Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2122374 in Books
• Published on: 1994-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 319 pages

From the Publisher
'A writer of fantastic genius' Sunday Times

About the Author
Mikhail Bulgakov (1891 - 1940) was born and educated in Kiev where he graduated as a doctor in 1916. He rapidly abandoned medicine to write some of the greatest Russian literature of this century. After a lifetime at odds with the stultifying Soviet regime, he died impoverished and blind in 1940, shortly after completing his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita. None of his major fiction was published during his lifetime.

Customer Reviews

A fine, modern, touching work from a brilliant author
Other than War and Peace, I can think of no better evocation of the random horror of war; like Tolstoy, Bulgakov doesn't allow us to draw easy conclusions in this, his first novel. The disjointed tapestry of a narrative is by turns anecdotal, fantastical (Satan swinging in the belfry is a wonderful image) and epic-heroic - and then just when you've settled in a comfortable reading pattern (as far as this is ever possible with Bulgakov) some terrible act of violence will shock you. It's not quite the finished article (see M&M), but the mixture of experimentation and classical realism is an engaging blend, making for a great read.

I would heartily recommend this to any fan of modern fiction, and anyone who's wondering where to go after Master and Margarita.

Excellent story of ordinary people at war
`The White Guard' follows the story of a few days in the lives of a Ukranian family (the Turbins) living in Kiev during the final days of Russia's participation in WWI and with the revolution impending. The city is braced for the attack of the communists, led by the infamous and demonic figure of Petlyuria , putting its faith in the German army and Ukranian Hetman Skoropodsky for protection. As the townsfolk organise themselves into resistance movements, it soon becomes clear that Skoropodsky and the Germans have decided to abandon the people of Kiev to their fate. The Turbins, along with many others, rush to the defence of Kiev, only to find that their resistance has crumbled into an embarrassing mess as the war is lost before a shot is fired in anger. The book focuses on the actions of the people of Kiev, and the Turbins in particular, as they resign themselves to losing the war.
This book was less fantastic than `The Master and Marguerita', though some wonderful demonic imagery creeps in every now and then. Its strength lies in the contrast it draws between the glorious ideals of war and its rather banal reality. When Petlyuria's men take Kiev the people pour onto the streets in celebration, despite the fact that they despise him, and despite the fact that many of the celebrating people have no idea who has won. In the midst of this surreality, a brutal execution takes place, a reminder of the horrors going on around them. The resistance is presented as being a righteous cause, but right is ultimately not enough as might prevails. The final scenes, in which the Turbins abandon their dreams of fighting for a free Ukraine and begin to resign themselves to life under the Soviets are heartbreaking, both for their sense of failure and their sense of futility.
This is one of the best books about ordinary people at war that I have read (though not as good as Skvorecky's `The Cowards'). The contrast between what we think war is and what it is actually like is brilliantly realised, and by the end of the book I really felt the Turbins' despair. The events being told are firmly rooted in history, albeit a history I was largely ignorant of, which made it an interesting read anyway, but Bulgakov's superb writing and easy style meant that this book was a pleasure to read.

1
This book is about people in an rapidly changing time. About their hopes and lyrical memories of the life they left far behind and fears for the future. The book is full of tender love inside the Turbin family and a sharp contrast with cruel reality.
The book shows the revolutions events from the opposite "white guards" side and was forbiden in USSR for a long time.