Heart of a Dog

Mikhail Bulgakov
Translated by Mirra Ginsburg

this edition
Grove Press Inc, New York
(c) 1968

Originally written in 1925, this book was banned in the Soviet Union (big surprise! I think it would be much shorter to have a list of books that WEREN'T banned in the USSR) - I suppose for no other reason than it shows that a dog turned human could get a government post, because frankly I don't see anything in here that is anti-government. The only enemy really is the weasal that runs the renters association in the building, and he's a little tinpot tyrant who wants to kick out the good doctor/mad scientist.

The most interesting aspect of the book is Sharik, the dog, especially before he's turned human, the thoughts and impressions that he has are remarkable, and you're left wondering if THIS particular dog is a special character in himself, that is, if Sharik himself made the operation a success simply because of his intelligence.

That, and choosing the "brain" of a criminal, also led to the question of what truly gave Sharikov (the dog-turned-human) his baser characteristics: the dog or the criminal? The book only speculates.

And yes, yes, you can't resist the comparison to Young Frankenstein, hearing EYE-gor say hesitantly, "Abby . . . Normal?"

Other comparisons (beside all the "mad scientist" gothic novels that came before):Flowers for Algernon - but that novel had a much different theme. However, both can be read definitively in relation to their times (Dog in USSR 1920's and Algernon in US 1960's) - in fact, that might be a good comparison/contrast paper for all you English majors out there. If I were still in college, I might attempt it myself.

All in all - a good read, although the major themes were not worked to their full extent (for which lazy readers will be thankful), and the ending was a little too . . . "easy" to be truly fulfilling.

VG