Heart of a Dog

Interesting Facts

• The book was written in 1925 but was first published only in 1987 in the Soviet Union.
• The main character, Professor Preobrazhensky, is a distinguished surgeon who conducts an experiment to transform a dog into a human.
• The dog named Sharik, after the operation, transforms into a human named Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov.
• The work is a satire on Soviet society and criticizes attempts to forcibly change human nature.
• The book was banned from publication in the USSR due to its criticism of the Soviet regime and was only circulated in samizdat.
• Bulgakov used elements of fantasy and grotesque to emphasize the absurdity of certain aspects of Soviet reality.
• The character Sharikov became a symbol of ignorance and crudeness that can arise from social experiments.