The Fatal Eggs and Other Soviet Satire 1918-1963

by Mirra Ginsburg (editor and translator), Mikhail Bulgakov (contributor), Yevgeny Petrov (contributor)

This famous collection of Soviet satire from 1918 to 1963 devastatingly lampoons the social, economic, and cultural changes wrought by the Russian Revolution. Among the seventeen bold and inventive comic writers represented here are the brilliant Mikhail Bulgakov, author of The Master and Margarita, Ilf and Petrov, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Valentin Katayev, and Yuri Kazakov. "Amusing and excellent reading. The stories in this collection tell the reader more about Soviet life than a dozen sociological or political tracts." - Isaac Bashevis Singer; "An altogether admirable collection . . . by the highly talented translator Mirra Ginsburg . . . Many of these stories and sketches are delicious, even-a miracle!-funny, and full of subtlety and intelligence." - The New Leader; "Hilarious entertainment. Beyond this it illuminates with the cruel light of satire the reality behind the pretentious façade of the Soviet state." - The Sunday Sun (Baltimore).

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Russian Literature, Russia, 20th Century, Literature, Anthologies

305 pages, Paperback

Published January 21, 1994

About the author

Mirra Ginsburg was a Jewish Russian-American translator of Russian literature, a collector of folk tales and a children's writer. Born in Bobruisk (then part of the Russian Empire, now part of modern-day Belarus) in 1909, she moved with her family to Latvia, then to Canada, before they settled in the United States. Although she won praise for her translations of adult literature, including the Master and Margarita (1967) by Mikhail Bulgakov and We (1972) by Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin, she is perhaps most celebrated for her contributions to children's literature. She collected and translated a vast array of folktales from the Russian tradition, as well as Siberian and Central Asian traditions. Ginsburg died in 2000.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

cannot capture the joy that reading this gave me. stories range from simple allegories to outrageous fantasies with everything in between. Three old women fight over a bag of flour. A rooster-king counts everything in his kingdom then commands his subjects to build a tower to the heavens; as the king climbs the tower, his weight makes it sink. Newly installed electric lighting illuminates an apartment building's decrepitude; its residents get depressed; the landlady promptly rips out the wires. A zoologist fancies himself inventor of 'hen shearing' and desperately pushes for nationwide adoption of the practice. A woman bakes her son a birthday cake and brings it to his office; the son requests permission to eat it; by the time permission is granted, it's too old to eat (and they broke a company axe cutting it.) Anyone who has a corporate job ought to read 'bureaucracy," the story of a boss telling an employee to draft a plan to eliminate bureaucracy. Also included is a heart-wrenching story about belief by Zamyatin, author of We. And of course Bulgakov's classic.

[Jamie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soviet satire is essentially the negro spiritual of the Russians, just without all the hope.

[El · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an amusing collection of, well, Soviet satire written between 1918-1963 (the title does not lie). Especially amusing is that while I love Russian literature, I really am a baby in terms of my knowledge of Russian history - I have a layman's understanding of a lot of different events, so reading this and giggling made me feel sort of like a tool. I realized that what I was giggling at was probably all the wrong parts, and the actual satirical parts were completely over my head. 'Cause Russians are smart. And I'm just smrt.

The Fatal Eggs is absolutely worth checking out, however; that much I can tell you. It's a science fiction story that I personally feel is better than Mikhail Bulgakov's full novel, The Master and Margarita. For some reason, the first handful of stories did not appeal to me at all, and I was essentially bored until I hit Bulgakov. I certainly don't blame the authors, but again assume it was much too smart for me, or the literary planets were not aligned when I read them. In any case I felt the second half of the collection really picked up and I particularly enjoyed Boris Lavrenyov's The Heavenly Cap.

Anyone into satirical writings will enjoy this more than I did. I'm a satirical person, but for some reason don't mesh well with satirical authors (Voltaire, Swift, just to name a couple). Still, I feel good about reading this on my journey to understand and appreciate Russian literature a little more.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff. So very Russian. Er, um, Soviet I mean. Probably the Soviet-est of all the stories is "How the Soviet Robinson Was Written," by Ilf and Petrov. So hilarious. A+

For the record, this book is 891.7 Ginsburg. Therefore for 2020, two of my Dewey Challenge are done: the 900s and 800s. And this was a library book, not a purchase, so no increase in 2020 book budget.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. 'A Tale About the Furious Calaphat' by Vyacheslav Shishkov stood out to me as a the best story in the collection.

Most of the stories were humorous, 'The Fatal Eggs,' however being closer to a Jules Verne sci-fi story. But he humor was very mild and as the stories go on it's evident that any biting satire wasn't going to be allowed.

[Fred Dameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soviet/Russian satire is very dark and most of these stories are just that. Dark humor but the satire is extremely funny and can be applied to many situations that happen today. The story, The Struggle Unto Death, by V. Katayev is hilarious. It concerns the fight against bureaucracy and inefficiency in government. I would suggest googling the story and see what you think. (It's a ten minute read.) If you like that one get the book and read the rest.

[LaviniaAlexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had lots of fun! Some bits were a bit too short and ended just as it delivered the punches. Nonetheless, brilliant bite-sized humor and satire!

[Ducky T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fatal eggs is a good weird story. Most of these are pretty dull however.

[Nicole M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is really a quite nice collection of good satirical stories from the Soviet Union all from around the 1920s era. Though "The Fatal Eggs" wins the length contest and boasts mention in the title (and is very good and bizarre, as well) all of the pieces included are very readable and worthwhile. Entertaining and informing, this is one to pick up for a glimpse into the Soviet life, as well as a few smirks.

[Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bulgakov is the best and The Fatal Eggs is the most hilarious and perhaps realistic plot I have ever read. It did not seem that well-written, but it is probably the translation, I plan to get all of the other translations to read since I enjoyed the story so much.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

After re-reading The Master and Margarita, I was excited to read The Fatal Eggs by Mikihail Bulgakov. I'm sure that this story deserves to be read but it, and the others in this collection, suffer from poor translation. I would recommend reading a different translation of this Soviet error satire.

[Tawney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mutated eggs, starvation, revolution, oh my!

[Brent L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous collection of works published by Soviet writers during the era.

[Kobe Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fatal Eggs was cool but most of the others were too short to be more than a novelty

[Laurance · Rating 3 out of 5]

the quality was very uneven, with the longer pieces being quite good, but surrounded by a lot of forgettable short pieces that were 2 to 6 pages.

[Jan Moens · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10