''A Young Doctor's Notebook'' (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: «» ''Zapiski yunogo vracha'', literally, "A Young Doctor's Notes"), also known as ''A Country Doctor's Notebook'', is a

short story cycle A short story cycle (sometimes referred to as a story sequence or composite novel) is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when rea ...

by the Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. The stories written in 1925–1926 and inspired by Bulgakov's experiences as a newly graduated young doctor in 1916-18, practicing in a small village hospital in

Smolensk Governorate Smolensk Governorate (russian: Смоленская губерния, Smolenskaja gubernija), or the Government of Smolensk, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It ex ...

revolutionary Russia The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. The stories initially appeared in Russian medical journals of the period and were later compiled by scholars into book form. The first English translation was done by

Michael Glenny :''The majority of material in this article has been sourced from the Dictionary of National Biography''. Michael Valentine Guybon Glenny (26 September 1927, London – 1 August 1990, Moscow) was a British lecturer in Russian studies and a tra ...

and was published by

Harvill Press Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

in 1975. A more recent translation (2011) has been done by Hugh Aplin under the Oneworld Classics imprint. The title of the Aplin translation is ''A Young Doctor's Notebook''.

Stories

* "The Towel with a Cockerel Motif" (russian: Полотенце с петухом, Polotentse s petukhom, translated by Michael Glenny as "The Embroidered Towel") * "Baptism by Version" (russian: Крещение поворотом, Kreshcheniye povorotom, translated by Michael Glenny as "Baptism by Rotation") * "The Steel Throat" (russian: Стальное горло, Stal'noye gorlo, translated by Michael Glenny as "The Steel Windpipe") * "The Blizzard" (russian: Вьюга, Vyuga) * "Egyptian Darkness" (russian: Тьма египетская, T'ma yegipetskaya, translated by Michael Glenny as "Black as Egypt's Night") * "The Missing Eye" (russian: Пропавший глаз, Propavshiy glaz, translated by Michael Glenny as "The Vanishing Eye") * "The Star Rash" (russian: Звёздная сыпь, Zvyozdnaya syp', translated by Michael Glenny as "The Speckled Rash" and by Hugh Aplin as "The Starry Rash") The Michael Glenny translation includes the short stories "The Murderer" (1926) and "

Morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. Ther ...

" (1927) which are not included in the original cycle. The Hugh Aplin translation also includes "Morphine" but does not include "The Murderer".

Adaptations

*In 2008, a Russian film adaptation, titled ''

'', was released. *In 2012, the book was turned into a television miniseries with the same title and broadcast by

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

as a part of the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...

strand,

Playhouse Presents ''Playhouse Presents'' is an anthology series of self-contained TV plays, made by British broadcaster Sky Arts. The series started airing on 12 April 2012, on Sky Arts 1. Each episode is written by a different writer and stars a different cast. T ...

."''A Young Doctor's Notebook'': From the Operating Table to the Screen", ''The Guardian'', 4 December 2012
/ref> The role of the narrator/doctor is played by

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televisio ...

and

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

, both fans of Bulgakov's works. The show also features

Adam Godley Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is a British-American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages which include, ''Private Lives'' in 2001, ''The Pillo ...

(as the

feldsher According to the World Health Organization, a feldsher (german: Feldscher, pl, Felczer, cs, Felčar, russian: фельдшер, sv, Fältskär, Finnish: ''Välskäri'') is a health care professional who provides various medical services li ...

Demyan Lukich),

Vicki Pepperdine Vicki Pepperdine (born 1961) is an English comedy actress and writer. She was nominated for two BAFTA TV Awards for co-writing the BBC sitcom '' Getting On'' (2009–12), and was also nominated for a British Comedy Award for her portrayal of D ...

Rosie Cavaliero Rosalind Cecilia Cavaliero (born 27 November 1967) is a Brazilian-born English actress. She has appeared in numerous television roles. Filmography Theatre work * ''Dracula'' at the Everyman, Cheltenham – Florrie (February 1995) * '' Airsw ...

and

Paul Popplewell Paul Popplewell (born 18 April 1977) is a British actor. He became a professional actor at 16, leaving college after gaining the lead role of Simon in the BBC television drama ''Criminal'', for which he won Best Actor at the Golden Chest Film F ...

References

External links

*
Entry
on

FantLab Laboratoria Fantastiki, or FantLab (russian: Лаборатория фантастики, " speculative fiction laboratory"), is a Russian website dedicated to science fiction and fantasy literature. It was founded in 2004 by Alexei Lvov. Content ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Doctor's Notebook, A Russian short story collections Works by Mikhail Bulgakov 1926 short story collections 1963 short story collections Medicine and health in fiction