Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Heart of a Dog
Book Review: Would have liked France
Summary: 4 Stars
Bulgakov's quibble with the Soviet authorities seems not to be that they have come to realise that the lower classes are ghastly, but that they ever supposed they could be anything else. I'm sure the dicky-bowed, monacled MB would have been happier as a Parisian boulavadier, aristo-emigre. Funny, decadent, thoroughly counter-revolutionary - its scarcely surprising he was supressed during his lifetime.Book Review: You can drag the mass of humanity to water, but you can't make them drink
Summary: 4 Stars
This slim novel by Bulgakov has been well disected in these reviews already, and I wouldn't usually contribute another opinion unless I thought I had something to add. However, after reading all the other reviews, my opinion (and only my opinion) was that they were slightly misleading. I am referring particularly to the three descriptions this book seems to generate most - Timeless, Hilarious and Kafkaesque.
First let me say that I enjoyed "Heart of a Dog" very much. I liked it, which is why I rated it four stars. I thought the satire very pointed, the humor endearing, and the premise absurdly good. Obviously Bulgakov was a dedicated, intelligent man, one who was prepared to suffer for what he had to say, and it is truly a crime that did.
But I did not think "Heart of a Dog" is hilarious, and not necessarily timeless. Not that those are prerequisite qualities, but if someone is searching these reviews, deciding whether or not they should invest in this book, they may mistake it for a piece of slapstick, which it is not. Yes, there are some funny bits to it, but don't expect the Marx Brothers.
Another superlative given is timeless, and here I both agree and disagree. I thought that Bulgakov tied this novel to a very distinctive time and place, which was attempting a particular experiment with its social structure. Bulgakov eviscerates that in just a few pages, as is what I think his goal was. The references to organ transplants between animal and human, daily life under soviet rules, and the particular anger of the poor toward the priveliged are all subjects that both date and locate this novel, and may be somewhat challenging for modern readers to fully appreciate.
Bulgakov makes a bold statement with this book - that it is not possible to drag the mass of humanity out of the servile and backward state they are in by force. It must happen naturally. What does strike me as timeless is that there are still powers today who try changing entire nations, through shock and awe, and are convinced that the people will automatically come round to the "only" enlightened and democratic point of view, once they are liberated from the past.
It's no wonder to me that Bulgakov's work was suppressed. He may save his most biting comments for the Soviet system, but, by inference, he doesn't have much regard for the common man either, except as commoners. But then Bulgakov may have been having his fun with everyone. The bourgeoisie get a bit of a poke in the eye here too. But I cannot understand why anyone would refer to this novel as Kafkaesque. Aside from the transformation aspect in "The Metamorphosis", I don't see any similarities at all.
One other quick note - this edition has one of the most apt cover designs I've ever seen on a book. The look on the dog's face, looking back over his shoulder, dovetails quite well with the interior.
While I wouldn't say it is hilarious, or Kafkaesque( I think it is Bulgakovian), and may not go so far as timeless, I do think "Heart of a Dog" is both thought-provoking and enjoyable. Well worth reading.
Book Review: a quick and funny read
Summary: 4 Stars
Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog" is a fantastic introduction to his writing in general. I read this after "The Master and Margarita" and found it to be a bit less polished, but on the whole a very enjoyable book! Many lessons for modern science. Perhaps high school English teachers should add this book to their curriculum, as it has not lost any of its edge over the intervening 60 years.Book Review: massively overrated
Summary: 1 Stars
This sat on my shelf for about a year. I purchased it because I had enjoyed the author's competent but not earth-shaking "Master and Margarita."
Unfortunately, when I finally finished it (in an afternoon: it's only 120 pages) it became one of those books that was a lot better before you have actually read it.
I knew what it was about, of course: a Soviet era satire (written in 1925, but not published in the USSR until 1987) about a dog who, owing to the experiments of a scientist, gets the opportunity to enjoy life as a human -- and low-level party functionary -- for a while.
Alas! Before I read it, the satire was dead on, the characterization sharp, and the story was "brilliantly inventive," as the back cover promises.
But that's not actually how the story turns out to be.
In fact, the first third of the novel concerns the dog's point of view: what it's like to be a stray dog in a Russian city. I didn't find this part to be particularly memorable or exceptional.
Then we get to the part where the professor transforms the dog into a human. This took way too long: probably the middle half of the novel or so. We were certainly halfway through before he was actually in a human body.
Bulgakov definitely spent too much time on this process, and it blunted the strength of this satire, in my view. I mean, come on. Your readers have already charitably agreed to suspend their disbelief so that they can enjoy the story of a dog walking around in human form, so why was it necessary to go on and on for the bulk of the novel trying to convince us this was scientifically possible?
The whole satire doesn't really get going until the final quarter of the book, but by then, what can Bulgakov do? He has squandered so much time setting up the story that there is little room left for character development or complication.
In fact, by the end of the book, Bulgakov seems to be wink-winking at us, "Get it? Low-level Soviet officials are indistinguishable from dogs! Get it? Get it?"
That's it?
Have our standards of a satire really fallen to the point where such heavy-handed clunkiness can pass for deft and timeless wit? Sheesh.
Book Review: russian masters
Summary: 5 Stars
Heart of a Dog is a most insightful book into the Russian soul, and Bulgakov proves himself to be another brilliant Russian satirist. It was great fun to read of the Bolshevik era in this common Russian theme, with its bizarre appearances of the "loyal comrades" upstairs. One of the great Bolshevik era writers. If one considers the dog to be the common Russian, who was attemptedly educated to be of a higher class, the monster he became rings a familiar note looking at Putin's Russia right now.
The dissonance between classes was pronounced in the pre revolutionary era, as now, and does not change with the poltical winds, it seems to this author, despite the huge variation in political rulers and philosopies over the last 100 years. An interesting, quick and fun read. Highly recommended, especailly to those with a history of reading Russian novels.