Marc-Uwe Kling: Die Känguru-Apokryphen: Live und ungekürzt

As much as I loved the three previous volumes of the story of Marc-Uwe and his kangaroo friend/flatmate, this one was a bit disappointing.

Somewhere at the beginning of the book, we get a reference to the two friends raising an adopted teenage penguin, which hinted at a continuation of the main story of the first three books. However, this was not to be. The rest of the book are stories that seem a mere random collection, not following the main story at all, and the book suffers for it.

For all of Kling’s wit and charme, the most memorable elements of this series have been the elements of the main story – the communist kangaroo and his nemesis, the neo-liberal penguin from across the hall. All of this is missing in this latest installment, nor does Kling develop a new coherent story.

It’s a shame that this series seems to have fizzled out after three books.