by Mikhail Bulgakov
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Product Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.com Review
Surely no stranger work exists in the annals of protest literature than The Master and Margarita. Written during the Soviet crackdown of the 1930s, when Mikhail Bulgakov's works were effectively banned, it wraps its anti-Stalinist message in a complex allegory of good and evil. Or would that be the other way around? The book's chief character is Satan, who appears in the guise of a foreigner and self-proclaimed black magician named Woland. Accompanied by a talking black tomcat and a "translator" wearing a jockey's cap and cracked pince-nez, Woland wreaks havoc throughout literary Moscow. First he predicts that the head of noted editor Berlioz will be cut off; when it is, he appropriates Berlioz's apartment. (A puzzled relative receives the following telegram: "Have just been run over by streetcar at Patriarch's Ponds funeral Friday three afternoon come Berlioz.") Woland and his minions transport one bureaucrat to Yalta, make another one disappear entirely except for his suit, and frighten several others so badly that they end up in a psychiatric hospital. In fact, it seems half of Moscow shows up in the bin, demanding to be placed in a locked cell for protection. Meanwhile, a few doors down in the hospital lives the true object of Woland's visit: the author of an unpublished novel about Pontius Pilate. This Master--as he calls himself--has been driven mad by rejection, broken not only by editors' harsh criticism of his novel but, Bulgakov suggests, by political persecution as well. Yet Pilate's story becomes a kind of parallel narrative, appearing in different forms throughout Bulgakov's novel: as a manuscript read by the Master's indefatigable love, Margarita, as a scene dreamed by the poet--and fellow lunatic--Ivan Homeless, and even as a story told by Woland himself. Since we see this narrative from so many different points of view, who is truly its author? Given that the Master's novel and this one end the same way, are they in fact the same book? These are only a few of the many questions Bulgakov provokes, in a novel that reads like a set of infinitely nested Russian dolls: inside one narrative there is another, and then another, and yet another. His devil is not only entertaining, he is necessary: "What would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?" Unsurprisingly--in view of its frequent, scarcely disguised references to interrogation and terror--Bulgakov's masterwork was not published until 1967, almost three decades after his death. Yet one wonders if the world was really ready for this book in the late 1930s, if, indeed, we are ready for it now. Shocking, touching, and scathingly funny, it is a novel like no other. Woland may reattach heads or produce 10-ruble notes from the air, but Bulgakov proves the true magician here. The Master and Margarita is a different book each time it is opened. --Mary Park
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 The Devil Went Down to Moscow, 2008-09-04
Over the years I've heard numerous people call "The Master and Margarita" their favorite book, so finally I decided to read it for myself and was not disappointed at all. Yet, despite my enjoyment of this book, I am at a loose for how best to describe or critique it. I could perhaps say (and I mean this as a compliment) this is the literary equivalent of an old and unsafe ride at a traveling carnival - that is, you're never sure what's going to happen next, so all you can do is hold on tight and enjoy the ride. Bulgakov's work is a terrific, mind-bending mixture of dark humor, satire, surrealism, romance, horror, fantasy and social commentary. Of course, while this work skewers many of the problems which faced the early Soviet Union, you don't need to be enrolled in a seminar course on Stalinist Russia to appreciate this unique and absorbing tale of good and evil (although the introduction and notes by Richard Pevear are very useful for the non-academic reader). Approach this novel with an open mind and you will love it!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
READ THIS!, 2008-08-24
My boyfriend and read it toghether and i got addicted to it since page 1! what a book!
Its very funny, cause the characters are one of a kind, it is interesting because it reflects the Russian society, it is deep because you also get both of these features related to yes...Pontius Pilates and Christ! and it is easy to read, has many many helpful comments at the end so you dont get lost in history!
This is a must for everyone
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A GIFT FROM THE GRAVE, 2008-08-20
I found Mikhail Bulgakov's life terribly sad, as I progressed through this novel, realizing how much of it is autobiographical. Here was a brilliant man---the grandson of Priests, who was obviously quite theologically challenged in atheist Russia. His motif surrounding the existence of Jesus and the Devil, told through stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, was obviously his personal desire to master the concept of good versus evil, in a culture of oppression, brutality, and subjugation, not to mention censorship---the slow death of a creative, freedom-seeking, artist.
A good deal of the read may appear to just be magical folly but on careful inspection, it is filled with deep, political satire and symbolism attacking Stalin's Communist Russia and the justifiable paranoia it bred. The ridicule, denouncement and exposure was nothing short of genius, as were the characters that carried out his themes, my favorite being the personification of the big as a pig, Vodka craving, Black Cat.
Bulgakov, was clearly before his time and it is sad he died at 48. His history shows a man who was broken by his inability of free expression. His determination to complete his works, in spite of censorship, is a testament to his spirit and perseverance---one of the strongest reasons that this book deserves to be read by all. I consider it a literary gift from the grave, carrying messages we must never forget.
Be warned that this is not a quick and easy read---at least it was not for me. I suspect that I've missed, or misinterpreted many scenarios that will read differently with a repeat read. Simply put, it's like trying to watch a ten ring circus---in more ways than one. But, you won't want to miss a single ring of action.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
A extraordinary novel, 2008-08-15
There is little I can add to the many excellent reviews of this unique novel; it repays re-reading and study.
Professor Kevin Moss at Middlebury College maintains an excellent site dedicated to this novel. There are illustrations from various editions, maps of places and a guide to the characters. Professor Moss describes the site:
"These Master & Margarita pages are intended as a web-based multimedia annotation to Bulgakov's novel.
"You won't find the full text of the novel here, as it is still under copyright and no one in his right mind would want to read a 300-page novel online in any language. Curling up with the novel, preferably in a basement apartment in front of a fire on a moonlit night, is highly recommended.
"You won't find a summary of the novel here either, and it's unlikely the site will make much sense as a whole if you don't read the novel. You can't use this site like Cliff's Notes."
Amazon doesn't permit direct links, but you should be able to find this outstanding reader's aid by going to middlebury.edu on Google and searching on Bulgakov in the Middlebury search box.
Robert C. Ross 2008
0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 blood and guts, 2008-08-05
About midway through this book, I decided it could easily be turned into a screenplay for another run-of-the-mill slasher movie. Maybe the best is yet to come, but I resent having read so far waiting for something better.
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