The Literary Wolf

 The best writers, to my mind, are like wolves: they skirt along the edges of society picking out the fattest among us, the most spoiled, the most overindulged, and they make a meal of it for the rest of us to enjoy. Mikhail Bulgakov and Don Delillo are such wolves. This isn't a comprehensive examination of their work, merely an appreciation. Click on a bookcover to see available editions at Amazon. Other links will take you to informative pages about each writer.

Mikhail Bulgakov

"In the broad field of Russian letters in the USSR I was the one and only literary wolf. I was advised to dye my fur. Absurd advice. You can dye a wolf, clip a wolf ---- he still doesn't look like a poodle."           Mikhail Bulgakov letter to Joseph Stalin, May 30th, 1931

 Bulgakov never hid behind the dyed fur of a poodle. In his life, in his work he showed the bristly, silvery hairs of the wolf he knew himself to be. Denied the ability to publish, teased by having his plays rehearsed but never given an opening night, he responded by writing a novel at once brilliant, beautiful, caustic, cynical and romantic beyond compare.  

The Master and Margarita  starts off as easy as can be. Simple almost, effortless. Two men discussing whether Christ actually existed. Then they meet a third. A stranger who tells them not only that Christ did exist but he, the stranger, was there. Then you are pulled into the second layer of the novel, the novel within the novel, the Christ novel written by the Master. The voice grabs you instantly. It is the powerful voice of the omniscient narrator, a voice that commands respect, that doesn't let you look away. It is sublime. Alternating between the chapters of 20th century Moscow with the year of Christ's death, Bulgakov makes the most unexpected combination work - a story of satire about the state of Russia under communism, a heartfelt love story about a Margarita's faith in her love and her lover, the Master and the Master's story of the relationship of Pilate and Christ - a novel that, because no one will publish it, has driven the Master to a nervous breakdown. A friend once said to me that it is the ultimate story of good and evil and the necessity of evil in order for there to be any good. "Manuscripts don't burn." Says the devil to the Master. This proved to be prophetic of Bulgakov. His manuscript of The Master and Margarita confiscated by the secret police, was discovered in their archives after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Bulgakov's other novels and short stories don't get quite as much attention, and definitely not as much adoration, as The Master and Margarita. But his isn't a case of a one-trick pony. These other works, written as a one time shot by any other writer would still be worth their place on the library shelf.

The White Guard

"Great and terrible was the year of our Lord 1918, of the Revolution the second. Its summer abundant with warmth, its winter with snow, highest in its heaven stood two stars: the shephards' start, eventide Venus; and Mars -- quivering, red."  The White Guard

 This opening sentence is one of the loveliest I have ever read. I often simply open the book to read this and marvel at how adroitly, artfully Bulgakov brings us in. A year of extremes, of love, of war. The story is about one family, the Turbins, in Kiev during the 72 days in 1921 that the Ukraine was caught between the Germans on one side, the fleeing Whites from Russia and the oncoming Reds. The government was functioning under the illusion of autonomy but their leader, called the Hetman, was really just a puppet for the Germans. It is one of the finest books about war, revolution and love that one can read. In its own way it is a kind of more intense War and Peace with more war than peace and happening over a shorter time span. But Bulgakov's depicition of this family, of their lives, their loves, their thoughts is equal to Tolstoy so vivid will this family remain in your mind's imagination.

Heart of a Dog


Easily the most strange of all Bulgakov's work. Professor Fillip Fillipovich Preobrazhensky inplants the pituitary gland and testicles of a man into Sharik, a stray dog. As the dog becomes a man, takes on the wonderful name of Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov, becomes a member of the apartment board and gets a job on the Moscow Cleansing Department getting rid of cats, the Professor watches his life become hell. As a satire it is perfect. Bulgakov shows the corruptness of the Soviet system and the greed and avarice of human beings in general. Slim, compared to his other books, but powerful.

A Country Doctor's Notebook  

In 1916 - 1917, just before and then during the revolution, Bulgakov worked as a doctor in the northwest Russian countryside - "32 miles from the nearest electric light." The stories are atmospheric, describing winter snowstorms, the night, the frigid cold and the entire landscape in a way that almost feels more like Chekhov's Russia than Revolutionary Russia. The stories are dramatic, humorous, scary and even, with the story Morphine, hallucinogenic (Bulgakov was addicted to Morphine during this time). I remember reading these stories while living in Moscow during the winter. A marvelous experience. But I have read it again since and enjoyed it equally and didn't miss Russia in the winter one bit so vivid does Bulgakov make his descriptions. With this book, with each book by Bulgakov, I realize how extraordinary he is as a writer.

Black Snow

Often called his "theatrical novel", Black Snow was unfinished when finally published. It is a highly satirical account of Bulgakov's time working at the Moscow Art Theater under Stanislavski as a writer and dramaturgue for the company. Bulgakov acquired the job throught he intercession of Stalin after Bulgakov had written Stalin that he wanted to emigrate because he could not make a living. The book's humor is dark, at times bitterly so, and yet it has such a degree of out and out hilarity that I often found myself laughing out loud. It helps, also, to know the history of Stanislavski, the Moscow Art Theater and the style of acting known as The Method because Bulgakov's rendering of all of this is so well done. I was reminded of Chekhov's letters wherein he would complain about Stanislavski, his "method" and how Chekhov's plays were being ruined. Bulgakov's depiction of the feuding theater directors - Stanislavski and his partner Nemirovich-Danchenko - his depiction of Stanislavski's phobias (for instance not wanting a gun to be shot on stage because of the effect this once had on a member of the audience in the past - presumably referring Chekhov's Uncle Vanya) and the crazy politics and co-opting that Bulgakov had to partake of as a member of the company. Unfinished as it is it is the novel is ample proof of Bulgakov's ability to skewer the people in power by his depiction of the mentality that prevailed during that time period.

There are other books and stories, notably The Fatal Eggs, Diaboliad, as well as a book of his plays. However the books mentioned above are the books I have enjoyed the most and return to again and again for the sheer enjoyment and beauty they offer. At a dinner party given by the writer Vikenty Veresayev Boris Pasternak wanted to give a toast to Bulgakov. The hostess jumped in and said they should toast Veresayev first. Pasternak is quoted by Bulgakov's wife, Yelena, as saying, "No, I want to drink to Bulgakov. Veresayev is a great man , of course, but he is a lawful phenomenon, Whereas Bulgakov is unlawful." (Manuscripts Don't Burn: Mikhail Bulgakov,  A Life in Letters and Diaries by J.A.E. Curtis, Bloomsbury, 1991)

Part II: Don Delillo next post