Volume 11, Number 1 · July 11, 1968
Laughter in the Dark
By Helen Muchnic
Black Snow: A Theatrical Novel
by Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Michael Glenny
Simon and Schuster, 190 pp., $4.50
The Heart of a Dog
by Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Michael Glenny
Harvest, 146 pp., $1.45
The Heart of a Dog
by Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Mirra Ginsburg
Grove, 128 pp., $3.95
On the 29th of April, Maxudov, the author of a novel, Black Snow, receives a note inviting him to come to the Independent Theatre to 'have a talk…about a highly confidential matter' that 'may be of the greatest interest' to him. The note arrives at a very low point in his life. That winter, working nights, after days of drudgery at his reader's job on the Shipping Gazette, he had written his novel, absorbed in it completely, cutting himself off from all people, with only a friendly cat as companion. When it was finished, he read it to a group of literary acquaintances. Their reaction was depressing; a journal refused to publish it; his cat died. Maxudov stole a friend's revolver, and had the muzzle at his temple, when there was a knock on his door and the editor of an important literary magazine walked in. He had got wind of Maxudov's novel, demanded to see it, read it there and then, and having excised a few words—'apocalypse,' 'archangel,' 'devil,'—announced that he would publish it. On the strength of this promise and a small advance, Maxudov gave up his hated job; but after only a fragment of his tale had come out, the magazine folded up, its editors and publisher vanished, and when the note from the Independent Theatre arrived, Maxudov was again with the Shipping Gazette and again staying up nights, writing what he recognized, to his own surprise, was a theatrical version of his work.
Review, 2310 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |