Product Description

This new translation of a key work by one of the greatest Russian satirists is particularly topical to the current debates on genetic modification. An inspired work of science fiction and a biting political allegory, Bulgakov's The Fatal Eggs tells of a brilliant scientist whose experiments with life spiral terribly - and fatefully - out of control. Quite by chance, Professor Persikov discovers a new form of light ray whose effect, when directed at living cells, is to accelerate growth in primitive organisms. But when this ray is shone on the wrong batch of eggs, the Professor finds himself both the unwilling creator of giant hybrids, and the focus of a merciless press campaign. For it seems the propaganda machine has turned its gaze on him, distorting his nature in the very way his 'innocent' tampering created the monster snakes and crocodiles that now terrorise the neighbourhood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1588025 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10
• Original language: Russian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Review
"'No afficionado of the genre could fail to be enchanted by this so perfect example' - From the foreword by Doris Lessing"

From the Publisher
Since its U.S. launch in 2003, Hesperus Press has enjoyed a growing reputation for its inspired selection of short classic works. Written by illustrious authors, and often unjustly neglected or simply little known in the English-speaking world, these works have been made accessible via a completely fresh editorial approach and new translations. Now, in addition to the Hesperus Classics, Hesperus Press is introducing a new series: Modern Voices. Drawing from the very best of 20th-century literature, Modern Voices will retain the exceptional quality of the Hesperus Classics, with a new series look that reflects the more modern nature of the list. Among the first authors will be Carlo Levi, Katherine Mansfield, and Graham Greene, and Hesperus has already secured prominent contemporary writers like Anita Desai, William Boyd, and Colum McCann to introduce the books—again retaining one of the key successes of the Hesperus Classics. Finally,! 2005 heralds the launch of the Hesperus Contemporary series, opening with The Nightingale Papers, the fiction debut of prize-winning biographer David Nokes.

About the Author
Russian novelist and dramatist Mikhail Bulgakov (1891 - 1940) is one of the foremost satirists of the twentieth century and most famous for The Master and Margarita. Winner of the David Cohen British Literature Prize in 2001, Doris Lessing is one of the most eminent figures in world literature.

Customer Reviews

sci-fi satire
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.

Slow, predictable with some fantastic moments
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.

Genius
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.