About this title: A new translation of Bulgakov's novel which also includes a commentary and afterword that provide new insights into the subtext of the novel.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780330351348ISBN:0330351346
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Edition: NEW ED
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PAN MACMILLAN Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780330351348ISBN:0330351346
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 384 pages. (384 pages) a new translation of bulgakov's novel which also includes a commentary and afterword that provide new insights into the subtext of the novel. edition new ed (Paperback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780330351348ISBN:0330351346
Description: A new translation of Bulgakov's novel which also includes a commentary and afterword that provide new insights into the subtext of the novel. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using International Priority Airmail. Delivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Heavier and more expensive items have tracking number. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
Edition: NEW ED
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, UK
ISBN-13:9780330351348ISBN:0330351346
Description: We are no longer able to guarantee delivery by Christmas. A new translation of Bulgakov's novel which also includes a commentary and afterword that provide new insights into the subtext of the novel. ISBN10: 0330351346. read more
Edition: NEW ED
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, UK
ISBN-13:9780330351348ISBN:0330351346
Description: We are no longer able to guarantee delivery by Christmas. PLEASE NOTE that we do not offer expedited shipping. Orders placed with the priority shipping option will automatically be canceled. A new translation of Bulgakov's novel which also includes a commentary and afterword that provide new insights into the subtext of the novel. ISBN10: 0330351346. read more
Description: New. PLEASE NOTE: All books are promptly imported from the UK using International Priority Airmail. Delivery is typically 5-10 working days. Please do not select expedited shipping. Heavier and more expensive items have tracking number. Professional and reliable bookseller (est.1987). read more
"The devil comes to Moscow in human form, and starts toying with the lives of average people. He impresses them by telling them things he shouldn't know, makes them laugh by telling them how they're going to die (because they think he's nuts, obviously), and in general creates havoc and disorder in the lives of people who are already having a hard time, and who would just as soon have a few vodkas and forget the world.
I wasn't as impressed with this book as I thought I would be. It started out well, but then Bulgakov kept changing protagonists. I liked the authenticity of all the characters, but we never get a close enough look at any of them. The point of view keeps focusing on someone different every few pages.
The frequent appearance of the talking black cat annoyed me. I can certainly look past a prop like that and determine for myself if it actually means anything to the plot, but in this case I didn't see any significance. Also, we don't meet Margarita until Book Two, which is nearly two-thirds into the book. By then, I had almost lost interest in following the storyline.
I will say that I really loved the chapters in which Pontius Pilate must give up Jesus for the crucifixion. There were only three of these wonderful chapters, but I was rapt at every word. I've seen Ben-Hur, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc., but this is the first time I've actually read such a literary interpretation of those events. These chapters alone make the book worth reading.
So, five stars for the crucifixion chapters, and two stars for the rest of the book."
"I knew that this was going to be a book that I loved the moment I learned that Satan was the main character. This is not due to any particular affinity for devil worship on my part, but because I love Tricksters in literature and in Western civilization you don't get a better trickster than the devil. Watching him turn Stalinist Moscow on its head proved to be one of the most amusing and engrossing things I've read all year.
From the moment he first materializes as the black magician Woland at a pond and predicts the impending death of the renowned writer he meets there (after listening to the writer's various proofs as to why there can not be an actual god), the devil inspires a plague of madness as increasingly odd and impossible events occur to shock the strictly rational, science-based, citizens. Whether hosting a seance that leaves the ladies of Moscow in the street wearing nothing but their undergarments, teleporting hapless theatre owners to Yalta or haunting telephone lines, Woland and his retinue of demonic cohorts know exactly how to play upon the foibles of human nature and prove rather easily that, regardless of what the Soviets may claim about their forced evolution of humanity, humans are just as greedy, gullible, and ridiculous as they ever were.
The heart of the book, however, belongs to the titular Master. An author hounded to the madhouse by the rabid criticisms leveled on his masterpiece by the Moscow literati, his book within the book about the Crucifixion from the point of view of Pontius Pilate is what I've found sticking with me in the days since finishing. It's no easy feat to make a sympathetic character of a bureaucrat who has been so forcefully demonized over the past two millennia but Bulgakov (and through him, the Master) performs an excellent bit of magic and you find yourself really feeling for Pilate as he is manipulated by forces outside of his control into killing Christ, who is sad that his apostle, Matthew, is twisting his words while recording them.
While there are definitely a handful of moments where I wish I would have known more about Stalinist Russia, the state-approved entertainer's guilds and the ever-present fear of the police in order to better understand Bulgakov's satire, I still had a rollicking good time while reading this and it stands up next to Crime & Punishment as one of my favorite works of Russian literature."
"Mikhail Bulgakov passed away shortly after Stalin's Great Purge; it occurred from about 1937 to 1938 and was intended to rid the Soviet Union of traitors, subversive elements, and most importantly, enemies of Stalin. The NKVD (the secret police organization of the Soviet Union) had executed over over 600,000 people, the most notable one being Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Bulgakov's relationship with Stalin, however, was more or less safe. Stalin enjoyed Bulgakov's early plays, even though most of them were censored, and he found him a job at the Moscow Art Theater. This position proved to be unpleasant and unfulfilling. In 1930 he asked Stalin for permission to emigrate, but was denied because Stalin felt that a Soviet writer should never leave his homeland. Of course, Stalin probably had sadistic reasons as well. Much like Joseph Goebbels, Stalin wanted to control Soviet art, ensuring that it all represented loyalty and favor to the State. Much of Bulgakov's unhappiness stemmed from his contempt for Stalin's regime, but if he tried to emigrate he would be murdered. With this in mind he lived his life as many did at that time, as a sort of free political prisoner, living a life of quiet desperation, hoping that in the end, literature or art would prove to be the final salvation in life.
Bulgakov's background invariably ties into the political satire to be found in The Master and Margarita. And sources indicate that he had been working on the book from 1928 up until his death, the entire time spent as a witness to the horrific political oppression of the Soviet Union. His novel imagines several fantastic characters working under Satan's command to terrorize Stalinist Moscow, the eponymous couple and their reunion, and it's also a frame narrative, including a fictionalized account of Pontius Pilate's role in the persecution of Jesus.
Two members of a writer's organization by the name MASSOLIT sit on a bench in Patriarch's Ponds, a mysterious professor by the name of Woland comes along, and the all discuss the existence of God. Both Berlioz (the organization's director) and Bezdomny (a local poet) refute his existence, while Woland argues that he does exist, by predicting Berlioz's absurdly tragic fate, he proves that he must exist because the two men have just had a conversation with the devil. Woland's identity is subtle at the beginning of the novel, and as it unfolds, the reader is left with the task of wondering why he is here. Surely to torment characters such as Berlioz and Bezdomny. And these characters are followed by a laundry list of caricatures of Soviet greed, petty bureaucracy, and naive opportunism. The Pontius Pilate narrative infrequently trails alongside the one concerning Satan's gang, and eventually a failed novelist turned mad (the Master, a character that is clearly modeled after Bulgakov himself), and his lamentable wife Margarita, who, after the Master's departure from sanity, is now living a dissatisfied existence with a husband that she does not love.
Once these narrative threads blend together, which truly begins around the beginning of Book Two, a larger one reveals itself, albeit lacking a little tact. If it were not for the fantasy elements of The Master and Margarita, then the novel would be virtually incapable of making these loose ends meet. In a sense, it is one of the first great science-fiction novels, one that is wholly reliant on impossible scenarios. What doesn't really seem to connect so effortlessly is the bond between Woland and Margarita. Basically, Satan needs a hostess for his ball who must be named Margarita and must be a native of the place where the ball is being held. Out of a hundred and twenty-one potential hostesses, Margarita is chosen. It just so happens that she, in turn, requires a favor that not only justifies the other part of this frame narrative, but brings the Master out of the psychiatric ward, so he can find peace in his complete masterpiece.
Throughout the book there are other vignettes, seemingly included as entertaining asides. Satan's gang is particularly interesting, especially Behemoth, the famous talking cat. These scenes provide comic relief from the otherwise dramatic narrative concerning the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate. And satire prevails throughout the entire story, as ridiculous bureaucrats are confounded time and again by the mischievous, yet inconceivable activities of Satan's gang.
Once again, this is Bulgakov getting back at the Russia of his time. It's a sort of subtle revenge story, combined with a dreamer's knack for imaginative characterizations and descriptive historical fiction. This novel was his act of rebellion. It's well written, particularly Book Two, which includes much sharper dialogue (not realistic, but more effective in context), especially between Margarita and Woland, as well as some really poetic descriptions of Moscow. Unfortunately, The Master and Margarita is not a structurally sound novel. It seems to cut off certain disparate chapters abruptly, connect narratives that do not fit quite well, and it ultimate relies upon fantasy to get itself out of creative ruts."
"A wild ride of a book! The devil comes to Stalin Moscow and wreaks utter havoc, most of which is extremely amusing. Yet this is not the evil Satan we normally encounter. He's actually a necessary aspect of what is necessary in our universe. What is Light if there is no Shadow? In more Christian terms (which you definitely don't need to be in order to get the point here) if you don't believe in the devil, then Christ also does not exist. So, in a roundabout way, the devil does good. And this Satan is even a somewhat likable character.
I'd write more right now but I'm on vacation using the office computer. I'm tempted to give this 5 stars, but due to the nature of the book, when it's over it's over and there's no compunction to go back and reread certain parts as I do with myvery favorites. And while the characters are rich, I'm not taking any away with me and pondering about their fate. However, this book breaks all usual modes, and it may break my past expectations of needing the same values as my other 5-star books.
Edited a few days later to upgrade to 5 stars. Couldn't stop thinking about it and feeling somewhat disturbed while I pondered it's meaning. There's alot of layers to this masterpiece, which warrants a second reading. I was so engrossed and amused with the antics stirred up in Moscow yet there's a whole other book about Pontius Pilate that the Master has written in quite a different style - beautiful, lyrical, quiet. The two stories are very connected, but it's the Pilate one that ended up haunting me."
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