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Graue Bienen
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Grey Bees

Published by Diogenes as Graue Bienen
Original Title: Serye pchely

When honey tastes of war.

Grey Bees is a novel about a war that has almost been forgotten, a novel full of atmosphere and wisdom, which forces the reader to slow down, reminding him of what matters most: preserving the integrity of nature.

Beekeeper Sergey lives in Donbass, where Ukrainian fighters and pro-Russian separatists exchange gunfire on a daily basis. He survives by following the motto: Hear nothing, see nothing – stay out of it. His only concern is the well-being of his bees. Because the bees’ world continues to be ruled by intelligent order and wonderful productivity while mankind wreaks havoc. One spring, he sets off: He wants to bring the bees to a region where they can collect nectar in peace.


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»At the same time poetic and poignant.«

Gala, Hamburg

»With the novel Grey Bees, the author Andrej Kurkow has once again achieved a resounding success.«

Peter Budig / Nürnberger Nachrichten

»Andrej Kurkow’s novel illustrates the life of a civil society that lives in a war without being at war themselves.«

Simona Pinwinkler / Salzburger Nachrichten

»Kurkow tells Sergej’s story in a predominantly light and humorous tone, but frequently interweaves grotesque scenes of destruction.«

Gisela Erbslöh / SWR2, Baden-Baden

»With Grey Bees, Andrej Kurkow has produced a sharply-drawn picture of the festering conflict in the Ukraine, one from which the rest of Europe has long since averted its gaze.«

Sigrid Löffler / Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Cologne

»It is highly impressive how Andrej Kurkow manages to create a melancholic mood in his tale of the happiness seeker Sergej without descending into pathos.«

Terrance Albrecht / WDR 5, Cologne

»Like Norbert Scheuer’s Winter Bees, this is far more than just another book about bees – and it is Kurkow’s strongest work yet.«

Mathias Schnitzler / Berliner Zeitung

»Kurkow tells the oppressive story of the everyday of war in Eastern Ukraine with a quiet and poetic language.«

Céline Graf / Der Bund, Berne

»This time, the Ukrainian author of Death and the Penguin, known for his brilliantly dark humour, has written a modern-day odyssey, with a return that is ambiguously hopeful.«

India Lewis / The Arts Desk, London

»In spare prose, Ukraine's most famous novelist unsparingly examines the inhuman confusions of our modern times and the longing of the warm-hearted everyman that is Sergeyich for the rationality of the natural world.«

John Thornhill / Financial Times, London

»Grey Bees is as timely as the author's Ukraine Diaries were in 2014, but treats the unfolding crisis in a more imaginative way, with a pinch of Kurkov's signature humour.«

fantasticfiction.com

»Kurkow distils a happy desperation, a form of surreal pantheism that places him geographically, like his country, between Russian romanticism and Scandinavian fatalism, between Chekhov and Paasilinna, Gogol and Hamsun.«

Frederic Beigbeder / Le Figaro, Paris

»In his book, the writer paints the ›grey zone‹ on the frontline with great humanity.«

Isabelle Mandraud / Le Monde, Paris

»This book lingers in the details, and every detail bears significant power.«

Kalani Pickhart / Electric Literature, New York

»And this one is actually kind of a sweet simple story, but in a way that’s deceptively so. You watch someone’s sweetness be pushed to its limits.«

Jennifer Wilson / New York Times Book Review, New York

»May more novels follow.«

Anna Reid / The Independent, Dublin

»Grey Bees is a gentle, sometimes ambivalent book about a conflict that had its share of moral complexity.«

The New Yorker, New York

»And this one is actually kind of a sweet simple story, but in a way that’s deceptively so. You watch someone’s sweetness be pushed to its limits.«

The New York Times Book Review, New York

»The Ukrainian writer depicts with unsettling simplicity the day-to-day life of isolated pensioners in their deserted villages, in the heart of a ›grey zone‹ which divides the pro-Russian separatists from the rest of the Ukrainians on the front line.«

Isabelle Mandraud / Le Monde, Paris

»The novel doesn’t provide an answer. But it reminds us not to forget the poetry, courage and imagination of a country that is much more than the battlefield it is today.«

Flavie Philipon / Elle, Paris

»Somewhere between realism and dream, Andrei Kurkov has penned a great, absurd and philosophical novel about the chaos of the world, and about the brotherhood between a simple man and his bees.«

Sophie Joubert / L'Humanité, Saint-Denis

»The novel Grey Bees is essential reading in this time of war. Literature as an antidote to barbarism and hopelessness.«

Philippe Chevilley / Les Echos, Paris

»Somewhere between political fable and sparks of bucolic philosophy, this is a wonderful book that says so much about how high the stakes are where war is concerned.«

Jacques Lindecker / L'Alsace, Mulhouse

»Grey Bees makes the reader laugh, with tears in their eyes.«

Cécile Dutheil de la Rochère / AOC, Nîmes

»At the same time poetic and poignant.«

Gala, Hamburg

»With the novel Grey Bees, the author Andrej Kurkow has once again achieved a resounding success.«

Peter Budig / Nürnberger Nachrichten

»Andrej Kurkow’s novel illustrates the life of a civil society that lives in a war without being at war themselves.«

Simona Pinwinkler / Salzburger Nachrichten

»Kurkow tells Sergej’s story in a predominantly light and humorous tone, but frequently interweaves grotesque scenes of destruction.«

Gisela Erbslöh / SWR2, Baden-Baden

»With Grey Bees, Andrej Kurkow has produced a sharply-drawn picture of the festering conflict in the Ukraine, one from which the rest of Europe has long since averted its gaze.«

Sigrid Löffler / Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Cologne

»It is highly impressive how Andrej Kurkow manages to create a melancholic mood in his tale of the happiness seeker Sergej without descending into pathos.«

Terrance Albrecht / WDR 5, Cologne

»Like Norbert Scheuer’s Winter Bees, this is far more than just another book about bees – and it is Kurkow’s strongest work yet.«

Mathias Schnitzler / Berliner Zeitung

»Kurkow tells the oppressive story of the everyday of war in Eastern Ukraine with a quiet and poetic language.«

Céline Graf / Der Bund, Berne

»This time, the Ukrainian author of Death and the Penguin, known for his brilliantly dark humour, has written a modern-day odyssey, with a return that is ambiguously hopeful.«

India Lewis / The Arts Desk, London

»In spare prose, Ukraine's most famous novelist unsparingly examines the inhuman confusions of our modern times and the longing of the warm-hearted everyman that is Sergeyich for the rationality of the natural world.«

John Thornhill / Financial Times, London

»Grey Bees is as timely as the author's Ukraine Diaries were in 2014, but treats the unfolding crisis in a more imaginative way, with a pinch of Kurkov's signature humour.«

fantasticfiction.com

»Kurkow distils a happy desperation, a form of surreal pantheism that places him geographically, like his country, between Russian romanticism and Scandinavian fatalism, between Chekhov and Paasilinna, Gogol and Hamsun.«

Frederic Beigbeder / Le Figaro, Paris

»In his book, the writer paints the ›grey zone‹ on the frontline with great humanity.«

Isabelle Mandraud / Le Monde, Paris

»This book lingers in the details, and every detail bears significant power.«

Kalani Pickhart / Electric Literature, New York

»And this one is actually kind of a sweet simple story, but in a way that’s deceptively so. You watch someone’s sweetness be pushed to its limits.«

Jennifer Wilson / New York Times Book Review, New York

»May more novels follow.«

Anna Reid / The Independent, Dublin

»Grey Bees is a gentle, sometimes ambivalent book about a conflict that had its share of moral complexity.«

The New Yorker, New York

»And this one is actually kind of a sweet simple story, but in a way that’s deceptively so. You watch someone’s sweetness be pushed to its limits.«

The New York Times Book Review, New York

»The Ukrainian writer depicts with unsettling simplicity the day-to-day life of isolated pensioners in their deserted villages, in the heart of a ›grey zone‹ which divides the pro-Russian separatists from the rest of the Ukrainians on the front line.«

Isabelle Mandraud / Le Monde, Paris

»The novel doesn’t provide an answer. But it reminds us not to forget the poetry, courage and imagination of a country that is much more than the battlefield it is today.«

Flavie Philipon / Elle, Paris

»Somewhere between realism and dream, Andrei Kurkov has penned a great, absurd and philosophical novel about the chaos of the world, and about the brotherhood between a simple man and his bees.«

Sophie Joubert / L'Humanité, Saint-Denis

»The novel Grey Bees is essential reading in this time of war. Literature as an antidote to barbarism and hopelessness.«

Philippe Chevilley / Les Echos, Paris

»Somewhere between political fable and sparks of bucolic philosophy, this is a wonderful book that says so much about how high the stakes are where war is concerned.«

Jacques Lindecker / L'Alsace, Mulhouse

»Grey Bees makes the reader laugh, with tears in their eyes.«

Cécile Dutheil de la Rochère / AOC, Nîmes
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