If reading Mikhail Bulgakov's Heart of a Dog has taught me anything, it's that beyond Anna Karenina I don't think I'm all that into Russian literature. And...my non-love for Kafka's Metamorphosis wasn't a fluke. 'Cause, honest-to-goodness, I just didn't think this dismal little story about a dog that is turned into a man by a Russian mad scientist was all that. Yes, I do see that it's a satire on Russian Revolution. And, yes, I'm sure it's saying important and meaningful things about the lives of the people at the time. But it's just not saying them very well to me--especially once Sharik is turned into Polygraph Polyraphovich Sharikov, the lecherous and vulgar man who reads Engels and becomes the government official in charge of killing cats. Quite honestly, I much preferred Sharik's commentary on humanity while he was a canine.The best thing about this novel? It was short--which Russian literature isn't as a rule--and I was able to knock it off my TBR pile in a single afternoon. No rating because I just don't think I can be fair to the book.
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