The Master and Margarita

One of my all time favourites. I'm not quite sure what it is that I love so much about this book. Part of it is an emotional personal reason, which is that I was reading it at 4 am on the sofa having awoken because I had a premonition that my mum had just died. She had. So there's that.

I bought a nice hardback copy and it makes reading it even more enjoyable. I should read it in Russian one day. I did actually start doing that once, but it's just so much effort now that I'm so long away from having used Russian.

Weird from start to finish, both subtle political satire and imaginative escapade, Bulgakov's masterpiece is certainly something that will stay with the reader for a long time. I can't think of any other book that manages to combine modern-day Moscow (at least modern for the author) with Jerusalem in the time of Christ, or the pranks of the literal Devil and his gang with a deep narrative about an artist's struggle to express himself in a society where this is forbidden and a woman's eternal devotion to this same man and his work. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll simply quote a phrase that I think perfectly summarizes this novel:
“Kindly consider the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?”
And of course the eternal:
“Manuscripts don't burn.”

It will capture and feed your imagination.

An absolute masterpiece! I adore all the members of the retinue and I'm very glad that this had a happy ending! Definitely one of my favorite books now!

Put this one aside for a while, but ended up loving it. It fulfills my final Read Harder Challenge category, “Read a book that is set more than 5000 miles from your location.” Whee! For extra credit, I'm watching the Russian miniseries version on YouTube. Bizarre and addictive.

Me habían hablado muy bien de este libro además de que es un clasico y todo eso.
No esta mal, pero no entiendo realmente a qué quería llegar el autor.
Hay partes que supongo que son comicas y otras partes serias y la parte de Jerusalem que no sé exactamente qué está intentando hacer.

Los clásicos suelen ser valor seguro, este me ha defraudado bastante.

I don't know what to say considering the profound impact it had on many a reader, but I just thought it ok - which is even more damning than being vehemently opposed to it. The story should be enough, revolving around Satan, a talking cat, naked witches, Pilate in the time of Christ and Satan's ball. People lose their heads, run naked in the streets and are disappeared. But it found it flat despite all that.

A fantastic conversation over on Twitter revealed alternatives to the uninspired translations of my Penguin edition done by Pevear and Volokhonsky including those by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor and another by Hugh Alpin. It's worth a re-read to find out if I might enjoy it more.

** Just a note that I had the chance to reread the 1995 Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor translation. This was definitely a more enjoyable read that warrants a solid four stars. Perhaps being familiar with the story reading it a second time made it run more smoothly but I find that the Burgin/O'Connor translation scans better. The Peavar translation on the other hand often tripped me up, making me conscious of the lines and frustrating the flow of information.

This is a delightfully absurd and bizarre book. I appreciated the layering of stories and unique characters and would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that mixes religious storylines with rollicking fiction.

This is book is the best mockery of humanity and human nature that will ever exist. What a great testament by the great Bulgakov.

Satan causes a mayhem, Jesus forgives, Master and Margarita find peace, and there are one or two days in the life of pontius pilate that could have gone differently..

Excellent. But, completely insane. Bulgakov's ability to interweave an account of Jesus's final hours from Pontius Pilate's point of view (as well as others), the devil and his henchmen's romp through Moscow, and a satire of Stalinist Russia is impressive. I still cannot account for the talent necessary to pull these seemingly disparate plot lines together without being forced. Frankly, when another book club member recommended this title, I rolled my eyes in mockery and despair. Now, I'm quite happy to have read “The Master and Margarita.”

There are elements of the fantastical that seemed like Shakespeare's “Midsummer Night's Dream,” as well as Lewis Carroll's “Alice in Wonderland.” Behemoth smacks of the Cheshire Cat. I'm unfortunately not familiar with Gogol, who I understand to be a major influence of Bulgakov's.

The scenes set during the sentencing, execution, and subsequent events of Jesus' crucifixion are relatively straight-forward and a pleasure to read, whereas the Muscovite sections of the nicely team with nonsense, violence, and seeming randomness. If only there was an entire novel written in this manner about Biblical occurrences. While these sections are excerpts from The Master's burned, then reborn, novel, the Master himself is but a shell. In some ways, it's hard to understand why Bulgakov's chose to name the novel after two characters who aren't as important as others.

Woland is a fascinating character. He stops (or walks away from) the violence and insanity caused by his crew when it goes overboard. He also is clearly not as powerful as another, higher bring, although it isn't clear whether that is God or another figure.

Hebt ge dat ook soms, zo van die halve paniekaanvallen van “aargh al die klassiekers die ik eigenlijk zou moeten gelezen hebben maar die ik nog niet gelezen heb”?

Ik anders wel, om de zoveel tijd. En als een boek omschreven wordt als “Many critics consider it to be one of the best novels of the 20th century, as well as the foremost of Soviet satires”, dan is dat voor mij voldoende om op de lijst ‘dan eens te lezen, dan' gezet te worden.

Het valt niet altijd mee, van die boeken die enorm goed gevonden worden, maar deze keer wel. Er staat meer dan een mens wil weten op de Wikipediats; het punt is: ik heb het graag gelezen, het verhaal van de Duivel die naar de USSR komt, verweven met het verhaal van Pontius Pilatus en zijn schuldgevoel.

Ik ben content dat ik nog naar de Sovjetunie gegaan ben vóór het einde van het communisme: dat maakt dat ik er mij alsnog wat meer in kan inleven, de histories van buitenlands geld en achterdocht en verlinking.

Neen, leutig boek. Oh, en goed ook, veronderstel ik.

I started reading this book in the english version but for some reason I couldn't make heads and toes and nails from it. I was just utterly confused. So I got the german version instead and started reading this (I was about 1/4 into the book already).

What a fantastic story and a great writing, even with only the translation as a base line I think this is wonderful written literature right here.

I really highly recommend this book to just anyone who is willing to dive into something else than the usual Pulp novels.

Premier classique russe que je lis, et magnifique découverte. L'histoire est entêtante, puissante, emplie de mystères et de secrets, le texte projette des images plein la tête avec virtuosité. Le côté fantastique de l'histoire est extrêmement bien amené, avec beaucoup d'humour, toujours bien maîtrisé. La critique sous jacente est très bien maîtrisée et révèle beaucoup de l'esprit d'époque. Une superbe découverte.