Analysis of characters from the story The Head of Professor Dowell. See what "Professor Dowell's Head" is in other dictionaries

For the purposes of analysis, it is quite acceptable to separate the unity of the book by artificially separating, for example, science fiction fabric from fiction. Sometimes this is done without any effort - the text helpfully breaks down into its constituent elements. This is a bad sign. But in Belyaev’s text, its constituent elements are not just combined, but merged and in their unity acquire a new quality.

Science fiction is one of the most difficult genres. Making this or that scientific fact, scientific situation the protagonist of the book, or more precisely, the fate of the characters, is a difficulty that few can overcome. “The Head of Professor Dowell” is a coherent and fascinating narrative in which all the elements are fused together and are difficult to critically “split.” This testifies to the culture of writing, the undoubted talent of the author and at the same time his great capabilities in the field of Soviet science fiction.

I’m talking about possibilities, because Belyaev’s book, written about ten years ago and now republished, for all its merits, still bears a clear trace of the influence of Western entertainment and science fiction literature and cannot be considered either a success of the writer or an achievement of Soviet science fiction . Since the time when this book was written, the science-fiction poetics of A. Belyaev himself has undergone a radical change: this is eloquently evidenced by his article on Grebnev’s “Arktania”, published in issues 18–19 of the magazine “Children’s Literature.” The discrepancy between the poetics of the science fiction genre, which determined the writing of “The Head of Professor Dowell,” and the politics declaratively set forth in the article about “Arctania,” is so striking that today’s statements by A. Belyaev can be largely considered self-critical.

Belyaev’s book is primarily characterized by its separation from social time and space. In the absence of any clear author's instructions, it is natural for the reader to look for signs in the text that make it possible to establish the corresponding coordinates: where and when the fictional action takes place. In this case, the reader’s position is extremely difficult: by the will of the author, there are no reference points in the book, and the events unfold in a completely abstract time and space, for something called either Paris or London. Only after being completely defeated in his search does the reader finally come to the conclusion that he was not following the right path: he should have been looking not for social, but for literary coordinates.

The environment in which Belyaev's characters live and act was not chosen or created by the author. It is established once and for all by the tradition of Western entertainment and fantasy fiction, knows no options and has no relation to any reality. This tradition demands - in the name of science fiction! – careful eradication from the text of any real details that could orient the reader. But not only in the name of fiction: this type of fiction is quite indifferent to the social theme and pursues only one single goal - entertainment. Using theatrical terminology, we can say that, according to the established canon, the reader is supposed to see this entertaining and fantastic performance not even in the scenery, but in “cloths”, and always in black ones, concealing even the shadow of reality.

Here it is quite appropriate to quote A. Belyaev’s statement from the mentioned article - a statement that will undoubtedly determine the topic of further works by Belyaev himself:

“The main plot core of the novel “Arctania” is the fight against the class enemy. This topic should rightfully occupy a dominant place in Soviet science fiction. And the more novels we have on the topic of fighting the class enemy, the better.”

The judgment is sufficiently definite.

Here in a few words is the science-fiction essence of Belyaev’s work.

The young doctor Marie Laurent enters as an assistant in the laboratory of Professor Kern, a student of the late Professor Dowell, who became famous for his experiments in reviving the organs of the human body. Kern surrounds his work with the strictest secrecy: besides Laurent, the laboratory is served by only one black servant. Laurent's responsibilities boil down to caring for Professor Dowell's head, revived after death, which has regained all its functions, with the exception of one - the voice. In the equipment that supports the life of the head, Professor Kern forbade his assistant to use one tap, the turn of which would supposedly instantly end the life of the head. But Laurent, contrary to Kern’s prohibition, heeding the mimic instructions of the head, decided to turn the tap - and the head spoke. Laurent learns from the head about Kern's monstrous crime: he killed Dowell in order to use his revived brain for his own purposes. Dowell's head guides all of Kern's scientific work, and it is to it that he owes his remarkable achievements: shortly after Laurent entered the laboratory, Kern manages to recreate a living person by merging the animated corpse of a woman who died in a train crash with the animated head of another woman, whose lover was in the heat of a quarrel shot through the heart...

The author of a science fiction work has, of course, the right to omit a number of links in the development of science, to anticipate its near and even distant prospects, but he should not burn “bridges” behind him: the reader has the right to demand that the author firmly knows the way back.

A. Belyaev often violates this rule, and then his narrative, which he has already removed from the operation of social laws, loses its last scientific bonds: before us is ordinary entertaining fiction. Here is a quote showing that the author has burned “bridges” and that the way back to scientific reality is firmly forbidden to him:

“...but this is not the main difficulty,” says Kern. – The main thing is how to destroy the product of incipient decay or the site of infectious infection in the body of a corpse, how to clear the blood vessels of coagulated blood, fill them with fresh blood and make the “motor” of the body – the heart – start working... And the spinal cord? The slightest touch to it causes a strong reaction, often with the most severe consequences.

– How do you plan to overcome all these difficulties?

- Oh, this is my secret for now. When the experiment is successful, I will publish the whole story of the resurrection from the dead.”

But this is a secret not only from Laurent - it forever remains a secret for the reader as well: the author never returns to this. Really, A. Belyaev, an experienced, cultured, gifted author, should not have resorted to such a naive technique, which only undermined the reader’s trust. It is known that it is dangerous to abuse the reader’s trust.

The fiction of “The Heads of Professor Dowell” is based on well-known experiments with the maintenance of life - outside the body - of individual tissues and organs. The immediate impetus for A. Belyaev was apparently the experiments of Dr. Bryukhanenko, who for a long time retained the most primitive functions of a dog’s head separated from the body. From this it is clear that the author had to omit a considerable number of links in the development of science in order to create his amazing character: the two-faced Mademoiselle Briquet.

This is the case with science fiction in Belyaev’s novel, written ten years ago. And here is Belyaev’s statement today on the same topic in the mentioned article about “Arctania”:

... “Fantasy, science fiction, however, should not be divorced from scientific soil. What is the situation with science? In this regard, not all is well in the novel.

Perhaps the weakest point from a scientific point of view is the biological part, which forms a sideline of the plot and scientific content. This is a question of reviving frozen and generally dead people.”

Having then cited Dr. Bryukhanenko’s judgment that science will soon be able to “resurrect” frozen and unjustifiably dead people, A. Belyaev adds:

“At one time, Dr. S. S. Bryukhanenko was severely criticized by scientists for this statement.”

This fair remark already has a clearly expressed self-critical character - after all, it refers to the very material with which A. Belyaev operates in his book. But the bad thing is that, inspired by Dr. Bryukhanenko’s statement, the author went further than him.

And yet, the loss of links in itself would not be so bad if such a risky leap had served a good purpose. And the good goal could consist either in communicating to the reader a number of essential information from this field of science and introducing it to its amazing real prospects; or - in proof or at least in demonstration of any social idea; or, finally, in both, as is typical of the classics of science fiction.

A. Belyaev did not achieve the first and did not strive for the second.

The leap he made from scientific reality to science fiction is so abrupt that his only method of communicating with the reader inevitably becomes a bypass of difficulties, which we have already demonstrated in the first quote from the novel. The second quote already indicates the complete nakedness of the technique. This is the crafty way in which Kern performs the operation of attaching a revived head to a corpse:

“For all her hatred of Kern, Laurent could not help but admire him at that moment. He worked like an inspired artist. His dexterous, sensitive fingers performed miracles.

The operation lasted an hour and fifty-five minutes.

“It’s over,” Kern finally said, straightening up, “from now on Briquet has ceased to be a head without a body.” All that remains is to breathe life into it - to make the heart work, to stimulate blood circulation. But I can handle this alone. You can rest, Mademoiselle Laurent.”

But the reader also has to “relax” with Laurent...

“Kern called her again an hour later. He looked even more tired, but his face expressed deep self-satisfaction.

“Try the pulse,” he suggested to Laurent.

Of course, Laurent felt the beating of her pulse, but she still was not allowed to know the secret of the “resurrection”, just as the reader is not allowed to know.

I do not at all think that the author in this case was obliged to know - and reveal to the reader - the secret of reviving corpses; but I believe that he was obliged to tell the reader in a concrete form about the prospects of science in this area and, in a hypothetical form, to trace the path from the “revival” of a dog’s head to the “resurrection” of a corpse; then the reader would probably not have to be content with the meager supply of information about the section of physiology that deals with the revitalization of tissues and organs, which he receives from Belyaev’s book.

So, the first goal was unachieved.

The author, as stated, did not strive for the second goal - to prove or at least demonstrate any social idea. And how could he set himself such a task if his book does not contain a single scrap of living social tissue?

In the second half of the book, the author breaks off all relations with science and plunges into pure fiction. Science has done its job - science can go away. And here the reader has a fair suspicion that that small share of scientific truth that was taught to him in the first half of the book had only an auxiliary meaning: to create a unique, fantastic situation capable of shaking his nervous system with the spectacle of Mademoiselle Briquet, endowed with the body of an “aristocrat” and "plebeian" head. A scientific laboratory suddenly turned into a panopticon, a science fiction novel into an entertaining fantasy.

Dear Guys!

Today we will talk about the science fiction novel “The Head of Professor Dowell” by Alexander Belyaev.

Remember, the work“The Head of Professor Dowell” was first published as a story in the Moscow Rabochaya Gazeta in the summer of 1925.

“The Head of Professor Dowell” is the first science fiction work by A.R. Belyaeva. The plot of the story is the same as the novel, but much simpler. Miss Adams (Mademoiselle Laurent in the novel) ends up in the laboratory of Professor Kern, a great scientist who, however, did not stop at the crime: having revived the head of his teacher, Professor Dowell, he now makes this head work for himself. Miss Adams, having penetrated Kern's secret, immediately tries to expose him, but to no avail. Dowell's son saves her from an almost hopeless situation. Together they manage to bring the revelation to completion. Kern is defeated.

The story was interesting for its science fiction ideas, but not for the literary skill of the author. Therefore, twelve years later Belyaev reworked it into a novel. The novel first appeared on the pages of the Leningrad newspaper Smena, and then in the magazine Around the World. The novel was released as a separate edition in 1938.

Let's look at the title of the text.

• Who will we be talking about?

Look at the picture and predict the content.

Scientific research.

Read the first two lines on page 110 in your textbook.

• What names did you come across?

Marie Laurent, Professor Kern.

The work is clearly about science.

• Do you think Professor Dowell was involved in science?
• Was Professor Kern involved in science?
• What role do you think Marie Laurent should play?

• Have you ever seen a picture of Justice?

• Why a woman?

Dowell does science, Kern does science.

• What do you think Marie is doing?

She is a judge by chance. She evaluates both, their activities, from the point of view of the most important feeling.

• What do you think is stronger, logic or feeling?
• Which feeling can be called the strongest and most creative?

Of course, love.

• Formulate the topic of the lesson. If two professors do science differently and Marie Laurent evaluates them, what could be the topic of the lesson?

The price of scientific discovery.

From the first chapters of the novel it is known that Marie Laurent received a medical degree, but could not find a job anywhere. She had to support herself and her old mother, and she needed income. Professor Kern's offer to work for him was in some university.Peni is a salvation for Marie.Marie agreed to work with Kern only if there was no crime in his affairs. In addition, her character, direct and honest, was also evident in the phrase: “I would prefer death to such a resurrection,” said after Marie first saw the head of Professor Dowell.All of Marie's best traits - directness, honesty, independence of judgment - subsequently developed under the influence of Professor Dowell.

Read the chapters of the novel in the textbook on page 110 (Part II).

• How did the life of Professor Dowell's head change with the appearance of Marie Laurent in the laboratory?
• What especially struck Marie about the story of Professor Dowell and about himself?
• How does the character of Marie Laurent develop under the influence of Professor Dowell?

The life of Professor Dowell's head changes with the arrival of Marie: Dowell sees in front of him an intelligent, beautiful girl who sympathizes with him, and the very appearance of Marie brings some peace to his soul. Then he realizes that Marie has become seriously interested in the tragedy he experienced, that she has taken his story to heart. Marie took a risk for him: she disobeyed Kern and opened the tap. Dowell was given the opportunity to speak. Marie even wants to openly oppose Kern. In short, Dowell now has an ally and friend. Marie was struck first of all by the fact that Kern used the works of his teacher and appropriated his inventions. And when she learns about the cause of Dowell’s death, her indignation knows no bounds. Dowell is a great scientist, thinker, he endures his misfortune with dignity and courage, but how dare he be so submissive, patient, how dare he work for a “thief and murderer”! Marie condemns his humility, not yet understanding that science is more important to Dowell than anything else.

Marie's character develops under the influence of Professor Dowell and his story. The girl becomes more serious, begins to perceive other people’s pain more keenly, thinks more deeply about what the paths of development of science should be, and whether the end always justifies the means. She previously believed that crime was unacceptable, but now, when she sees the victim of such, her rejection of the crime turns into an angry protest. She is ready to actively intervene in the course of life around her and restore justice.

Marie sees that Douel can be a strong, courageous, principled person, he cannot be broken by torture, but he is unable to resist his interest in science, unable to see the wrong experience. Science and work are the most important things in life for him. For their sake, Dowell is ready to forget about everything. This is what Dowell teaches his young assistant. She shares her love with him, proving that for the sake of a loved one you can sacrifice freedom and even life. Marie has the main thing - an inner sense of justice and love, which help her survive in the most critical situations.

Remember what happened to A.R. Belyaev from 1916 to 1922. He lay encased in plaster, helpless and motionless. I couldn't move my arm or leg. His wife left him, and he would have disappeared if not for Margarita Konstantinovna, the future wife of the writer. Thus, Professor Dowell’s feelings are not fiction, they are largely suffered. Marie's figure is not accidental either.

So, we analyzed the episodes of the text “The Head of Professor Dowell” and answered the question what is the price of scientific discoveries.

Exercise.

• Pabout lesson materialswrite a description of Marie in your literature notebook.
• Orally answer questions 3.7 located in the textbook on pages 122-123.

A successful doctor named Kern offers a job in his laboratory to aspiring doctor Marie Laurent, and she is promised a fairly high salary. The girl really likes this proposal, although some things confuse and alarm her from the very beginning, in particular, the office where she talks with her future employer seems too gloomy and joyless. In the laboratory where Kern asks her to go, Marie is horrified to see the head of a man, separated from the body, but continuing to function with the help of a number of devices.

Laurent notices how similar this organ is to the head of the famous professor in the field of surgery, Dowell, whose lectures she had recently attended with great interest and pleasure. According to Kern, he actually managed to bring his deceased colleague back to life, although Marie herself believes that death is definitely preferable to such a “resurrection.”

Nevertheless, the girl nevertheless begins the work offered to her. Laurent provides careful care for the head, which perfectly hears everything she says, understands it and has facial reactions to her words and actions. In addition, Marie brings a lot of medical literature to her head every day, and the professor carefully studies all publications. One day, the head begs the young doctor to turn the tap on one of the tubes, although Dr. Kern categorically forbade Laurent to touch the tap, claiming that this action would be fatal for Dowell.

However, the head persistently begs the girl with all its appearance to fulfill her request, and Marie nevertheless decides to violate the orders of her employer. As a result, the disembodied scientist begins to speak, and Laurent learns about everything that really happened to him.

Kern had previously been Dowell's assistant, and the professor never denied his undoubted abilities, although at the same time he noticed his vanity, greed, and unprincipledness. During one of the experiments, the famous professor suffered an asthmatic attack. Kern allegedly hurried to his aid, but when he woke up, Dowell saw that he no longer had a body. His student needed to make the brain of the brilliant professor work for himself, but Dowell at first categorically refused such cooperation. Kern forced the professor to help him in every possible way, using very cruel and violent methods, but the scientist agreed only when he saw that his former assistant was making obvious mistakes that could destroy the results of all their previous efforts.

Next, Kern manages to prolong the existence of two more heads of people who were victims of accidents. Among them are a young worker, Tom, who was hit by a car, and a frivolous cabaret singer named Briquet, the girl accidentally receives a bullet, which in fact was not intended for her at all. The separation of the heads from the body is successful, but Thomas and Briquet simply do not understand how they can live now, because these very ordinary people are not used to devoting time to thinking, unlike Dowell.

Marie tries to help the heads in everything, the girl sincerely feels sorry for them. She tries to entertain them with the help of music and films, but for Briquet and Tom all this only reminds them of their former, active life, as a result of which they only plunge even more into despair. Kern promises Brika that he will definitely give her a new body; the medical adventurer really intends to carry out such an unprecedented operation, realizing how famous he will be if everything goes well.

At the same time, Kern becomes aware that Laurent is communicating with Dowell’s head, however, he has already guessed about this for a long time. The brave girl unceremoniously tells the dishonest professor that she will tell the whole world about what he did to his teacher. Kern demands that Marie move into the laboratory and not leave there. Laurent indignantly refuses, but the professor immediately turns off the tap through which Dowell’s head receives vital air. The girl, in desperation, agrees to the employer's terms and tells her mother that she will have to live away from home for some time.

Soon, Professor Kern finds an excellent female body at the site of a major railway disaster and sews it onto Briquet, committing a kidnapping. Marie learns from the newspapers that the body her ward received previously belonged to actress Angelique Guy. Briquet's speech now combines her own, not too melodic voice, and Angelique's deep contralto. The young woman’s movements also display an amazing grace and elegance that has never been observed before. The girl insists that Kern let her go home; she wants to show all her friends her new and extremely attractive appearance, while the doctor does not intend to part with living proof of his “genius.”

As a result, Briquet escapes, meets with his friends Jean and Martha and hastily leaves Paris with them; the experienced safe cracker Jean needs to hide from the police just as much as Briquet. The company arrives at one of the Mediterranean beaches, where at the same time two comrades, an artist named Armand Lare, and Arthur Dowell, the son of Professor Dowell, are relaxing.

Armand was previously in love with the deceased Angelique and still cannot forget her. The artist immediately notices how much an unfamiliar woman named Briquet resembles the actress with all her appearance, movements and even voice; moreover, the body of her beloved Lara was never discovered. Friends invite Briquet to take a walk with them on a yacht, and there Armand harshly demands that the girl tell him the whole truth.

Briquet immediately confesses to everything that happened to her, assuring the artist of his complete innocence. When Arthur finds out about everything, he asks his new acquaintance to describe in more detail the third head that Kern has, and understands perfectly well that we are talking about his father. Lare feels that he is not indifferent to Briquet, but is not sure what exactly attracts him, whether it is the fact that this girl now has the figure of Angelica, or whether he likes Briquet herself. The former singer from the bar herself also notices that she has changed a lot, that now she wants to behave completely differently, without the same vulgarity and swagger.

But suddenly a small wound left on the actress’s foot begins to bother Briquet. The girl’s leg swells and turns red, the situation is getting worse every day. Arthur and Armand insist on visiting a doctor, but Briquet refuses, fearing that her story will become known to everyone and she will again be locked in the laboratory forever. However, she is forced to go to Professor Kern, counting on his help. At the same time, young Douel and Lare find out that this man is hiding Marie Laurent in a clinic for mentally ill patients.

Arthur, under a false name, enters the hospital and rescues Marie from there, although it costs him considerable effort. Kern is trying in every possible way to save Briquet’s leg, but gangrene begins to set in, and the professor has no choice but to re-separate the young woman’s head from her body. The doctor understands that it will no longer be possible to hide his experiments; he decides to show everyone a living head belonging to Brika; her fellow sufferer by this moment no longer exists.

During this meeting, Laurent makes a diatribe against Kern, claiming that he stole the results of Professor Dowell's research and killed the famous scientist. Kern, using paraffin, completely changes the appearance of his former teacher's head, making it completely unrecognizable.

The police come to the laboratory, the law enforcement officers are accompanied by Arthur Doeul, his friend Lare and Marie. All those gathered see the last minutes of the life of the researcher’s head; Arthur manages to say goodbye to his father, barely containing his deep despair. The investigator demands that Kern go to the office for questioning, and within a few minutes a loud shot is heard from there.

Many of us strive to read not the work itself, but its summary. The Head of Professor Dowell is definitely a book worth reading in its entirety. However, we will try to briefly present this adventure novel by the Russian writer Alexander Belyaev.

Meet Marie Lohmarn

This girl is a young doctor, and it is with meeting her that Belyaev begins his story. “The Head of Professor Dowell” at the beginning of the story takes us to Professor Kern’s office. The girl will have to work with him. The office makes a gloomy impression on her. However, once in the laboratory, the girl sees a terrible picture: a human head is mounted on a glass board, to which many tubes are connected. The face of the head reminds her of the famous Professor Dowell, a scientist-surgeon who died not long ago.

Resurrection

From Kern, the girl learns that this is really the head of this scientist, who managed to resurrect her. The girl is in shock; death seems much better to her than such a resurrection.

However, we continue to read the summary. The head of Professor Dowell is the object of Marie's labors. The girl's duty is to monitor her condition. It must be said that thanks to resurrection, the head is able to hear, understand and even answer questions with facial expressions.

Communication with the head

Marie brings medical journals to her head every day, which they look through together. This is how Belyaev continues the story. Professor Dowell's head and the girl communicate with each other. Marie understands her by signs. One day, her head asked her to turn off the tap connected to her throat. It was this that Professor Kern strictly forbade her to touch. Careless movement can lead to head death.

talking head

However, the professor's head explains to Marie that this will not happen. This is how Alexander Belyaev continues his story. The girl is worried, but fulfills Dowell’s request. What happens next shocks Marie: it turns out that the head can talk!

Revival details

This is what Professor Dowell's head tells the girl. The book, of course, is able to convey this more emotionally than a summary.

Professor Kern was Dowell's assistant. He is certainly a talented surgeon. While they were working together, Dowell suffered an asthma attack. When he woke up, the professor discovered that he was deprived of his body. Kern saved his brain to continue his research.

You will find out more terrifying details if you continue reading the summary. The head of Professor Dowell tells the astonished girl how he refused to cooperate with Kern, and he, wanting to obtain valuable information, passed an electric current through her and added irritating reagents to nutrient solutions.

New "revivals"

Nevertheless, Dowell was forced to agree to work with Kern when he saw that he, while conducting experiments, made mistakes that could ruin the fruits of their joint work. This is what the summary is about.

Professor Dowell's head helps Kern make other animations. Two more heads appear. One of them - Tom Bush - is male, belonging to a worker who was hit by a car. The other - Briquet - is female, the head of a singer from a bar.

These two are not used to living an intellectual life; it is painful for them to be without a body. Marie plays music and movies for them, but they only get upset: everything reminds them of how they lived before. Briquet managed to convince Kern to give her another body.

Marie's arrest

Kern, having learned that Marie is talking to the professor’s head, forbids her to leave the laboratory. The girl tries to protest, but Kern deprives the professor of air from his head by turning off one of the taps. Now the laboratory is becoming a real prison for Marie, as Alexander Belyaev writes.

Briquet's new body

Kern finds a body for Briquet and kidnaps him from the scene of a train accident. The body is grafted onto the singer's head. Briquet begins to sing: her voice sounds excellent in the lower register. This graceful body, as it turned out, was inherited by Briquet from Angelica Guy, a famous Italian artist. The singer's gestures reveal extraordinary grace.

Briquet is trying to win his freedom. Her desire is to return home, but Kern does not want to let her go.

This is just a short summary. “The Head of Professor Dowell,” if you read this amazing work in its entirety, will reveal to you many interesting episodes.

Briquet's flight

Realizing that it is hopeless to beg Kern, Briquet runs. She climbs down from the window along the tied sheets. Briquet is on the run with his girlfriend and her husband, who was a safecracker, from possible police persecution. She does not tell her friends about the secret surrounding her return.

Unexpected meeting

Let's continue reading the book "The Head of Professor Dowell." The heroes of this work: Briquet, Red Martha (her friend), her friend's husband Jean - go to the Mediterranean Sea. There they unexpectedly meet the artist Armand Lare and Arthur Dowell, the son of that same professor.

Armand Lare mourns for Angelique Guy, because he was not just a fan of this girl’s talent, but also her friend. His sharp gaze was able to catch the striking similarity of the figure of an unfamiliar woman with the body of the singer. He also notices that Briquet has the same gestures, the same mole on his shoulder.

Armand Lare and the son of Professor Dowell decide to reveal this secret. Lare invites Briquet and his friends on a boat trip. On the yacht, Armand, left alone with Briquet, forces her to tell her everything. The young woman honestly answers all of Lara and Dowell's questions.

At the mention of the third head in the laboratory, Arthur realizes that we are talking about his father. He takes out the photo and shows it to Brika. She confirms that this is the same person.

Back to Paris

The young people, together with Briquet, go to Paris to find the professor's head. Armand Lare feels sympathy for the young woman, but does not understand what attracts him to her: Briquet herself or the body of the late singer.

Briquet realizes that her life has changed dramatically. A singer from a bar, having acquired a beautiful new body, not only transforms and becomes younger in appearance, but also begins to think differently.

However, a small wound that was on the foot of Angelique's body leads to Briquet's leg starting to hurt and swell.

The young people decide to show her to the doctors. However, she is against it because she is afraid that her story will become known.

Briquet secretly goes to Kern's laboratory.

Arthur Dowell learns that Marie Laurent is in a mental hospital. Friends with great efforts achieve Marie's release.

Kern tries to save Briquet's leg, but his attempts are in vain. He again separates Briquet's head from his body.

During the demonstration, Marie Laurent exposes Kern, who committed murder and appropriated someone else's discovery. To hide his crime, Kern changes the appearance of Dowell's head.

Arthur asks the police to search Kern, during which he is present along with Marie and Armand. The young people see the end of life for Professor Dowell's head. Kern's interrogation is being prepared. Kern goes to the office, from where a shot is soon heard.

We have just finished presenting the brilliant work of Alexander Belyaev “The Head of Professor Dowell”. Reviews of this book confirm that it occupies a worthy place in the souls of many people. There are readers who were not only shocked by the author’s intentions, but are also ready to return to the work again and again. Even people who are not particularly fond of science fiction literature consider this book to be one that is worth re-reading.

How vividly the author depicts the possibility of such experiments makes one shudder. After all, if such experiments become possible, a person will be absolutely powerless before science, and if this knowledge ends up in the hands of people like Kern, then we risk severely suffering from atrocities.

Publication: Separate edition: in Wikisource

"Professor Dowell's Head"- a fantastic adventure novel by Russian Soviet science fiction writer Alexander Belyaev, one of the most famous works of the writer. The first version in the form of a story was published in Rabochaya Gazeta in 1925. The novel was first published that same year in the World Pathfinder magazine. Belyaev, who was completely immobilized during periods of exacerbation of the disease, called it an autobiographical story: he wanted to tell “what a head without a body can experience.”

Story

In 1923-1928, Alexander Belyaev lived in Moscow and worked as a legal adviser at the People's Commissariat for Postal Service. During the Moscow period of his work, he wrote the story (later the novel) “The Head of Professor Dowell”, the novels “The Island of Lost Ships”, “”, “Amphibian Man”, “Struggle on the Air” and a series of short stories.

The work “The Head of Professor Dowell” was first published in 1925 (1 (story): “Working Newspaper” (M.), 1925, June 16-21, June 24-26; “World Pathfinder", 1925, No. 3-4. 2 (novel). "Smena" (L.), 1937, 1-6, 8-9, 11, 14-18, 24, 28 February, 1, 3-6, 9-11 March; light", 1937, No. 6-10; ed. - L., "Sov. writer", 1938)

Plot

Paris. Professor-surgeon Kern is secretly carrying out successful work to revive the human head. Marie Laurent, who became an assistant at his private clinic, accidentally learns that Kern owes his success in research to the head of his former supervisor and famous professor Dowell, who died under suspicious circumstances, which he revived. Kern hides the existence of the animated head and forces it to work for himself.

Under the guidance of Dowell's head, Kern carries out a number of successful operations - he revives other heads of dead people, and also gives one of them a new body. A former singer at the Briquet bar, given the new body of a dead young woman, escapes from Kern to start a new life. On the Riviera, where she goes with her friends, she encounters the artist Lare, who unexpectedly recognizes the body of his missing friend with the head of another woman. He and his friend Arthur Dowell are even more amazed when they learn from Briquet that in the Kern clinic she saw the living head of Arthur's father.

At this time, Kern discovers that Marie Laurent is communicating with the head of Professor Dowell and knows about the crimes he has committed. Fearing discovery, Kern places Marie in Dr. Ravino's psychiatric hospital. This “hospital” is intended to get rid of unwanted people, whom Ravino, using savage methods, turns into real crazy people.

Arthur Dowell and his friends go to Paris, where, with the help of another artist, Schaub, they stage an armed raid on the hospital and rescue Marie from there. At this time, Kern, forcing events, organizes a public display of his revitalization works. Marie and her friends come to the show and make an expose. Despite the spoiled triumph, Kern still manages to get out. A police search at Kern's clinic turns up nothing. Trying to find his father, Arthur Dowell demands a second search from the police. As a result, Marie Laurent finds the dying professor in the disfigured head, in which no one could recognize Douel. He dies in front of his son, but manages to help the final exposure of Kern. Not wanting to be in the dock, he commits suicide.

Plot Features

• The predecessor of “The Head of Professor Dowell” was the short story “The Head of Mr. Steil” by the German writer Karl Grunert ( Mr. Vivacius Style).

Characters

• Kern- professor, surgeon
• Marie Laurent- doctor, Kern's assistant
• John- Negro servant
• Dowell- professor, scientist-surgeon
• Tom Bush- a dead construction worker whose head was revived by Kern
• Briquet- a dead bar singer whose head was revived by Kern
• Angelica Guy- deceased singer whose body was used by Kern
• Red Martha- Briquet's friend
• Jean- Martha's husband
• Armand Lare- artist
• Arthur Dowell- son of Professor Dowell
• Schaub- artist from Australia, friend of Lara
• Ravino- criminal doctor, owner of a psychiatric hospital

Film adaptations

In 1984, based on the novel, the film “The Testament of Professor Dowell” (dir. Leonid Menaker) was shot.

Notes

Links

• Alexander Belyaev. Head of Professor Dowell (text of the novel on the Lib.Ru website).
• Svetlana Belyaeva “The star twinkles outside the window...” (Alexander Romanovich Belyaev Novels. Novels. Stories / Library of World Literature. M., Eksmo, 2008.)

Works by Alexander Belyaev
Novels and stories:	Professor Dowell's Head The Last Man from Atlantis Lord of the World Island of Lost Ships Amphibian Man Fight in the Ether Eternal Bread Golden Mountain Seller of Air The Man Who Lost Face Underwater Farmers The Earth is Burning Jump into Nothing Airship Miraculous Eye Star KETS Heavenly Guest Laboratory Dublve Under the Arctic Sky Witches Castle The Man Who Found your face Ariel
:	The Man Who Doesn't Sleep Guest from the Bookcase Above the Abyss Legends and Apocrypha in the making The Devil's Mill Amba Hoyti-Toyti The Magic Carpet
Stories:	Neither life nor death Ideophone White savage Hunting the Big Dipper Is it easy to be a cancer? Sesame, open up!!! Death's head Dead zone Lapel remedy In the pipe Ancestral instinct Riding on the wind The end of the world Keep to the West Air columns Imperishable world VCBID Citizen of the Ethereal island Kite Storm Absentee engineer Blind flight Mister Laughter Invisible light Anatomical groom I see everything, I hear everything, I know everything
Scenario:	When the lights go out

Wikimedia Foundation.

• 2010.
• Moor's head

Golovanivskaya, Maria Konstantinovna

See what “Professor Dowell’s Head” is in other dictionaries: Professor Dowell's will

- The will of Professor Dowell... Wikipedia PROFESSOR DOWELL'S WILL - 1984, 91 min., color, 2 volumes. Genre: fantasy drama. dir. Leonid Menaker, screenplay Leonid Menaker, Igor Vinogradsky (based on the science fiction novel “The Head of Professor Dowell” by Alexander Belyaev), opera. Vladimir Kovzel, artist. Yuri Pugach...

- The will of Professor Dowell... Wikipedia Lenfilm. Annotated Film Catalog (1918-2003) - “THE TESTAMENT OF PROFESSOR DOWELL”, USSR, LENFILM, 1984, color, 91 min. Fantastic. Based on the novel by A. Belyaev “The Head of Professor Dowell”. Cast: Olgert Kroders (see KRODERS Olgert), Igor Vasiliev (see VASILIEV Igor Alekseevich), Valentina Titova ...

Encyclopedia of Cinema The Testament of Professor Dowell (film)

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Books

• The Head of Professor Dowell, Alexander Belyaev, “The Head of Professor Dowell” (1925) is a story about biological experiments carried out in mysterious clinics. Listening to him, you will learn how the brilliant ideas of some scientists lead to the path... Category: