Heart of a Dog
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| Heart of a Dog | |
|---|---|
 A 2001 Russian edition of The Fatal Eggs and Heart of a Dog. |
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| Author | Mikhail Bulgakov |
| Original title | Собачье сердце |
| Country | U.S.S.R. |
| Language | Russian |
| Publication date | 1968 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-8021-5059-2 |
| OCLC Number | 17676889 |
| Dewey Decimal | 812/.54 19 |
| LC Classification | PS3556.E42 E4 1990 |
Heart of a Dog (Russian: Собачье сердце, Sobač'e serdce) is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, considered as a biting satire of the New Soviet man. It was written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when Communism appeared to be weakening in the Soviet Union[1]. However, its publication was initially prohibited in Russia, and it was officially released in the country only in 1987. It is "one of novelist Mikhail Bulgakov's most beloved stories" featuring a stray dog "named Sharik who takes human form as a slovenly proletarian."[2]
The novel has become a cultural phenomenon in Russia, known and discussed by people "from schoolchildren to politicians." [3] It has become a subject of critical argument, was filmed in both Russian and Italian-language versions, and adapted in English as a play and an opera.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
A successful well-off surgeon Filip Filippovich Preobrazhensky implants a pituitary gland and testicles of a recently deceased alcoholic and petty criminal Klim Chugunkin into a stray dog named Sharik. Sharik proceeds to become more and more human during the next few days. After his transition to human is complete, it turns out that he inherited all the negative traits of the donor - bad manners, aggressiveness, use of profanity, heavy drinking. He picks for himself an absurd name Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov, starts working at the "Moscow Cleansing Department responsible for eliminating vagrant quadrupeds" and associating with revolutionaries, who plot to drive Preobrazhensky out of his big apartment. Eventually he turns the life in the professor's house into a nightmare, and the professor with his assistant are urged to reverse the procedure. Sharikov turns back into a dog. As Sharik he doesn't remember anything that happened and is left to live in the professor's apartment.
[edit] Themes
The story has similarities with Dr. Faustus, Frankenstein, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. It was published in the Soviet Union only in 1987, more than 60 years after its completion, but was made known to Russian readers through samizdat. In 1968, it was published in English by Harvill Press, translated by Michael Glenny. More recently, it has been reprinted by Grove Press in paperback; ISBN 0-8021-5059-4.
The tale has been interpreted either as a satire on the Soviet utopian attempts to radically improve human nature by creating a New Soviet man[5] or as a wry comment on the scientists' attempts to interfere with nature. [6] One commonly accepted interpretation is that Bulgakov was trying to show all the inconsistencies of the system in which a man with a dog's intelligence could become an important part (Sharikov).
Sharik is seen as "a reincarnation of the repellent proletarian," and the professor represents a "hyperbolic vision of the bourgeois dream," according to J.A.E. Curtis.[1]
Names figure prominently in the story. Preobrazhensky's name is derived from the Russian word for "transfiguration." "Sharik" is a common name for dogs in Russia, equivalent to "Spot."
The name and patronymic "Poligraf Poligrafovich" translate roughly as "Rotogravure, Son of Rotogravure" and echos a tradition of nonsense double names in Russian literature that goes back to Gogol's hero Akakii Akakievich in "The Overcoat". The name is also a satire on new naming conventions in the early Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the name was chosen according to the old Russian tradition, of "consulting the calendar," with Poligraf's name day being March 4.
The name of the drunken donor of the human implants is Chugunkin ("chugun" is cast iron) which can be seen as parody on the name of Stalin ("stal'" is steel).
The real life prototype for Professor Preobrazhensky was most probably Russia-French surgeon Serge Voronoff who was famous for his experiments on implanting humans with animal's testicles and Thyroid glands [7].
The book was rejected for publication in 1925, due in part to Lev Kamenev, the top party official. Bulgakov was writing a play based on the story in 1926 for the Moscow Art Theater but the play was cancelled after the manuscript and copies were confiscated by the state police OGPU. Eventually, Maxim Gorky helped get the manuscript returned.[1]
A comic opera, The Murder of Comrade Sharik by William Bergsma (1973), is based on the plot of the story.
The story was filmed in Italian in 1976 as "Cuore di cane" and starred Max Von Sydow as Preobrazhensky.[8]
A very popular 1988 Soviet movie, Sobachye Serdtse, was made (in sepia) by Vladimir Bortko.[9] Major sequences in the movie were famously shot from an unusually low dog's point of view.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Cornwell, Neil; Nicole Christian (1998). Reference Guide to Russian Literature. Taylor & Francis. p. 103. ISBN 1884964109, 9781884964107. http://books.google.com/books?id=ehaZrlRY_YgC&q=Poligrafovich#search_anchor.
- ^ Schoofs, Mark (May 20, 2008). "In Moscow's Metro, a Stray Dog's Life Is Pretty Cushy, and Zoologists Notice". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones): pp. A1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121123197068805001.html?mod=hps_us_pageone. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ Serebriakov, Alexandr. "Собачье сердце как зеркало русской контрреволюции". Scepsis.ru. http://www.scepsis.ru/library/id_848.html. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ Yankova, Tatiana. "Автор и герой в «Собачьем сердце»". Scepsis.ru. http://scepsis.ru/library/id_873.html. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ New York Times review Stage: Heart of a Dog, 1988-02-01.
- ^ Bulgakov's biography at SovLit.com
- ^ Tatiana Bateneva. In the quest for longevity humans are ready to become relatives with any animals (Russian)
- ^ Cuore di cane Internet Movie Database
- ^ Sobachye Serdtse Internet Movie Database
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- (Russian) Bulgakov museum in Moscow. The Odd Flat
- (Russian) Diary of Bulgakov museum in Moscow
- Full text of Heart of a Dog in the original Russian
- Full text of Heart of a Dog translated into English
- Cornwell, Neil; Nicole Christian (1998). Reference Guide to Russian Literature. Taylor & Francis. p. 103. ISBN 1884964109, 9781884964107. http://books.google.com/books?id=ehaZrlRY_YgC&q=Poligrafovich#search_anchor.
- Haber, Edythe C. (1998). Mikhail Bulgakov: The Early Years. Harvard University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0674574184. http://books.google.com/books?id=aAYOu62zcVUC&q=Heart+of+a+Dog#search_anchor.
