Diaboliad [Paperback]

Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov (Author), Carl R. Proffer (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

The five, irreverent, satirical and imaginative stories contained in "Diaboliad" caused an uproar upon the book's first publication in 1925. Full of invention, they display Bulgakov's breathtaking stylistic range, moving at dizzying speed from grotesque satire to science fiction, from the plainest realism to the most madcap fantasy. "Diaboliad" is a wonderful introduction to literature's most uncategorisable and subversive genius.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of the greatest modern Russian writers, perhaps the greatest Independent A writer of fantastic genius Sunday Times Bulgakov is a wild, mobile, crafty devotee of ideas Guardian --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891 - 1940) was born and educated in Kiev where he graduated as a doctor in 1916. He rapidly abandoned medicine to write some of the greatest Russian literature of this century. After a lifetime at odds with the stultifying Soviet regime, he died impoverished and blind in 1940, shortly after completing his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita. None of his major fiction was published during his lifetime. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860460992
• ISBN-13: 978-1860460999
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,811,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bulgakov's short stories, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Diaboliad (Paperback)

Though Bulgakov is perhaps best known in the West for his Master i Margarita, the tale of Satan's vist to the capital of world communism, these tales well exhibit his literary genius and his satirical bite. One of the stories in this collection, Fatal Eggs, is in my mind one of the master's finest works.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart of a Dog, January 24, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (PARISFRANCE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diaboliad (Paperback)

"My goodness, what are you saying," Korotkov exclaimed in distress, sensing that here, too something strange was starting, just as it had everywhere else. He looked back as if he were being hunted, afraid that the shaven face and the bald shell would emerge from somewhere, and then he added in a clumsy way, "I'm very glad, yes, very . . ." A motley flush passed lightly over the marble man; raising Korotkov's hand delicately, he drew him toward a little table, reiterating, "I'm very glad, too. But here's the rub, imagine it - I don't even have a place where you can sit down. We're being kept in a pen in spite of our significance." (Mikhail Bulgakov, Diaboliad p30)

A brilliant blend of magical and realistic elements, grotesque situations, and major ethical issues. Its story lies between parable and reality; its tone varies from satire to unguarded vulnerability. Its publication represents the triumph of imagination over politics...