The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov BOOK REVIEW

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[jojodogface]

The "devil take him" and "the devil with you" idiom is used all over Russian lit. It's similar to saying "go to hell", it's just used more ironcally in the novel

[ELGÜEROGERÓNIMO]

"Однажды весною, в час небывало жаркого заката, в Москве, на Патриарших прудах, появились два гражданина..."

[matthewjaco]

I literally just reread this one a few weeks ago. One of those rare cases where the "You'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll change your life" descriptions is actually true.
Along with "Mason & Dixon" by Thomas Pynchon, it's by far the best thing I've read all year.

[notatall]

I feel like Wes Anderson could do a good Master and Margarita. Maybe sth like The Fantastic Mr. Fox

[bleepbloop]

I mean... He's not literally saying manuscripts don't burn. Pretty sure he understands that paper is flammable. The "manuscript" in this instance is a metaphor for art, freedom of expression, the creative spirit, etc. Censors can physically burn manuscripts, but they can not destroy the ideas or the artistic spirit that produces them. That's immortal. Bulgakov burned his original manuscript, but the idea persisted within him, so in a sense, it wasn't really burned. Then he re-wrote it and died... And still the ideas persisted, through the influence they had on those around him. They persisted so strongly that they survived a repressive, Orwellian regime that really did "disappear" people for writing subversive literature.

[lofi-lullaby]

It is absolutely stunning in English but let me tell you all !! It is a freaking masterpiece in Russian 💔

[CMDR-Cody]

This is one of my favorite books. I first read it years ago when I was diving into Russian Liturature. It hit me hard then. As a young protestant man I thought I understood the story fully but it wasn't until my conversion to Orthodoxy and a re-read a few years later that the message of Bulgakov truly hit me in a wholly different way. In my opinion the way he meant for it to hit the pubic he was writing it for at the time. I'm co hosting a book club on this book over the next couple of months so I'm glad to read it once again.

[tomriordan]

This is one of the greatest novels ever written!

[thomascrocker]

I totally get your reaction to this book. I personally really enjoyed it but I also got a kick out of it because I used to live in Russia and it admittedly is bogged down with lots of Soviet/Russian cultural references. Any way, great review as always.

[imefix]

What a coincindence! I've just started reading it and now your review pops up! Makes you really wonder who governs human life and, in general, the whole order of
things on earth.

[alexander]

I literally just bought the most beautiful 1st American Edition of The Master and Margarita 4 days ago! This video couldn't have been dropped at a better time!

[VangelVe]

It is my favourite book, making me think that our approaches to reading it differed. I see it as very relevant today as the big problem in the West is cowardice, just as it was during Stalin's reign in the USSR. Most of the evil is initiated and committed by secular government officials looking to curry favour by abandoning principles, not the Devil.

I suggest that you try to figure out why so many people thought it was the most remarkable novel of the 20th century. Bulgakov did what Dostoyevsky did as he attacked the moral relativism that the USSR represented. That was what mattered, not the talking cat.

[billyalarie]

This is so inspiring for the thing I’ve been trying to write for nearly 20 years.

[nurulhaniyahmadfuad]

I remember reading this when I was in my Russian-literature-reading frenzy (still am btw). After finishing it I was like, what the devil have I just read?! It came as quite a shock for me because before that, I was reading Crime and Punishment, Fathers and Sons and some Leonid Andreyev's so I thought The Master and Margarita will give me the same 'taste' but ha! was I in for a surprise 😂

[maristiller]

I’ve been waiting for this one! I read the book this summer and loved it.
Edit: I’m sorry you didn’t like it though. I do somewhat agree with you that it’s confusing and kinda overly whimsical but for me that was part of the appeal.

[Aur]

I’m so happy you covered this book, it’s of of my absolute favourites! Thanks for another great review! :)

[evgeniya_elle]

I read it first when I was a teenager (as most Russians do because it's part of a school literature course) and at that time I was mostly amused by the talking cat and all Koroviev jokes, those were the best parts. Later when I reread it I got more interested in Jerusalem scenes (which I used to skip as a teenager). Also, when I learned more about the Russian history of that period and Bulgakov's own fate, I could understand the satire better. But I agree that it's a kind of book which "you had to be there to understand" (together with other Russian satire masterpieces of that time "The Twelve Chairs" and "The Golden Calf" by Ilf and Petrov). Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for your opinion. It's always very interesting to see the view from the outside, how the books considered iconic in Russia are perceived by people from other countries.

[Crowborn]

WHY YOU NO LIKE TALKING CAT? DEVIL TAKE YOU!

[nl]

Master and Margarita is also one of Salman Rushdie's favorite novels, and was (quite clearly) a huge influence on The Satanic Verses.

[THFLCNx]

Yo, I just did a review of this book myself like a month ago, lol! It was such a unique book! Simultaneously silly and sad and so many other things too. One of the best Russian novels to come out of the Soviet period, definitely.