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

I really enjoyed the optimism of this book, it was such a joy to read and I missed feeling that. It had a great story going on and I thought the translation to English was really well done. I enjoyed the comedic moments and the historical setting. The characters worked with the story and I’m glad I got to read this.

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.