Customer Reviews

The Fatal Eggs (Hesperus Modern Voices)

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3 star:		(2)
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Of interest to any admirers of Bulgakov and those interested in science fiction or satirical fiction, The Fatal Eggs is a brilliant satire on Stalinist Russia. Bulgakov lived under Stalin's regime and experienced first-hand suppression and censorship (his most celebrated works were not published in his lifetime), giving this satire a thrilling bite. The story is of an eccentric Russian scientist who discovers a form of light ray that accelerates growth in organisms. But when the ray is shone upon the wrong batch of eggs, he accidentally creates giant hybrids which quickly overun the city, while the propaganda-driven press report on all of this as it spirals further and further out of control. Highly entertaining, and well-translated too.

Bulgakov is wonderful. This story is a charming expression of Bulgakov's sentiments of Soviet Russia. I am constantly amazed that Bulgakov managed to escape the Culling that was suffered by so many of Russia's intellectuals.

I'm a huge Russian literature fan and absolutely loved reading Bulgakov's Master and Margarita and Heart of a Dog, unfortunately this work didn't live up to my expectations. The story line is ok but while Heart of a Dog and M&M still feel relevant and fresh, The Fatal Eggs reads out of touch and old-fashioned. First of all the characters were much less compelling than in other Bulgakov novels and as for the story it is amusing but perhaps the satire is too time specific to translate well. It is a short read so if you want to complete your Bulgakov collection you can do so easily.

The satire element of this story is so oudated that it fails completly to enliven the functional prose, the tedious details and the very thin and predictable plot. But Bulgakov IS a great writer, and his genius shines in some intermitent episodes of the book .. and make it worth the while, it's only 100 pages after all.