Bulgakov: A Dog's Heart

By: Mikhail Bulgakov

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

Length: 3 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

When a respected surgeon decides to transplant human body parts into a stray dog, he creates a monster - drunken, profligate, aggressive and selfish. It seems the worst aspects of the donor have been transplanted as well. As his previously well-regulated home descends into riotous chaos, the doctor realises he will have to try to reverse the operation; but the dog isn't so keen....

Wild, uproarious and deliriously comic, Bulgakov's short novel is at once a comment on the problems of 1920s Russia and a lasting satire on human nature.

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Public Domain (P)2010 Naxos Audiobooks

Enloyable read

This is am enjoyable commentary on the human heart, condition and communism wrapped in a creative and interesting story. The performance is fabulous.

Science fiction/fantasy/ marked political themes

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes Excellent story and rendition of same

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bulgakov: A Dog's Heart?

The transformation of the dog Furball into a man

Any additional comments?

German literature gave us Kafka's The Metamorphosis, English lit gave us Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Russian literature gave us this superb, but lesser known tale. The plot lines all have transformation in them, man turns into bug, man discovers and is overtaken by his evil side, grateful, nice dog turns into mean,ungrateful man. The deeper themes are noteworthy as well, respectfully family relations and isolation; good vs evil; and marked political themes.
All these stories are short and deserve our attention. Longer novels of the genre include Frankenstein , man-vs nature and society isolating man themes; Dracula with its sexual subtext; and Island of Dr. Moreau with its political and religious themes.

Good stuff!

Yes, Audible, I did rather enjoy this book. The voice work is wonderful! Such dynamic range of vocal work. Only the doctors were hard to establish.

I love dogs so that primarily why I purchased this. While it is about a dog, it is really an interesting listen for other aspects. Not something I'd recommend to everyone but definitely something I'm glad I listened to.

Great whacky book

I read this book first and it was good but listening to it was way better!

Enjoyable

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I wasn't sure if I knew enough Russian history to really "get" the social satire, but I don't think the satire is necessarily unique to the early Soviet Union. It wasn't a huge time commitment, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did.

Would you recommend Bulgakov: A Dog's Heart to your friends? Why or why not?

I would if I had a friend that really enjoyed satire (But I don't) or Russian Lit (But I don't).

Did Roy McMillan do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Furball sounded like a talking dog, and the Professor was appropriately hoity-toity. Furballov was coarse and crude. Overall, McMillan did pretty well.

Any additional comments?

I liked the way the perspective shifted from First Person, to Epistolary, to Third Person. Great device.

I wish it were longer...

I enjoyed this- I only wish it were longer, and that the “transformation” occurred earlier than half way through the book.

Another entertaining / surreal book by M. Bulgakov

I read this author's most famous book, the Master and Margarita, years ago. George Guidall narrated it excellently narrated and I really enjoyed it.

In this much shorter book, the author seems to spend a bit more time poking the (new) Soviet system in the eye. That must have been very, very risky business as the author lived during the Stalin era. Fortunately for him (and maybe for Stalin and us as well), Stalin liked the author’s work or at least respected his skill enough to spare him the fate of millions of other Russians Stalin was not as fond of.

If you liked the Master and Margarita, you should enjoy A Dog’s Heart. This is especially likely given how well this book is narrated by Roy McMillan. If you are into irreverent stories, surreal stuff, and Russian-style writing, or think you might be, then I highly recommend this book.

That said, The Master and Margarita is probably one of the most interesting books I’ve read and if you were only going to read one, I’d suggest the longer, weirder book, The M&M.

Had no idea what to expect, but I loved it

I read the summary to this book and thought it sounded interesting. However, once I started into the book the summary didn't do it justice. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and what it had to say about life in Russia as well as the story of the dog and the surgeon. very well done. Very well narrated.

quick read

I felt the story lacked detail in certain areas and could've developed more fully with it. Over all an interesting quick read.

The story is entertaining amid amusing to say the least. The dog and the professor are wonderful rich characters

The story and characters are rich in their unique personalities and performances.light entertainment and easy to follow. The antics are original and fun yet yet can be related to life in the theatre. I over this book as it was short but long enough to keep me entertained. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in reading something different.