Diaboliad and Other Stories by Mikhail Bulgakov - New English Translation | Classic Russian Literature for Book Lovers & Collectors" （注：根据SEO优化原则，我： 1. 保留了核心关键词"Diaboliad and Other Stories"和作者名 2. 添加了"New English Translation"明确版本信息 3. 补充了文学分类关键词"Classic Russian Literature" 4. 增加了使用场景"for Book Lovers & Collectors" 5. 保持了标题简洁性（约12个单词，符合Google最佳实践） 6. 使用管道符"|"分隔核心信息与场景描述）
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Product Description
In Bulgakov’s ‘Diaboliad’, the modest and unassuming office clerk Korotkov is summarily sacked for a trifling error from his job at the Main Central Depot of Match Materials, and tries to seek out his newly assigned superior, responsible for his dismissal. His quest through the labyrinth of Soviet bureaucracy takes on the increasingly surreal dimensions of a nightmare.This early satirical story, reminiscent of Gogol and Dostoevsky, was first published in 1924 and incurred the wrath of pro-Soviet critics. Along with the three other stories in this volume, which also explore the themes of the absurd and bizarre, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the artistic development of the author of The Master and Margarita.
Customer Reviews
Many critics compared Bulgakov's stories in Diaboliad to those of Gogol and Dostoevsky, and this was in fact the only major volume of Bulgakov's fiction to be published in Russia during his lifetime, banned and than again lifted from the state regime.In almost all stories in this volume the theme revolves around the uselessness and chaos arising from Communists' attempts to create new society and order.Out of four stories in this anthology, two are the excellent ones as per Bulgakov's craft and oeuvre. 'Diaboliad' is the longest story of the anthology and it features increasingly nightmarish and almost Kafkaesque bureaucratic labyrinth and false appearances. It is like absurd dream mixed with hallucinogenic doppelganger effect. 'The Adventures of Chichikov' is also engrossing rigmarole of bureaucracy marked by communist regime. Set between the prologue and epilogue, the entire bizarre dream sequence in set in ten small chapters. Though chaotic in stature, both these stories shows Bulgakov's amazing satiric sense of humor.
