Who Is Martha?

Gaponenko%E2%80%99s novel is a mostly successful portrayal of a terminally ill nonagenarian who decides to leave life with a bang. Luka Levadski, a 96-year-old world-renowned ornithologist, looks at his past with perspicacity, trying to understand his father%E2%80%99s early suicide and his own youthful fascination for birds and passion for classical music. When he is diagnosed with lung cancer, he resists his doctor%E2%80%99s recommendation for treatment and buys sharp new clothes and a silver-handled walking stick instead. With the intention to die, checks into a suite at the grand Hotel Imperial in Vienna%E2%80%94bills be damned. Problems arise when the effects of his disease and a penchant for alcohol kick in, resulting in puzzling hallucinations including the appearance%E2%80%94it%E2%80%99s unclear whether it%E2%80%99s real or imaginary%E2%80%94of a young woman from the Soviet Union. These fantasies muddy the latter part of the narrative a bit, but the inclusion of Levadski%E2%80%99s new friends, the hotel butler and another elderly guest, elevate this story of joie de vivre in the face of death. (Oct.)