In 1988, domestic viewers first saw the picture of V. Bortko's "Dog Heart". Reviews of the film were enthusiastic. The film adaptation of Bulgakov's story caused a storm of glee. “Heart of a Dog”, quotes from which are known to almost everyone today, were few read before the creation of the film adaptation. After the premiere, the book entered the obligatory list of literature of each intelligent person.
Perestroika Time Reviews
What is the reason for the popularity of the story “Dog Heart”? The reviews of the perestroika audience were not by chance enthusiastic. Preobrazhensky’s speeches about the devastation and its causes turned out to be extremely relevant in the conditions of chaos. The book shows the echoes of a lost state. In the late eighties, the book was discussed everywhere: in the subway, on trains, during a working break and, as expected, in accordance with the traditions of the Soviet intelligentsia, in small-sized kitchens.
Reviews of modern readers
For thirty years, much has changed. A significant shift has occurred in the perception of readers. Talked a little differently about the book "Dog Heart". Reviews about the story readers leave mostly positive. There are so many reviews of the book that it becomes clear: the story of the transformation of a dog into a person has not lost its relevance. The content of reviews, meanwhile, has changed somewhat. Sharikov does not cause such ardent contempt. In the monologues of the professor, excessive conservatism is felt.
The phrase that lovers of singing from below should take up their direct duties, namely, cleaning the sort, gives the image of Preobrazhensky contempt for the common people. And this is no longer perceived by readers with such enthusiasm. What is the reason for the change in perception of the story “Dog Heart”? Reader's reviews should be analyzed in parallel with the description of the main images. And they are in Bulgakov’s book unusually bright, capacious and more complex than it seemed to readers at sunset of the Soviet era.
Sharikov
“Dog Heart” is a story about how a practicing doctor and scientist picked up a homeless dog from the street. Having treated the poor fellow with Krakow sausage, he took possession of his heart, penetrated his soul and thoughts. He became a kind of deity. However, the dog turned into a victim of the experiment. Brilliant, great, but absolutely meaningless.
Failed experiment
Why make a man out of a dog? In order for the villain Sharikov to be born? But even if in the operation the pituitary gland of not the alcoholic Klim Chugunkin, but, for example, Spinoza, was used, the professor’s event would not make sense in this case either. Every woman can give birth to a man. After all, she gave birth to Madame Lomonosov in the deep province of a genius son. Such is the opinion of Preobrazhensky himself. However, he expresses it a few months after the operation. But before, a mess reigned in a huge apartment.
Bulgakov wrote “Dog Heart” at a time when schwonders and the like were operating in the country. They acted decisively, because they believed in a speedy miracle. Meanwhile, magic did not happen. It is impossible to simultaneously take revenge on the tram tracks and decide the fate of foreign ragged people. Not able yesterday to locksmith manage the cultural department. It is unrealistic to make a man out of a dog by transplanting a human pituitary gland to him and giving the name Sharikov.
The “dog’s heart” is permeated with a dismissive attitude towards upstarts, “singers”, to those through whose fault professorial galoshes disappeared. By the way, Sharikov took the last name for himself, which Philip Filippovich was not at all happy about. The name of his victim caused a storm of anger. "Into his stove!" - Professor Zine commands, having learned that it was on the calendar that weighs in the front that Sharikov subtracted such an inconsistent name.
Heroes
What characters are central to the story “Dog Heart”? The main characters are Preobrazhensky, Bormental, Sharikov. In his diary, the assistant professor calls a man with a dog’s heart nothing more than a “creature”. What other term can be called yesterday's dog, who, having barely lost his tail, began to spew obscene language and play the balalaika? Sharikov quickly adapts to the new realities of the time. Becomes the "like-minded" Schwonder, gets a position in the "Cleaning".
Sharikov-Chugunkin a quarter of a century ago among readers was associated with the past. Preobrazhensky - with a lost world, which (so wanted to believe in it) will soon be restored. Years have shown that the destroyed cannot be restored. For modern readers, Polygraph Poligrafovich, perhaps, does not cause sympathy. But at least he deserves pity.
Preobrazhensky and his assistant
Bulgakov wrote “Dog Heart” in an atmosphere close to that which reigned in the early nineties of the last century. In those days, Preobrazhensky and Bormental were perceived as models of intelligence. Today, readers note some cruelty of the Aesculapius in relation to the ward.
People with a university education seem unaware of what it is foolish to expect from a creature that wandered about the third day in garbage dumps, and yesterday underwent humanization of adequate behavior. However, from Sharikov I did not even think of making a full member of the Preobrazhensky society. “Dog Heart” is a story about an unexpected result of an experiment. The professors were only interested in rejuvenation.
Take and share!
What is the main part of the story “Dog Heart” narrated? The main characters are in confrontation. Preobrazhensky and Bormental require from Sharikov behavior worthy of their society. The former dog, weighed down by the pituitary gland of an alcoholic, does not accept criticism. The most famous are in the story "Dog Heart" quotes Preobrazhensky and Sharikov. Some phrases became winged. Particularly memorable were the dialogues that the heroes of the book lead at dinner.
Sharikov’s ignorance is shocking to doctors. If not for the miracle experiment, they would never have been at the same table with a person who knows how to solve economic problems in the country in one fell swoop. Before the appearance of Polygraph Poligrafovich at the professor's house, Zina had never been in a hurry to remove vodka from the table so quickly. Preobrazhensky’s servant had not previously burned “Correspondence between Engels and Kautsky” in the furnace.
“Yes, I do not like the proletariat”
This phrase caused particular delight among readers of the late eighties. And this is not surprising. The word "proletariat" snapped even the children of the working class. Today's readers, born in the nineties, are hardly capable of understanding the depth of professorial cues.
“I'm not Isadora Duncan”
In Preobrazhensky’s apartment are people in leather coats. The reason for visiting professors' choirs is an excessive number of rooms. And here begins a tense dialogue between the witty landlord and the less eloquent members of the housing community.
Many years after the collapse of the Soviet state, when anti-communist euphoria had long since dissipated, readers looked at Preobrazhensky more objectively. Yes, he shone the world of science. Yes, he is an intellectual, esthetician and strong, independent person. But there is something in him from a tradesman, a glutton, using the Kremlin’s doom. However, the book contains a moment characterizing this hero as a person of high moral ideals.
Shortly before the "death" of Sharikov, Preobrazhensky and Bormental spend the whole evening discussing the future fate of the Polygraph. The author does not devote the reader to the details of the conversation. But it is known that Preobrazhensky is not ready to commit a crime solely for the sake of Bormental. The hero also pronounces the wise phrase "Live to old age with clean hands."
There is nothing to achieve with terror
Characteristic of Preobrazhensky are his statements on the way of dealing with a living creature. The terror, the professor claims, is impossible to achieve. He pronounces these words in connection with the appearance in the house of Sharikov. But they contain the author’s opinion on the political events he has witnessed.
Preobrazhensky repents of his actions. A few days after the operation, he understands what the final result of the experiment will be.
Schwonder
This character is a typical proletarian. The story is built on the antithesis. The image of the new is contrasted with the old man. The author, of course, is on the side of Preobrazhensky.
Schwonder is convinced that the most important thing in human life is a document. After all, where is it seen that a person lives without a residence permit? Characteristic features of this hero are importunity, treachery, bureaucratic habits. Even after Sharik returned to his usual appearance, he does not stop, but continues to pester the professor.
What is the idea of the story “Dog Heart”? The theme of the book is the negative consequences of interference with the laws of nature. But this is not the problem of the work. Bulgakov first of all raised questions of a social nature in the book "Dog Heart".
The meaning of the book can be formulated as follows: the complex relationship of the intelligentsia and the proletariat. However, how many critics, so many opinions. A huge number of articles have been written about the story. But the main assessment of the literary work of the author is still reader reviews. And they are exclusively praise about Bulgakov’s book.