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The Heart of a Dog
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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.
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The_Penniless_Author
Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Pickpick

A bourgeois doctor renowned throughout Moscow for his "treatments" improving the libido of the wealthy and influential inadvertently transforms a street dog into a human when one of his experiments goes awry. Unfortunately for the doctor, his new creation turns out to be an ill-mannered drunk spouting Bolshevik propaganda and generally making a nuisance of himself. Hilarious critique of the communist revolution's hubris and hypocrisy.

Liz_M great review! 14mo
48 likes1 comment
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vlwelser
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Pickpick

If you like Russian lit and haven't read this yet, it definitely gets my recommendation.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

IuliaC I enjoyed 'The Master and Margarita' by the same author 😊 2y
vlwelser @IuliaC I will have to put that on my list. Because this short one was excellent. 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
33 likes1 stack add3 comments
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vlwelser
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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❤🏖📚

33 likes1 stack add
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yoavshai
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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#BookCoverChallenge
Day 285.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

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Whalien99
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
Mehso-so

Expected so much more. 3 stars

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Eggs
Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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74 likes1 comment
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ReadosaurusText
Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Continuing on my current Bulgakov kick! In this book, a Soviet scientist transplants some organs of a Moscow criminal in a Moscow mutt, and some interesting #changes occur. Great, short allegory if you are looking for a quick, good read some afternoon. #Septembowie @Marchpane @Cinfhen

Cinfhen Well played 🙌🏻 7y
ReadosaurusText @Cinfhen Thank you! 😊 7y
34 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Oryx
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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First stop, The British Library. It actually has ALL the books. I used to study here when doing my PhD. I love it here. It has the best smell as well. I can't describe it.

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Cassandra_L
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Pickpick

Reread this after recommending it to a classmate despite not having read it since I was a teenager. God, I still love Bulgakov.

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Cassandra_L
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Turns out soylent green isn't people.

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pocketmermaid
Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Mehso-so

I ... have no idea what to make of this. But I'm glad I read (listened) to it. I was hoping for something bizarre, and it was, but it turns out I don't know nearly enough about Russian history to understand this satire. I'll have to read some lit crit and interpretation.

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Hobbinol
Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Moray_Reads Great choice! 7y
vivastory I wholeheartedly approve 7y
LeahBergen I've never read Bulgakov 😬 7y
See All 7 Comments
Hobbinol Thank you @Moray_Reads ! You've got me wagging my tail! 7y
Hobbinol @vivastory 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
Hobbinol @LeahBergen Grrrrrr! 7y
53 likes4 stack adds7 comments
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smccallum
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Pickpick

Another satire by Bulgakov that is, again, brilliant fun even with very little knowledge of Stalin's Russia. This is delightfully absurd and Bulgakov writes character's with beautifully distinct voices and I also adore how much he plays with the telling of the narrative here. Highly recommend!

BooksCatsMaine I loved this! I saw the opera when I was a student- completely surreal but I thoroughly recommend it! 7y
smccallum @BooksGirlsCats was that the one with Complicite? I've read about it and love their director! I wish I had seen it! 7y
40 likes1 stack add2 comments
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smccallum
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Some afternoon madness

Liberty I loooooove this book. 7y
44 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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smccallum
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Next on the reading list! Impulse buy after the delights of 'The Master And Margarita' so I am very excited!

49 likes2 stack adds
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TittaTatin
Cuore di cane | Michail Bulgakov
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Pickpick

In questo libro moooolto appassionante si sussegue ritmo,sarcasmo,humor,eccentricità e tenerezza.
Dalle parole di Franco Cordelli.
Consigliatissimo!!

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FaisalJ
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Pickpick

A satire of 1920s communist Russia. A famous professor does a procedure on a stray dog making it an intelligent being. The intelligent dog gets on the professor's nerves, being a loud oafish "proletariat". A lot of fun and funny in some places, it's gives you an idea of life during the early days of communism before Stalin. 9/10

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FaisalJ
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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Some kind of humorous jab at the common Soviet politician.

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FaisalJ
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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I love the wording to demonstrate the hatred the professor has to his dog-human hybrid.

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FaisalJ
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
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The professor is fed up with his dog who speaks about Marxist ideology after his successful human brain transplant.

Texreader 😆😆 7y
3 likes1 comment
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Leana
The Heart of a Dog | Mikhail Bulgakov
Pickpick

Highly recommend

AlexandraKustura Great book 8y
1 like2 stack adds1 comment