little in the final twenty pages of the brief novel, but on the whole it's not a great read. Certainly of some interest to those with an interest in things Ukrainian, but not the revelation that Death and the Penguin was.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good, 13 May 2005
By David Brookes (Sheffield, UK) - See all my reviews
Unlike Kerkov's earlier work 'Death and the Penguin', a hit with myself and many other readers, 'The Case of the General's Thumb' doesn't quite reach the heights of genius I've come to expect from the author. The dark humour is barely noticable, although the farcical elements that do appear are great and certainly memorable. The plot is twisty, but the loose characterisations of the main protagonists Viktor and Nik mean that two plotlines we as readers are supposed to see as completely seperate (until the respectable finale) merge and can be confused. The whole novel, actually, is a little confusing, with all the information being there, only hidden behind largely anonymous dialogue and bewildering, if amusing, events.

An average read from an author that we know can do better! Still, worth a rent from the library, at least - I can't garauntee I'll read my own copy again anytime.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart
Kurkov has done it again! The two stories of the book are beautifully combined in the end, but offer the reader some brain-gymnastics in the beginning. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ivanna Rosendal

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject













i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.