The first clue that JIMI HENDRIX LIVE IN LVIV by Andrey Kurkov might be a very different read from the story I'd expected was the description of how a young child rises up on tiptoes to see what they cannot normally see from their regular height. It proceeded into near-poetry, lyrical descriptions that felt more literary high-wire act than actual story intended for the reader's enjoyment. That sense of being off-balance never did ease up, even as I got into the rhythm and pace, the quick-cut slivers of impression felt so heavy-handed and genius-designed that I stopped reading to look at the description and lost track of the story. When it became clear that this was not going to change, I abandoned the read -- figuring this book is intended for the taste of a more literary or artistic-oriented reader rather than someone who enjoys a good story well-told, regardless of genre. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

Andrey Kurkov delivers a modern Ukrainian classic in this exploration of life in post Soviet Lviv, Ukraine. This novel is more about exploring the character of Ukrainians instead of following a plot and may not be a good introduction to Kurkov's body of work. I rated this 3 stars.

This story follows an eclectic cast of characters, such as the Jimi Hendrix loving "hippie," a man who collects urinary stones, and an actress, as they live their lives in and around Lviv, Ukraine. This is really an "extended slice of life" kind of book; low to no stakes, is character driven, and focuses on how all these characters live their lives and occasionally intersect with each other.

I adore Kurkov's translated prose; across the different translators, his direct voice and small bits of fantasy realism make the stories sing. Post Soviet Ukraine is dirty and strange and filled with characters who are occasionally off-putting and weird. But there's magic in reality. Reading this book renewed my pride in my home country. Kurkov's interpretation of Ukraine embraces the country in its entirety, his books are a love letter to this little country still figuring itself out.

The book's slow plot was a little off putting, I won't lie. As much as I enjoy a good character book, comparing JHLiL to his other character driven books that have a stronger plot (like Death and the Penguin or The Silver Bone) makes this one come across as a little "stuffy." Again, I still enjoyed it, it just didn't "hit" the same way his other works have. If you're a fan of slice of life slow burners, this book will be right up your alley.

I don't know if this is a book I would necessarily recommend to a general audience, but for those looking to read more Ukrainian lit, Kurkov cannot be missed and this book is an excellent exploration of the "character" of Ukrainians.

This book was packed full of oddities and ecletic-ness. While it was often a delight due to the bizarre way of writing it, I did not connect with the story. I wanted to so badly! I DNFed at 35%.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to give this title a try! All thoughts are entirely my own.

Slow based and off the wall odd ball type of book. Usually I’m down for the odd ball books. However, this one is heavily political without much background information so it tends to get lost on some of the readers. I am one of the readers who got lost lol. Also a few facts are not that accurate. I don’t know if this was supposed to be satire.l but it missed its mark with me.

In his acknowledgments for this book set in 2011, Ukraine writer Andrey Kurkov thanks the mayor of Lviv for inviting him to write a novel about their city. And Lviv, is, in a way, the protagonist of this strange but endearing tale full of political allegory, magical realism, and deadpan humor. First published in Russian in 2012, this English translation was published in the UK in 2023 and will be published in the US in August 2024, and it was long-listed for the 2023 International Booker Prize. For the latter reason and because I read an ARC of this book, I plodded haltingly through the beginning, the story was slow to grab hold of me. But it was worth sticking it out.

The novel opens with a group of oddball, aging hippies who gather annually to pay their respects to the late rock icon, Jimi Hendrix, on the anniversary of his death. [As a fan myself, I expected more about him and his music, given the title.] Specifically, they convene at the site of Hendrix’s buried hand in Lychakiv Cemetery in western Ukraine’s largest city, Lviv. The hand was allegedly smuggled out of the US, with some help from the CIA, by a Lithuanian KGB agent who got it to the Ukrainian KGB agent, Captain Ryabstev, who had been assigned to spy on the Lviv’s rock rams but became more enamored of the counterculture than he was of his job. What they loved best about Hendrix was his ‘strange music that the regional Party committee didn’t understand, with its strange but, thank God, incomprehensible foreign lyrics,” which they themselves knew. A bit of subversive fun.
The human protagonist, Taras, is a paramedic school dropout who makes his living by driving Polish clients in his Opel Vectra over Lviv’s cobblestone streets to help them dislodge kidney stones, vibrotherapy. He falls for a strange woman, Darka, who works at a money exchange but has to wear long gloves because she is allergic to many things. Then there are the more supernatural phenomena: sea gulls that laugh and attack, an overall scent of the ocean and the taste of salt water, a mysterious, wandering sailor miles from his home in Odesa. The appearance of the seagulls perplexes the residents of Lviv, as they are nowhere near the sea and they are accompanied by strange vibrations and an overall sense of pain and dread. I believe that storyline is an allegory for the constant threat of Russian imperialism rushing back in, much like the Carpathian Sea that once covered the region. Prescient, considering Russia’s aggressions in 2014 and 2022.

The writing is full of dry humor that took me a while to catch onto. And that may explain the problem I had at the beginning: Eastern European writing feels very different from Western European-influenced writing. It took some work for me in college to learn to appreciate Russian novels, given their heavy, dark, and often depressing subject matters and characters. Ukraine, and Lviv in particular as it is close to Ukraine’s western shared border with Poland, has long straddled East and West, and it represents a unique perspective. Once I began to catch on to the humor and allegory, the book settled in nicely., That was on me, not the author. I will look for other works by Mr. Kurkov.

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperVia, and Mr. Kurkov for the opportunity to read this advance reader’s copy ahead of its August 13, 2024 intended publication date.

No one but Kurkov could write this bizarre, charming, thoughtful book about a handful of oddball Lviv residents--an ex-KGB agent and dove enthusiast, a recovering alcoholic hairdresser, aging hippie, money changer who's literally allergic to money, and more, most memorably a man who drives people over potholed roads to help them pass their kidney stones. This Kurkov-esque cast is troubled by something inexplicable happening in the city, that somehow revolves around seagull attacks and the scent of the sea. Hard to describe, but utterly delightful.

While I thought the writing in this book was beautiful, I didn't really like the story all that much. I am wondering if my lack of worldliness contributed to that but I found it hard to connect with and understand.

Based on the title, I thought there would be more references to Jimi Hendrix (of whom I'm not exactly a fan, not because I don't like him, but because I just haven't really listened to much of his music) and that the story would have to do more with him but, alas, it wasn't that at all.

The story takes place in Lviv, a place I'm unfortunately not yet familiar with, and I guess I can say it's mostly about a group of sort-of friends and acquaintances who keep experiencing some weird phenomenon like attacking seagulls and salty air that overpowers the senses. There's also a sweet character named Darka who is, one of, the protagonist's (Taras) love interests who has a strange skin allergy which requires her to wear gloves when touching money.

There's quite a bit of social commentary, such as homelessness, but I'm so unfamiliar with the setting that I had trouble understanding all the references. I also didn't ever see much of the connection between the story of Alik and Ryabtsev and Taras and Darka. Somewhere along the lines I missed how one group saved the other. Perhaps I'd like it better if I understood it better but I don't.

There were so many factors converging at once, compelling me to request Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv from NetGalley and HarperVia: First, there was the title - which is charming, even though I was well aware that Jimi Hendrix would play a VERY minimal role going into my reading. Second, I love reading translations, generally, and try to read from the Booker International list each year. (This book was included on the 2023 Booker International longlist.) Third, I’ve never read anything by Andrey Kurkov but have always wanted to. So. There you have it – I was eager to jump into this ARC edition.

Alas, it was not entirely the book for me. I loved the characters and the humor. I just didn’t quite connect with the storyline, and I found the pacing uneven. Maybe it was the translation? Or maybe it was my own lack of contextual background for a book set in Lviv. Regardless, I’m not at all disappointed that I read it, and appreciate the opportunity to have done so.

Thank you to HarperVia and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published in the United States on August 13, 2024.

3 stars

more eh then death and the penguin (which i loved), but still a strong Kurkov. very very plotless though. thanks for the arc.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Absolutely loved these crazy characters. They are so familiar and nostalgic to me. The award for the most unique and inventive job definitely goes to Taras for his kidney stone removal "procedure". Simply brilliant! I once rode on these cobblestone streets in Lviv and it's true, these roads can shake teeth out of your mouth. I do have to honest, I didn't love this translation.

Reading this novel is like being on a mad teacups kind of ride, spinning across a city figuring out its place and future and grappling with a tumultuous past, spinning through the lives and minds and habits and desires of characters who are all stuck to ride themselves, spinning through ideas and half-formed plots and the fabulousness of the Eastern European grotesque and absurdist traditions of the region's literature. If you ever read Andrea Lee's Russian Journal or The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek or Bulgakov or Kundera or the more recent Voices of Freedom: Contemporary Writing From Ukraine, edted by Kateryna Kazimirova & Daryna Anastasieva, I think you'll enjoy Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv.

DNF after a single chapter.
Well folks, this is why you should always read a summary or synopsis of a book. Don't merely go off of the title and the cover. It is not actually about Jimi Hendrix, which I would have known if I had paid attention to the description. As it is, this is not my kind of thing at all.

This was a bizarre read that left me wanting more. This book moved along slowly with several characters drinking their way through the pages. There was so much drinking - coffee, vodka, liquer, beer. I believe 50% of this book are one of the characters sitting and drinking something. We moved through this story like a fever dream, and it took significant time before we reached a semblance of plot. There were glimmers of something interesting happening, from the strange vibrations and smell of salt air and iodine in a city so far inland ( as we are reminded of over and over). It was difficult for me to remain focused on the book. I thought there were some really interesting and engaging descriptions of the city, of people, of the world at night. But it seemed very scattered and I finished the book wanting more from its characters and story.

There is an authentic ring to Andrey Kurkov's' "Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv." The book feels like an opportunity to get acquainted with some of the citizens of this western Ukraine city. The mayor of Lviv asked Kurkov to write a novel about his city and Kurkov does the mayor and the city justice.

One becomes aware of the circumstances the Ukrainians live under: their aged cars, their often unheated apartments, their lack of financial resources, the perils of travel, whether it is before the war in Ukraine, as in this tale, or during the war in Ukraine in his novel "Grey Bees."

Taras Voznyak has many friends, most of them hippies who meet in the Lychakiv Cemetery once a year to commemorate Jimi Hendrix's death by visiting a grave rumored to contain the late musician's hand. Taras makes a living by helping Polish citizens (Poland is only 70 kilometers away) get rid of their kidney stones by driving his clients over potholes in his Opel Vectra, literally jolting the stones out of their bodies. After he helps the Poles relieve themselves of their kidney stones, he takes his earnings to the overnight bureau de change to exchange the money, often in euros for Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia,

The possibility of a romance between Taras and the bureau de change clerk, Darka, arises.

Released in 2017 but not translated into English by Reuben Woolley until 2023, "Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv" was longlisted for the International Booker Prize.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for an ARC of this book.

I'm sorry but I just could not find my way into this one... I was confused from the opening pages. I am not sure if it is a translation issue or a cultural issue or writing-style issue, but I had no idea what was going on and was not able to follow or engage with the story. This one was not a good fit for me.