The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov

3.91 AVERAGE

mark_von_oink's profile picture

mark_von_oink's review against another edition

5.0
challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
feeg's profile picture

feeg's review against another edition

4.5
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Very weird & very ridiculous, and so I loved it. Very interesting 1920s Russian commentary!!!! I like that you can tell how much looser the censorship laws were compared to Stalin era 
mistersharp's profile picture

mistersharp's review against another edition

5.0
challenging dark funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

marthel's review against another edition

4.25
dark funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

marthel's review against another edition

4.25
dark funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
cheuksin's profile picture

cheuksin's review against another edition

4.25
dark emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Kinda like Frankenstein.
Very interesting concept
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d3l4's review against another edition

4.0
funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

bookkee's review against another edition

3.25
adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ammazza_scimmie's review against another edition

4.0
dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

beekeeper23's review against another edition

3.0
challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced
I think it's important to read books by authors you don't agree with. When they argue in good faith it can really challenge your beliefs. Bulgakov's satire doesn't seem to be arguing in good faith. While I'm reliably told that Heart of a Dog is intended as a satire of Bolshevism, it reads to me more like a satire of the hysteria of it's critics. For example, Preobrazhensky exhibits all of the negative traits of the bourgeois that Bolshevism rightly criticised. He appears to be completely out of touch with the working class, focussing on this boots and being completely blind to the bigger picture. His experiment was reckless, inhumane and unethical. He literally creates the monster that he fears and then says "Look, this is you!" when really it's him. It's like a soviet Frankenstein.