MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
Science for Health
Book review: Heart of a Dog
Frank Norman
Mikhail Bulgakov trained as a doctor but switched to writing after just a few years of medical practice. This background is reflected in some of his fiction. Heart of a dog is one of his earliest works, written in 1925 though not published until much later. It has elements of farce, political satire, and science fiction, though it is not entirely any one of these.
The humorous aspects dominate the early part of the book, which is narrated by the dog. It reminded me of the very funny short radio series About a Dog, scripted by Graeme Garden and starring Alan Davies as a dog. Bulgakov’s dog is a street dog who has just suffered a bad scalding thanks to an angry cook who caught him scavenging. He is rescued from the street by a kind gentleman who brings him to his home. Professor Philip Philipovich, the rescuer, is a doctor who specialises in reproductive health and rejuvenation including some rather experimental treatments.
Philipovich has done well for himself; his talents have earned him privileges and he knows how to play the system to his advantage. He has no patience with the political mores of the day, observing that speaking of Bolshevism at the dinner table is the best way to ruin your appetite. This brings him into conflict with the chairman of the management committee of his apartment complex, Comrade Shvonder, who insists that the doctor give up some of his rooms.
The dog, nicknamed Sharikov, is taken to the doctor’s luxurious consulting rooms in Moscow. Sharikov cannot believe his luck: he has warmth, good food and comfort. He slowly regains his health and strength until one day he finds himself in the doctor’s consulting room, lying on the operating table. Philipovich proceeds to remove the dog’s testicles and pituitary gland and replaces them with those of a recently dead man. The doctor’s notebook records Sharikov’s post-operative recovery and subsequent development as the transplants begin to affect him.
The rest of the book works through the consequences of Sharikov’s transformation and Shvonder’s interventions in the doctor’s affairs. The book has been turned into a film and more recently into an opera, recently performed in London.
Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov is published by Vintage Classics, 2009.
This essay was published in the Mill Hill Essays 2010
ISBN: 978-0-9546302-8-9
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