Unfortunately, “The White Guard” – a masterpiece of M. A. Bulgakov, a work of epic force and marvelous harmony, - to this
day exists in the shadow of the cult novel “The Master and Margarita,” despite being of a higher artistic quality and, without doubt, more moral than the story of Pontius Palates and Massolite. In "The White Guard," Bulgakov's genius is displayed in its full capacity. Right away, the reader finds himself under the charm of Bulgakov’s prose and the images of his characters – Doctor Alexei Turbin, his
sister Yelena Talberg, brother Nicholas, absurd and touching “cousin from Zhitomir” named Lariosik, adventurer Shervinskiy, lieutenant Mishlayevsky ,former student Karas’, Turbin’s savior and bride – Yuliya Reyss, who dies in a heroic attempt to cover the retreat of colonel Nai-Turs’s youth correspondents, his mother and sister. Bulgakov creates his heroes with subduing persuasion and crafts home and street
scenes with a cinematic attention to detail. The novel is characterized by a consistent style, a unity of plot and an unusual dynamism – no scene drags. All of these elements contribute to a psychological and historical genuineness of the work. For example, the atmosphere of Kiev, plagued by ever changing authorities of 1919, anarchy, routine violence, pillages, and a spirit of nation wide demoralization, is recreated with a stunning authenticity.
Against this hellish background, especially memorable are scenes of a fragile, doomed and thus treasured family comfort and scenes of irrevocably gone world of the “old order,” of which Bulgakov was a witness and an integral part and with which the noblest readers of his tragic novel can associate.