Мастер и Маргарита
1966
- satire
- humor
- politicians
- good and evil
- alienation
- atheism
- magicians
- bands
- political fiction
- allegories
The story
*The Master and Margarita* (Russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. The story concerns a visit by the devil and his entourage to the officially atheist Soviet Union. The devil, manifested as one Professor Woland, challenges the Soviet citizens' beliefs towards religion and condemns their behavior throughout the book. *The Master and Margarita* combines supernatural elements with satirical dark comedy and Christian philosophy, defying categorization within a single genre. Many critics consider it to be one of the best novels of the 20th century, as well as the foremost of Soviet satires. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967 by his widow Elena Bulgakova. The manuscript was not published as a book until 1967, in Paris. A samizdat version circulated that included parts cut out by official censors, and these were incorporated in a 1969 version published in Frankfurt. The novel has since been published in several languages and editions.
What it’s like
Brisk, mischievous prose that swings between farce and quiet grief, with a lamplit Moscow of tramlines, hot summer streets, and shabby apartments where the absurd arrives as an ordinary visitor. The voice is wry and conversational, full of bureaucratic comedy, a talking cat who causes chaos with great dignity, and a midnight magic show that empties people's wallets. Halfway through, the tone shifts to a sun-scorched, austere Jerusalem told in long, weighty sentences, then returns to the city's noise. Moods range from giddy to tender to elegiac, with moonlight and candle-glow as recurring images. Violence is sudden and mostly off-page: a death under a tram, a few murders and executions, one sharp beheading, and a stretch of dark sorcery; the sensuality is playful and brief rather than explicit. It reads best slowly, a chapter at a time, on a rainy evening or a sleepless night when a little unease feels welcome. It suits readers who enjoy satire with a philosophical undertow, Soviet-era history told sideways, and a book that rewards rereading.
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