The Heart of a Dog
Собачье сердце
First published AD 1987, written in Russian
Heart of a Dog is a novella by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. A biting satire of Bolshevism, it was written in 1925 at the height of the New Economic Policy, a period during which communism appeared to be relaxing in the Soviet Union. It is generally interpreted as an allegory of the communist revolution and "the revolution's misguided attempt to radically transform mankind". Its publication was initially prohibited in the Soviet Union, but it circulated in samizdat until it was officially released in the country in 1987. It was almost immediately adapted into a movie, which was aired in late 1988 on First Channel of Soviet Television, was widely praised and attracted many readers to the original Bulgakov text. Since then, the novella has become a cultural phenomenon in Russia, known and discussed by people "from schoolchildren to politicians". It was filmed in Russian and Italian language versions, and was adapted in English as a play and an opera.
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Where it is set
- Moscow
Russia
In Moscow in 1924, foraging for trash one winter day causes a stray dog to be found by a cook and to be scalded with boiling water. Source: Wikipedia, reviewed
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