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4.7 ★★★★★
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★★★★★ 5
Brilliant, Visceral Portrayal of the Eastern-Block Landscape and Imagination
Wow-just WOW! Bulgakov simply blew me away with his dark & very eastern-block humor, twisted ironies, brilliant metaphors, infinite layers of meaning, his surrealist aesthetic and refusal to follow any "rules" of any particular genre. Within a few chapters, this book quickly moved up to my #1 Most Brilliant Books Ever Written list, and after the last pages, I have a feeling it will stay here for a long time (perhaps until I take up Gogol, or so I am told).
There are many layers to this novel, a plethora of imagery, metaphors, and references that have been studied in hundreds of scholarly articles and tens of thousands of journalistic/reviewer articles, so I will not attempt to gloss superficially over any themes. Rather I will focus on the ironic humor, which touched me most profoundly, as a person born and raised under Ceausescu's regime (Romania).
Ironic, tragic, dark and depressing humor was central to Eastern European resistance to communism, and served a healing as well as communal/relational function. Even today, visiting Bucharest, the dark humor remains, and is spoken, without reservation, between strangers at bus stations, intimate family members, colleagues at the office, etc--it is a key thread of our identity and how we relate to and understand the world. I have never ready any work that captures this humor better than Bulgakov.
A process that is emphasized in the literature on communism is the development of a duality of psychic space, a mode of schizophrenic resistance. To many who sought refuge in books and humor, this fragmentation transformed into a positive experience: a honed, rich duality was a sign of strength, showing how one could successfully detach herself from the absence of things and to fill space with meaning in spite of adversity. These processes were transmitted historically, and taught one how to survive without alienating oneself psychologically. Andrei Pleşu remembers humor about lack as a "prop of survival". Oana-Maria Hock remembers the theatre as providing a "surrogate toughness", a form of resistance in the face of material insecurity. In a place in which material necessities were difficult to come by, disassociation, particularly through artistic release, served to create spaces of plenty.
Even though this work may be read by any audience, and though most find it brilliant, it particularly speaks to those who have lived through the horrors of Eastern-block communism and its historical particularities in this region; the humor especially is not only deeply ironic and depressing, but also is born of an experience difficult to describe if one has not lived it: the reference, for example, to "second-grade-fresh" fish.
It may seem superficially funny to anyone who has not experienced rationing as a way of life, but the phrase has many layers of meaning: first, as a reference to the rationing process/how hard it was to find food, second as a reference to the Eastern-block communist way of meticulously categorizing all things (such as different grades of products, of which "first grade" was of course never available to the non-connected citizen), third as reflection of how people in this region relied on deeply disturbing humor to pacify, at least temporarily, their disquietude, fourth, illustrating the peculiarities of communication during this time (when everything had at least a double meaning, under the politically correct and allowed language), and fifth, it brings back the embodied feeling itself of how one used to imagine the world before 1989--it is absolutely *visceral*, because this is EXACTLY how people talked. Everything was a private joke--and every comment was either ironic or meant something other than what it actually said.
Another example: in the Epilogue, when Bulgakov takes on the narrator role and tells us what happened after the Devil left Moscow, he first mentions the plight of black cats: "A hundred or so of these peaceful animals... were shot or otherwise destroyed in various parts of the country"... The ridiculousness of his concern for the cats considering circumstances is another perfect example of the twisted humor used during this period as a means of resistance.
Further, Bulgakov continues his story, citizens were goaded into public vigilantism of capturing black cats and reporting with them to police stations; there is even a story of a woman who comes to a station to vouch for the "character" of her cat. Clearly, this is not a story about cats, but a reference to the Secret Police, the dreaded disappearances, and the ways in which regular citizens were complicit in the process--yet at the same time, it is also a story about how Eastern block policies/dictators actually did value "cats"/animals above people (not to mention that people were treated AS animals, another double meaning).
In an even darker twist, after several pages, Bulgakov moves on from the cat stories: "Besides the cats, there were a few people who suffered some minor unpleasantness. Several arrests were made... A lot of other things happened, but one can't remember everything."
And with this poignant reference to the communist culture of "forgetting" (scrubbed history books, banned authors, emphasis on the present and future at the expense of the past incarnated in communist policies, purging of national archives, etc) Bulgakov ends by reminding us of the dark and tragic experience of Eastern-Block communism.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2013
★★★★★ 5
Outstanding edition of important and thrilling novel
Format: Kindle
This review is for the novel "The Master and Margarita" in the Kindle edition translated by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor.
I just finished reading this novel for the third time. Ages ago I read it for a college 20th Century Russian Literature class in the Mirra Ginsburg translation, and loved it so much that as soon as I finished it I started over at the beginning without even getting up from my chair to read it a second time. Somehow this edition got lost; probably I loaned it to a friend and never got it back. In subsequent years I tried to read it again, in the P&V translation and in another that is no longer available, but I just couldn't make any headway, and abandoned these after two chapters.
I have not sat down to compare line by line this translation with a Russian version, which I also have, but the translation in the version under discussion seems to me to be stellar. It read smoothly and vividly, and captured the movement and extravagant energy of the original. This is a tough novel to translate since the writing style changes drastically in some chapters. Tone and topic are intimately intertwined, and the stylistic virtuosity of Bulgakov is one of the book's primary charms. (Read it and you will find out why.)
This edition also has extensive notes at the end, general guidance for making sense of references and allusions, and these are very helpful and beautifully written by Ellendea Proffer. These notes are followed by an outstanding essay on the novel, as well as a brief biographical sketch of the author, and these are likewise very helpful, thoughtful, well-written and not overly long. (These are also by Ellendea Proffer. She really hits a home run with her essay, in my humble opinion.)
I am hooked now, and am sure I will be returning to this novel many times. Although I enjoyed immensely my first two readings of this novel, I feel now that three readings is not enough to grasp it. I will have to go back to it, but it's worth it!
This is a novel for those who can keep an open mind and who are not bothered by satire or surrealist elements, and who can accept puzzling ambiguities and deep philosophical and moral questions for which there are no easy answers.
I am so glad I decided to take a chance on this wonderful translation.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2023
★★★★★ 3
"The devil knows why. . ."
I have mentioned before in a distant review of the past that each book has a "moment of truth," that shimmering macrosecond where the reader either becomes hooked (and therefore can't wait to finish the work), or disappointed (whereby the book is either put aside, or finished grudgingly). For me, alas, Bulgakov's THE MASTER AND MARGARITA evoked the latter, although I finished the book and readily appreciated the author's rather fantastic and satirical story of Satan and his pesky retinue wreaking havoc in 1930s Moscow.
That Mikhail Bulgakov is an exceptional writer is a given; if only I was fluid in Russian where I could read his words as written I would no doubt be even more impressed with his prose and style. This Vintage Press edition (translated by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor) certainly pays homage to this classic with a meticulous eye for detail, followed by notes on each chapter that I found to be invaluable. So then, what's the problem?
Well, I enjoy humor and satire as much as the next guy (I suppose), but a story depicting Satan as some sort of instrument of salvation--an instrument in alliance with Yeshua--for the book's two protagonists was just. . .too much. The Master, a writer who cannot endure the pain of rejection, is one-dimensional and sullen, while Margarita, his love, becomes a willing pawn of the devil. And the story blithely suggests that death through its mortal release is preferable to life (which is understandable, given Bulgakov's failing health as he finished the book). The fantastic notion of the story--of illusion, madness, a huge talking cat, flying through the air, and a Satanic ball--is a clever device, but eventually it wears thin.
As a playwright, Bulgakov uses an abundance of theater officers, bureaucrats, and authors as unhappy victims of Satan's antics (no doubt the author was settling countless scores); unfortunately, the names of these characters are in Russian, and many of the names vary by a vowel or a letter, making it very difficult for the reader to keep track of "who's who." And the parallel story of Pontius Pilate and the crucifixion--told from a political, not spiritual, perspective--was interesting, yet bizarre. In fact, "bizarre" is a good word to describe THE MASTER AND MARGARITA in its entirety; it's an interesting, fantastic, metaphysical tale, yet requires too much suspension of disbelief.
--D. Mikels
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Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2004
★★★★★ 5
If you read rarely, or all the time, don't miss this! (It's easy to do)
This is simply one of the best works of literature, allegory, and even poetry, ever put together. It took decades for Mikhail Bulgakov to write this actually, and over the past century, his Faustian flavored tale about the nature of people and the power religion vs. the state vs. the devil knows.... has become a cult classic in Russia. Note that this is pure Bulgakov (as author) and this listing names one of the 2 wonderful translators who collaborated on getting the flavor of the language just right. They make it clear that this was a total collaboration of expert translators. At the end they offer additional notes about some of the details and finer points of history or the Russian language. There are also some additional passages included for the first time, which the earlier translation omitted.
I read this when it was first translated (80s?) and a college friend who had escaped from Communism insisted I read this. It was great then, as literature, human drama, and superb writing. Bulgakov amassed a huge following once his work was actually published, after his death. Some of his work is only now being published and read. I recently found myself in front of Flat #50, near Patriarchs Ponds (Moscow), the setting where the first part of this addictive novel begins. Berlioz (in the guise of literary czar, not the famous composer) is arguing with a poet about the existence of G-d when interrupted by, who the devil knows, but soon it is clear that literary and bureaucratic Moscow have become friends to the devil. Mr. Woland and his interesting entourage are about to put on a show at the theater, promising to be magical.
Great book. Like other great Russian *stories*, this captures human nature, anguish, curiosity and the variations in the rules of right/wrong, possible/impossible. It's quite a ride through the supernatural as well as theological and even medical., If you immerse yourself in it, you'll see many foreshadows of Harry Potter magic. Serious must read, for the adventure, mystery, the Faustian morality play, which takes pokes at both religion and "civil" humankind. A#1 recommend - and it may help to understand Russian (and human) psychology, and how we use words to invent smoke, mirrors, and fables which mirror life and death and love.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2014
★★★★★ 5
A masterpiece at several levels
This amazing book can be interpreted at several levels or just read for the sheer enjoyment of the bazaar antics of all the characters. I found it to be full of profound concepts wrapped in a chaotic and fantastic romp of a good story.
First, I thought the story was a tale of revenge. Bulgakov was highly discriminated against and his work suppressed throughout his career and life. A genius' work is smothered by Soviet brainless censors while a literaray elite develops composed of talentless writers and editors who only push the Communist Party line. Bulgakov has these nit-wits become the play-toys of the Devil in a story of hilarious dark comedy. Bulgakov never got revenge against the system that impoverished him until after his death when readers laugh at the incredible uncomfortable situations the Devil creates for the Moscow talentless literary elite.
Second, the tale is a satiric critique of the Soviet system under Stalin. Many Soviet methods of social control, such as apartment assignments by the state, set the stage for wild adventures for Soviet citizens caught in this overly centralized society. The chapter on the Soviet authorities trying to take over the apartment of the be-headed editor from the Devil and his assistants is some of the most clever satire ever written. The magic shows performed by the Devil in a state-owned theater was a perfect commentary on the weaknesses of the Soviet system.
Third, the novel is a superb essay on the killing of God as a political act. The Devil is delighted to come to the Soviet Union where belief in God is under attack and atheists rise to positions of power and status. The Soviets tried to kill God to better control their citizens. The genius of this book is that Bulgakov tells us the tale of Pontius Pilot and the High Priest of Jerusalem playing a careful came of strategy with the life of Jesus Christ. Both men had reasons to kill Jesus so that they could both maintain political power. But these two men are wise and they wish for the other party to take the blame for the crucifiction. Since Jewish law did not allow for the death penalty, the High Priest must manipulate Pilot to give the orders. However Pilot uses spys and murderers to cast blame back on the Jewish leadership by murdering Judas and throwing thirty silver pieces into the home of the High Priest. God must always be killed/maimed/distorted for a totalitarian government to maintain control. Suppression of God doesn't simultaneously suppress the Devil.
Fourth, the events related in the story are extremely fun to read. The encounter with the Devil in the public park, the scenes in the dead editor's apartment, the magic show, the insane assylum, the Devil's ball, the flashbacks to Jerusalem, all will stick in your mind for days after you finish the book.
This novel was finally released after Bulgakov had been dead for 30 years. The Devil in the story predicts this future when he says: "Manuscripts don't burn."
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Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2005