There's
a reason this wasn't published in Russia until 1987, and it had nothing
to do with the quality of this novel. Written during the height of the
NEP period, it's a transparent satire of the life of both the arrivistes
and the old money.
At first I thought this was going
to be a work along the lines of Jack London, as it opens with the dog as
the narrator. But it quickly moves to a third person perspective
(although the changes in intelligence the dog undergoes would make for a
challenging first "person" perspective).
The conceit
of the story is that by transplanting certain parts (such as the
pituitary gland) from a (recently deceased) human into an animal, the
animal could gain human form and intelligence. Of course, the
newly-human dog behaves exactly the way one would expect (crudely), and
sides with his benefactors enemies.
It's an easy read, would recommend.
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2015
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