Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov | (EPUB) Free Download

Description

I first read Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita on a balcony of the Hotel Metropole in Saigon on three summer evenings in 1971. The tropical air was heavy and full of the smells of cordite and motorcycle exhaust and rotting fish and wood-fire stoves, and the horizon flared ambiguously, perhaps from heat lightning, perhaps from bombs. Later each night, as was my custom, I would wander out into the steamy back alleys of the city, where no one ever seemed to sleep, and crouch in doorways with the people and listen to the stories of their culture and their ancestors and their ongoing lives. Bulgakov taught me to hear something in those stories that I had not yet clearly heard. One could call it, in terms that would soon thereafter gain wide currency, “magical realism”. The deadpan mix of the fantastic and the realistic was at the heart of the Vietnamese mythos. It is at the heart of the present zeitgeist. And it was not invented by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as wonderful as his One Hundred Years of Solitude is. Garcia Marquez’s landmark work of magical realism was predated by nearly three decades by Bulgakov’s brilliant masterpiece of a novel. That summer in Saigon a vodka-swilling, talking black cat, a coven of beautiful naked witches, Pontius Pilate, and a whole cast of benighted writers of Stalinist Moscow and Satan himself all took up permanent residence in my creative unconscious. Their presence, perhaps more than anything else from the realm of literature, has helped shape the work I am most proud of. I’m often asked for a list of favorite authors. Here is my advice. Read Bulgakov. Look around you at the new century. He will show you things you need to see.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Great, thoughtful story of a doctor, a stray dog, and a bad choice of donor.An experiment gone wrong … and yet greater than ever hoped for.What is “human”? and what is “humane”?A new life during a period in Russian political history after a life of scraps, and mistreatment by most, and at the mercy of the elements.

⭐One of the few books to make it past Stalin. It speaks to human (and canine) nature and the assumption we can change a soul by changing its physical expression. Kafka meets Pushkin.

⭐Mikhail Bulgakov is a master of the outlandish and the surreal. And this book is full of both. Just when you think Bulgakov can’t get any more outrageous, he surprises you with odd twists and turns. The novella begins with a charming tale of a stray dog but this is no Walt Disney tale, for this dog becomes the pet of a renowned Moscow professor of medicine who plants human glands into the dog’s body and the dog becomes a monstrosity. Communism has presented itself to the world as a scientific political theory and I felt like Bulgakov was trying to tell us that despite the science behind Communism, the brute aspects of humanity can’t be washed away. As a sub-human, part-dog creature, we see behaviors that are rude, boorish, violent, but all too human. Human nature, including the worst aspects of human nature, exists even after scientific Communism has taken over. The goal of creating a new breed of man, which was one of the goals of Communism, is impossible and backfires in the writing of Bulgakov. I am reminded of his masterpiece, the Master and Margarita, where the Communist outlaw God but they forgot to outlaw the Devil. The book was written at a time when there were physicians who were injecting patients with hormones or glands of sheep fetus or monkey gonads to bring about everlasting youth or sexual stamina. Bulgakov takes this theme and runs with it.The dog Sharik becomes the human Sharikov, and as such becomes the image of the dull intelligence, short temper, crudeness, non-verbal, non-rationalizing, violent, prejudicial, of the worst group of lower class, lower income persons. Bulgakov would have us see that the Communist experiment can allow this type of person to gain power and influence and to be very socially destructive in their actions. Moscow must have been chaos in the 1930’s as one complete political and economic system is being replaced by another, and thus there is much room for human brutes to rise in a totalitarian system that allowed no dissent.I don’t want to give the impression that the book is all ideology, since in fact, it is highly inventive, entertaining, and outrageously satiric. The scenes are vivid and well written, easily imagined. I recommend this short book. It reminded me of the George Orwell’s Animal Farm mixed with Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. I know other reviewers have made this comparison but it is a great description of the book to someone who has not yet read it.

⭐The novella is a must read in today’s world. A masterpiece you don’t want to miss.This is one of the better translations into English. Quality of the print is just ok (could be much better). 5 stars to Bulgakov’s genius masterpiece. 3 stars to the publisher for profiting from the genius work but not caring to provide quality print. 4 stars to translator.Now, a note to an average reader who doesn’t know Russian and is illiterate in Russian history and culture – do yourself a favor and first study at least history of the 19th-20th centuries Russia; learn why marxism and leninism destroyed that country and why communist ideology is wrong not only about history, anthropology, psychology, and economy but also corrupts human nature destroying any last spark of goodness in it. Then read and try to understand some Dostoevsky (Demons, Crime and Punishment) – Jordan Peterson’s reflections on Dostoevsky can be helpful – and only then carefully, slowly, and with open heart try to read Bulgakov.I saw a few atrociously ignorant and arrogant reviews by native English speakers here – to those kind I say this: trust me, it’s not because Bulgakov failed, it’s because your intellectual development is… lacking. Keep working on it.

⭐Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) endured the difficult experience of having to live under the pressure of censorship, but has nonetheless left some interesting books that allow us to know what he thought about the process that has taking place in the newborn Soviet Russia. “Heart of a dog” is one of those books. It was written by Bulgakov in 1925, but it wasn`t published in Soviet Russia until 1987, due to the fact that it can easily be interpreted as a critical satire regarding the URSS.”Heart of a dog” is the story of a stray dog, Sharik, that hasn`t led an easy life. He lives in the streets of Moscow, and eats what he can, when he can. However, one day a doctor gives him food and takes him to his home. Sharik believes that his fate has changed, but he doesn`t know that the doctor has rather strange intentions…The doctor wants to perform an experiment on Sharik, in order to learn what would happen if some human organs were transplanted to a dog. The doctor performs the operation, implanting in Sharik the pituitary gland and the testicles of a dead criminal. Against all odds, Sharik survives the operation, and from that moment on begins an extraordinary transformation, that makes him more and more human.But what kind of human is he?. Sharik can talk, and asks everybody to call him first “Mr. Sharikov”, and afterwards “Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov”. He also walks like a human being, and somehow resembles one… But can he think, or does he merely repeat what he hears, specially Marx`s teachings?. Has the doctor`s experiment ruined a perfectly good dog, making him a perfectly despicable “human” being that threatens to denounce counterrevolutionaries and chases cats?.I don`t want to tell you more about this book: you really should read it yourself. It isn`t long, but it is quite interesting. What is more important, it is open to many interpretations, and you can always find your own. Some people believe that for Bulgakov Sharik represented the failure of those who try to create new beings (exactly what was supposedly being done at that time in the URSS, with the “soviet man”). Others highlight the glimpses of Soviet society that “Heart of a dog” allows us to have, and think that the aim of the author was to give the reader at least an idea of what it was like to live in the URSS at that time…These few possible interpretations don’t exclude others, so read this book and find them!!. Obviously, I highly recommend “Heart of a dog”…Belen Alcat

⭐Bulgakov is a kind of unearthed god. He lived his life in misery, ticking off the years, crushed into the too-tight shoes of Bolshevism. ‘Ok, I’m 30.. I haven’t written anything of significance and I would like to emigrate.’ They would not let him emigrate and would not allow his work to be published. By his 40th birthday he was saying the same thing. Some plays he was allowed to put on, but they were often pulled before opening night, He would then write to Stalin. Stalin would not write back, but he would then be appointed director of some theatre or theatrical arts committee. So many ups and downs. You must read his biography. A more unsatisfying life while he lived it, is unlikely to be found, but his writing is pure heaven. The oddest thing of all. His great novels; Heart of a Dog, Master and Margarita, all came to light long after his death, due to the relentless efforts of his third of fourth wife. Behind every man.. is a GREAT WOMAN!

⭐It seems it could of gone on for much longer, but very rich in humour and style. A good start into the world of mikhail, I hope to enjoy some more of his books.

⭐Very unusual book for those not familiar with Russian literature maybe. A bit gruesome in places, but Bulgakov’s wit and insight into humanity did not disappoint.

⭐excellent, challenging book

⭐Great read.

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