سه خط داستانی به طور همزمان در "مرشد و مارگریتا" روایت می‌شه. اول: ماجرای ورود شیطان و همراهانش به مسکو. دوم: داستان عیسی‌مسیح و ملاقاتش با حاکم وقت اورشیلم (پیلاطس) و در نهایت به صلیب کشیده شدنش. سوم: داستان عشقِ مرشد و مارگریتا.
به ظاهر با سه ماجرای کاملاً متفاوت و در بازه‌های زمانی خیلی نامرتبط روبرو هستیم اما همه چیز به طور مشخص و پیوسته در هم ادغام می شوند.

این کتاب یکی از بزرگ‌ترین (از نظر محتوا)، بی‌نظیرترین، متفاوت‌ترین و پیچیده‌ترین کتاب‌هایی بود که تا به امروز خوندم. داستان از همون اول به طور کاملا جذابی شروع میشه. فکر کنید در یک روز معمولی به همراه همکارتون در یک پارک نشسته اید و با هم در مورد شعری که نوشتی بحث و گفت‌وگو می‌کنید که به یک باره شیطان وارد ماجرا می‌شود. (اسپویل نیست، مربوط به چند خط اولیه‌ی داستان است)

چیزی که انتظار نداشتم این بود که عاشق شخصیت شیطان و گربه عظیم الجثه‌اش (بهیموث) بشم که متاسفانه (یا خوشبختانه) شدم. فضای کتاب کاملا تاریخی، سیاسی، عاشقانه، سورئال و جادویی است و بولگاکف به شکل خاصی فضای حاکم بر کتابش رو بر اساس جو خاص روسیه در زمان خفقان استالین درست کرده که این فضا رو در همون صفحات اولیه‌ی کتاب کاملاً درک می‌کنیم. از همه مهم‌تر نبودِ مرزی برای تخیل و جادوست. نویسنده هیچ چارچوب و مرزی برای این بخش از کتابش قائل نشده که همین باعث شده که اگر کتاب های جادویی و سورئال دوست ندارید ممکنه با این بخش از کتاب ارتباط برقرار نکنید اما اگر با جادوی بی‌حدِ خلق شده در این کتاب مشکلی نداشته باشید از همون اولش میخکوبتون میکنه.

جای‌جایِ کتاب پر است از نکات فلسفی و متلک‌های سیاسی‌ای که بولگاکف به حکومت استالین زده. شخصیت‌پردازی‌ها معرکه‌اند، البته بگم که تعداد شخصیت‌ها خیلی زیادند که اگر میدونید با اسامی و تعدادشون به مشکل بر می‌خورید بهتره اونها رو جایی یادداشت کنید تا گیج نشید.

این نکته رو هم اضافه کنم که بولگاکف در این کتاب فقط علیه حکومت و دولت استالین انتقاد نکرده بلکه به شیوه خاصی به نقد مردم هم پرداخته و ریشه‌ی خیلی از مشکلات رو در افکار و زندگی خودِ مردم میبینه که چجور باعث می‌شوند کار برای شیطان راحت بشه و در حقیقت کار به جایی میرسه که شیطان لازم نیست حتی تلاشی برای هدفش بکنه، چون آدم ها با عمل و افکارشون خود به خود شیطان رو به اهدافش می‌رسونند. چیزی که نویسنده به طور خلاصه در مورد مردم عصر حاضر بیان می کنه اینه که دنیای امروز به واسطه‌ی اعمال مردم از معنویت تهی شده و قهرمان و اسطوره‌ای هم در میان نیست و در نتیجه مردم عاشق معجزه‌اند و برای جادو و رسیدن به خواسته‌هایشان حتی حاضر به معامله با شیطان می‌شوند.

ساختار پیچیده‌ی کتاب چیزی بود که بیش از همه من رو شیفته‌ی خودش کرد. ترکیب واقعیت و خیال و در هم تنیدن موضوعات عاشقانه و تاریخی و فلسفه و سیاست به شکلی کاملاً هوشمندانه نکته‌ایست که کمتر نویسنده‌ای میتونه از پس همه‌شون بر بیاد. این موضوع رو هم فراموش نکنید که اگر اطلاعات و عقاید معنوی و دینی نسبتاً خوبی دارید و به تاریخ روسیه هم علاقمند هستید این کتاب رو باید حتما بخونید. در کل "مرشد و مارگریتا" برای عاشقان ادبیات روسیه، دوستداران داستان‌های جادویی و پیچیده، ماجراهایی عاشقانه و جذاب و وقایع تاریخی و معنوی و مذهبی، یکی از بهترین گزینه‌هاست.

اگر میتونستم به اندازه سیصد صفحه فقط در مورد شخصیت شیطان در این کتاب می‌نوشتم. تصویرسازی فوق‌العاده‌ای از این فرشته‌ی رانده شده که این نویسنده در کتابش خلق کرده حیرت انگیز بود. (و البته دار و دسته‌اش)... بولگاکف در طی داستان جوری گولت میزنه که تمام کارهای شر ابلیس و همراهانش رو کاملاً به جا و خوب نشونت میده و نمیتونی مرز بین خیر و شر رو تشخیص بدی و زمانی متوجه میشی که شیطان واقعاً چه کارهایی کرده که دیگه دیر شده.

و اما بخش مورد علاقه من مربوط میشه به معامله مارگریتا و شیطان و در نهایت پرواز مارگریتا بر فراز مسکو. به نظرم اوج جادوی این کتاب به همین فصل مربوط میشه. (این رو گفتم که بیشتر نظرتون رو جلب کنم برای خوندن این کتابِ محشر)

بخونید، این کتاب رو بخونید وگرنه در جهالت خواهید مُرد. (البته به حوصله بخونید چون توصیفات و ماجراها رو باید آرام آرام هضم کنید)...  نوشتن این کتاب توسط بولگاکف ۱۲ سال به طول انجامیده و چندین سال بعد از مرگش برای اولین بار به چاپ رسید. جالبه که بدونید با وجود نویسندگان بزرگ و مهمی در ادبیات روسیه مثل داستایفسکی و تالستوی، اکثر مردم و جوانان این کشور از مهمترین آثا  به‌ یاد ماندنی از تاریخ ادبیات کشورشون رو "مرشد و مارگریتا" می‌دونند.

باورم نمیشه اینقدر حرف زدم و همچنان حس میکنم خیلی مطالب رو بیان نکردم اما در همین حد بسه!

ما الذي كان يدور في ذهن بولجاكوف وهو يكتب هذه الرواية!!
فكرة غير عادية ونص مدهش مكتوب بحرفية ومهارة
خيال مبدع يحكي عن الواقع السوفيتي في ثلاثينيات القرن العشرين
سخرية ونقد للمجتمع وللأوضاع الثقافية والسياسية
رواية ممتعة تشاهد أحداثها أثناء القراءة, وترجمة سلسة ليوسف حلاق

ابلیسِ پیپ به دست و دمپایی به پا! از این جذابتر؟
مرشدِ رنجور.
مارگاریتای زیبا و عاشق.
رمان در نهایت سوررئالیسم و جادویی بودن در ابتدا، در آخر به نظر بسیار واقعی و نقادانه میاد.
این کتاب رو باید خوند، تا دید که هنر و هنرمند رو هرگز نمیشه به اسارت کشید.
ببینید سانسور و خفقان دورانِ استالینیسم باعث شده امروز ما چه داستان زیبایی داشته باشیم برای خوندن.
بولگاکف به همه چیز و همه کس تاخته، گاهی خیلی ظریف و زیرپوستی گاهی واضح.
رنج بسیار برده بولگاکف کاملاً واضحه از این کتابش.


هر بخش کتاب رو همراه یه مینی سریال اقتباس شده ساخته ی روسیه میدیدم.
که بسیا�� زیبا و کاملاً منطبق بر کتاب بود و بینظیر.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403783/
The Master and Margarita (2005)
تو یوتیوب هست بگردید.
نسخه های دیگه به این خوبی نیستند.

و یه خبر خیلی مسرت بخش اینکه احتمالاً فیلمش بزودی ساخته شه و کارگردانش احتمالاً کسی نخواهد بود جز....
Wes Anderson
و اما بازیگرهای احتمالی به گمان یکی از نویسنده های سایت لیتهاب:

Pontius Pilate: Mark Strong
Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus): Riz Ahmed
Koroviev/Fagott: Maz Jobrani
Azazello: Tom Hardy
Behemoth: Sacha Baron Cohen
The Master: Cillian Murphy
Margarita: Janelle Monae
Woland: Adrien Brody
میشه از این بهتر؟
و جالبتر اینکه تهیه کننده های فیلم گفتن که قراره از آپارتمان خود بولگاکف در مسکو در فیلم استفاده بشه.

بالرغم من أن هذه الرواية تعتبر من أدب الفانتازيا الذي لا أحبذه. لكن أسلوب الكاتب الساخر الدرامي كان بحق إبداع. فحين تقرأ الرواية، تتخيل الكاتب “مايسترو” يقود شخوص الرواية بكل احتراف ومهنية.

في الجزء الثاني من الرواية يتوقف “المايسترو” عن العزف، يستدير نحوك، تتغير نبرة صوتهِ، يقول بكل خبث:”من قال لك إن الحب الحقيقي الصادق الخالد لا وجود له في الدنيا؟ ألا فليُقطع لسان الكاذب اللئيم! اتبعني يا قارئي، اتبعني أنا فقط، وسوف أريك حبًّا كهذا!”. فتتبعهُ منصاعًا له بكل حواسك. فقد سيطر عليك ذاك الساحرُ اللئيم. ويبدأُ في عزف سريالي لقصة “المعلّم ومرغريتا”. وما أن تنتهي من الرواية حتى تتنفس الصعداء ولا تدري من المجنون أنتَ! أم “المايسترو”! أم تلك الحقبة التي عاش فيها الكاتب!

اقتباسات

“لطالما قلتُ لكم: “ إن خطأكم الأساسي أنكم لا تقدّرون قيمة العيون البشرية. افهموا أنّ الّلسان يمكنه حجب الحقيقة، أمّا العينان فمستحيل!”.

“ما جدوى الخير لولا وجود الشرّ، وكيف ستبدو الأرض إن اختفت منها الأطياف؟ فالأطياف تتشكّل من الأشياء والبشر”.

ميخائيل بولغاكوف.

This was yet another Reread. Last time I picked it up as 2021. Its a good book but one of those kinds I feel I struggle a bit remembering. Its quite weird but interestingly weird.
____
This was a book I've wanted to reread since I first listened to it in 2020 so not very long ago. I got a hold on it in my library and eagerly started reading. While it's still a very good book, I didn't quite love it as much as the first time so I'll knock it down to 4.5 stars

4 stars for a very Russian story but a universally appealing book which demonstrates that the power of imagination has no boundaries, and much can be achieved through literature as the author unleashes a stinging satire on Russian life at the time of Stalin, but with humour perfectly woven into a very profound story.

There have been many reviews of this book and a wide range of opinions as once again we are presented with a very unique novel that draws us into the world of magical realism that forces us to think and interpret what the author was actually conveying as he wrote this ingenious book. The reader must suspend disbelief, read between the lines, and embrace the many themes but most of all this book will require your undivided attention. A complex novel sometimes confusing but oh so clever.

Unique, incredibly accomplished, and strongly evocative - both macabre and hilarious, dark yet enlightening, and magical but with very real themes.

The Plot

The Master and Margarita has two main time periods; Jerusalem at the time of Pontius Pilate during the trial and subsequent death of Christ and in Moscow in the 1930s, where Satan first appears at Patriarche’s ponds as Professor Woland.

Whilst the two men (part of the Moscow elite) discuss Ivan’s writings and the possibility that Jesus did not exist, Woland appears accompanied by Behemoth, a large black cat that walks on his back legs; Hella, a female vampire; and Azazello, a hitman. Even more mysterious, the strange visitor informs the men that he was there the time of Jesus’ trial and goes on to make a prophecy that Berlioz will be decapitated before the day is out. Meanwhile Bezdomny’s hysteria when relaying the days events, and demise of his learned colleague, see him incarcerated in a mental institution for the mentally insane, despite being a poet and writer which only adds to the suspicion surrounding him.

Part two introduces Margarita, the Master's mistress, who refuses to give up hope for her lover. It is this love story that features heavily in the second half with the adoring Margarita committing to the devils wishes to have her beloved ‘Master’ freed and so willingly succumbs to his power.

All the layers and multiple threads start of converge in this second half and what can sometimes feel like random and bizarre events turn out to be quite poignant and incredibly symbolic.

Review and Comments

This has been described as a masterpiece, a literary giant, but for me this book stands out for its uniqueness in revealing the injustices in a Stalinist Russian and let’s the reader witness the destruction of an open and free society, not through political rantings but through magical realism that exposes censorship, absurdness, and cowardice through humour.

So why the 4 stars? I didn’t really connect with the story of Pilate and the last days of Christ. Whilst I understand what the author was trying to achieve this didn’t work for me personally. Plus, I enjoyed the second half of the book more when we got to Magrarita who the book takes its title from.

Whilst not a criticism, I paused reading and did some research to reacquaint myself with Stalin’s Russia to understand the social, political, and religious critique at that time, and it was only then that I would say I fully appreciated the brilliance of this novel and for all it represented.

Despite not enjoying all aspects of the book, this is still a very worthy 4 stars; a true work of art and a feast for the senses and the mind. The story is highly imaginative not just with the story but how the story was told. The vivid descriptions of the times, place, people, and emotions was superb, the use of magical realism, humour, and irony to expose the blind acceptance of people in a Stalinist Russia was also very clever, poignant, and relevant - even today.

From the ridiculous to the sublime and the magical to the farcical the author goes to the extreme in painting a surreal picture of a political system that prohibits people from speaking out, and in doing so we experience the mix of good and evil, courage and cowardice, and intellectual curiosity curtailed within a rigid system - and herein lies the beauty of this book. A book that is the definition of magical realism. A book that pushed all the boundaries at the time, and above all a wonderfully unique book that holds the bar high for originality.

Food for the mind, brilliant imagery, superb storytelling, and great satisfaction for this reader - And to one of my favourite quotes.

“What would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? “

Una dintre puținele cărți care, recitită după 20 de ani, își păstrează vraja asupra mea. De data asta am vizualizat balul lui Satana fix în scena Faustului lui Purcărete.
Dacă aș putea lua doar 10 cărți în carantină, aceasta ar fi sigur una, pentru forța cu care te trage din realitatea imediată și cu care îmblânzește ideea de moarte.

I'm staying home from work today, sick to the extreme, and it's only in that unique feverish clarity that comes with illness that I dare to even try to write about this book.

This is THE book. The one that all the other books are measured against. The one that I've read more times since I was twelve than the number of books some people I know have read in their entire lives. The one from which I've memorized entire passages. This is it, the golden standard, the masterpiece, the unattainable perfection of literature. I'm not even being sarcastic; I mean every single word of this praise.

"What would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? After all, shadows are cast by objects and people. There is the shadow of my sword. But there are also shadows of trees and living creatures. Would you like to denude the earth of all the trees and all the living beings in order to satisfy your fantasy of rejoicing in the naked light? You are a fool."

What is this book about? I wish it were easy to tell in one smartly constructed sentence, but luckily it's not. It is a story of Woland, the Satan, coming to Moscow with his retinue and wrecking absolute havoc over three long and oppressively hot summer days. It is a story of Pontius Pilate (the equestrian, the son of the astrologist-king, the last fifth Procurator of Judea) who has achieved the dreaded immortality due to a single action (or rather INaction) and wishes nothing more than for it to not have happened. It is a story of love between two very lonely people. It is a scaldingly witty story about the oppressive nature of early Stalin days and the rampant Soviet bureaucracy. It is a phantasmagorical story of the supernatural and the mythical. It has elements of humorous realism, romanticism, and mysticism. It is all of the above and much more. As doctors (the same profession that Bulgakov belonged to, by the way!), we are taught to look for the bigger picture, the synthesis of facts, the overall impression, the so-called 'gestalt'. Well, the gestalt here is - it's a true masterpiece.

n  "Manuscripts do not burn.""n  
n  
n  n

Bulgakov wrote this book over a period of 11-12 years, frequently abandoning it, coming back to it, destroying the manuscripts, rewriting it, abandoning it, and coming back to it again. He wrote it during the times when the reaction to such novels would have been the same as Woland has when hearing Master say he wrote a novel about Pontius Pilate:

"About what, about what? About whom?" - said Woland, having stopped laughing. - "In these times? It's amazing! And you couldn't find a different subject?"

In these times... The 1930s were the time of Stalin's rule, the waves of Purges, the paranoia of one powerful man sweeping the country, the denunciations, the lies, the terror, the fear, the accusations, the senseless arrests, the nondescript black cars pulling up to the apartment buildings in the middle of the night and leaving with people who would not be heard from ever again. This was a suffocating atmosphere, and the only way Bulgakov survived it was that he for reasons unknown enjoyed the whimsical favor of the tyrant. This fear is everywhere, on every single page. From the poor unfortunate Berlioz in the early chapters, who without much hesitation is about to contact the authorities to report about a suspicious 'foreigner' to the unnamed people conducting the investigation of the strange Moscow events and puling the victims in for questioning to Rimskiy sending Varenukha with a packet of information for the 'right people' to Master's terrifying and unheard story starting with 'them' knocking on his window and ending with him broken in the mental institution... The fear is everywhere, thinly veiled. And yet it is never named, even once - the name of those causing the fear, never alluded to - no need for it, it's obvious anyway, and besides there's that age-long superstition about not naming the name of evil, which, funnily, in this novel is definitely NOT the Devil. Only Margarita has the guts to ultimately ask, "Do you want to arrest me?"

n  n

------------------------

"You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness, who was getting muddled by Koroviev.
'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.
'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.
'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!"

The sharp satire of the contemporary to Bulgakov Soviet life of the 1930s is wonderful, ranging from deadpan observations to witty remarks to absolute and utter slapstick (that, of course, involving the pair of Korovyev and Behemoth). It can be sidesplittingly funny one second, and in the next moment become painfully sad and very depressing. Not surprisingly - in the Russian tradition humor and sadness have always walked hand in hand; therefore, for instance, Russian clowns are the saddest clowns in the entire universe, trust me. This funny sadness manages to evoke the widest spectrum of emotional responses from me every single time I read this book, never ever failing at this.

"The only thing that he said was that he considers cowardice to be among the worst human vices."

This book is not only the hilariously sad commentary on the realities of Bulgakov's contemporary society; it is also a shrewd commentary on the never-changing nature of humanity itself. The humanity that Woland wanted to observe in the Variety theatre, until he came to the sad but true conclusion that not much changed in them. The cowardice - the vice that Pilate feels Yeshua Ha-Nozri was implicitly accusing him of. The greed and love of money, leading to heinous crimes like treason and deceit and treachery. The egoism and vanity and self-absorption (just think of the talentless poet Ryukhin's anger at the seemingly lucky circumstances of Pushkin's fame!), the close-mindedness and complacency, the hate and bickering. This is all there, sadly exposed and gently (or sometimes not that gently) condemned. The consequences of this humanity shown in their extreme - think of Ryukhin's craving for immortality and Pilate's terror at facing it.

And yet we see one bright light of a redeeming quality in the mankind, the one that makes even Woland cringe - mercy. Just think of people's reactions in the scene with George Bengalsky's head, Master freeing Pilate from centuries of doom, and - most touchingly of all - Margarita's unforgettable and selfless act of mercy towards Frieda. All that makes us not ashamed of being human. All that makes us worthy not of the light, the naked light that Woland so derisively talked about, but of peace. Just peace.

n  n

"The one who loves must share the fate of the one he loves."

I love this book, love it more than I could ever hope to express in words. I can write endless essays about each chapter, approach it from each imaginable angle, analyze each one precisely and masterfully crafted phrase. I could do it for days - and yet still not pay due respect to this incredible work of art. Because it has the best kind of immortality. Because its depth is unrivaled. Because it is the work of an incredible genius. And so I will stop my feeble attempts to do it justice and instead will remain behind, like the needled memory of poor Professor Ponyrev, formerly Ivanushka Bezdomny, Master's last and only pupil, left to remember the unbelievable that he once witnessed and that broke his heart and soul.

And I will finish with the lines from this novel that I had memorized back when I was twelve, just as awed by this book as I am now (the words that seem to pale when translated from their native Russian into English, alas!):

"...And master's memory, the restless, needled memory, began to fade. Someone was setting master free, just like he himself set free the hero he created. This hero left into the abyss, left irrevocably, forgiven on the eve of Sunday son of astrologer-king, the cruel fifth Procurator of Judea, equestrian Pontius Pilate."

n

A week of Enlightenment has been my second read of The Master and Margarita. Paradoxically and coincidentally, this was also the Passion Week...
I've watched the movie a long time back, I read first time the book immediately afterwards, and even up to date many pieces of the puzzle do stick together. I read it first because at school it was given as a mandatory lecture for the purpose of becoming educated. It was of course for my benefit, learning something out of there, enjoying a 'read' performance. Later on, life paths led me to other very interesting and beautiful opportunities for getting some richer impressions, sensations, feelings and thoughts about this work, about the author, his living times, etc. But I think I was not ready to get everything well deposited within my mind. I realized now that very many things have faded away from my memory. I remember just bits of it, here and there. So I thought and thought until I arrived at the idea that there are some bucket leakages up there, in my superior level of information stocking. Growing old, most probably, a natural effect...

This is a brilliant gem, in itself, while, additionally, for me it's an act of magic.
Upon finishing it, I learned I want to read more on Bulgakov's diary entries. Thoughts collected in his not completely burned diary/ journals could shed further sensitive and sensible light on the various interpretations of this remarkable masterpiece.

<< David, who is always singing psalms (in Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans), led me to think of God. Perhaps the strong and daring don't need Him, but for people like me life is easier with the thought of Him. My illness has developed complications and is protracted. I am in very low spirits. Illness may prevent me from working, which is why I am afraid of it, which is why I hope in God... >> [quote from a diary entry of 1923... his early years in Moscow were especially difficult...]

<< ...I was stunned. Not by blasphemy, although it is boundless, but that is merely a superficial aspect. The essence of the matter lies in an idea which can be proved by citing the actual documents: Jesus Christ is depicted as a swindler and a scoundrel, and the attack is focused on him. It is not difficult to see whose work this is. This is a crime like no other.. >> [a diary entry of January 1925 finds the writer visiting the editorial office of the magazine The Atheist. He bought most of the 1924 issues, went home to look through them, and wrote down his amazed reactions, as above mentioned.]

On a touching theme and subject, I could relate the on-going heated discussion between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, on their eternal companionship, with the similar ending of Cain by Saramago, where Cain and God have continued to quarrel and fight with each other, and keep each of them its high stubbornness and inflexibility for centuries on-wards, and this will last until the last day of the world.

Very little can prepare you for the wild ride that is Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita," especially if you've read other literature or folklore that have the devil as a character. What will be helpful, I suspect, is knowing a bit about the time and setting of the novel. Bulgakov wrote this book between 1930 and 1940 while living in Moscow under Stalin. The book is set in 1920, when everything was being taken under government control, from the distribution of food and beverages to city living quarters. Foreign nationals, literature, currency, and influence were tightly controlled, if not banned, and the secret police had eyes everywhere, locking up citizens on the barest of evidence and shipping them off to labor camps in Siberia. If this weren't bad enough, opportunists played the system for their own selfish benefit, such as reporting one's neighbor to the secret police in order to move into the neighbor's apartment. Religion went from being state-sanctioned to all but banned, and churches were vandalized and looted. All published literature was so scrutinized that only the most coded dissent could get through the censors. Bulgakov went from being an acclaimed playwright to an artist dependent on the unpredictable whims of the regime, having plays produced at theatres, but then shut down shortly after opening.

"The Master and Margarita," is in part a frustrated artist's reaction to all of this, as the devil appears in Moscow and wreaks merry havoc on those people whose mediocrity allowed them to thrive under Stalin, but it is also a great deal more. There are two other narratives entwined with the devil's mischief: a retelling of the Christian crucifixion with Pontius Pilate as the main character, whose story is told by several different narrators, and the story of a writer known simply as The Master and his married lover Margarita. Bulgakov has a great deal of structural fun with these three stories, leaping from one to the other with ease and weaving threads from each story into the others. But ultimately, this book is much more than the stories that comprise it. It's at turns winsome and grotesque, horrifying and hilarious, but at its core a book about hope and intellectual honesty. Though Bulgakov's masterpiece wasn't published until after his death (and Stalin's), the devil's reassurance that no truth can ever be truly lost feels simultaneously prophetic and poignant.

I highly recommend this book for anybody seeking freedom from genre and cliche.

The Master and Margarita is undoubtedly the most unusual book I have read. The book is written in two parts: The first part opens with the Devil's arrival in Moscow and the series of tragic events that take place in its wake. Devil, who goes by the name Woland, and his retinue create havoc in Moscow targeting literary elites, the most important target being Berlioz, the head of the Moscow Literary Union known as MASSOLIT, a renowned atheist. Most of the literary members being atheist receive cruel punishment at the hand of the Devil and his assistants.

I had a difficult time finding a plot in this section. What I read was a series of tragic events that took place, which saw several literate elites being fallen victim to the Devil. However, the interesting thing about Bulgakov's writing is that, although you do not properly grasp what it is all about, nevertheless you can enjoy what he writes. It is full of religious and social satire. I have only a limited knowledge of the Stalin regime in the Soviet Union, but I can clearly see Bulgakov's satirical attack on his governance. There is also a subtle attack on the growing atheism in the Soviet Union and perhaps on the contribution to that by the literary elite. And after reading a bit of the biography on Bulgakov, I felt this part of the book is his personal vendetta against the literary giants who made working as an author difficult for him.

The second part deals with the Master and Margarita. If there is a story in this book, I found it only in this part. The master, having written a novel on Pontius Pilate and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and on its being rejected for publication and severely criticized, falls into despair (to this extent the master resembles Bulgakov) and finds him in a lunatic asylum under the Devil's clutch. Margarita, the faithful, young, and beautiful lover of the master, works on a pact with the Devil with a view of rescuing her beloved. The chapters that dealt with their story were quite interesting. I read that Bulgakov's third wife, Elena, was the inspiration for the character Margarita. Her devotion to Bulgakov and his works is indeed reflected in Margarita's devotion to the Master and his work.

Bulgakov's approach to the story is in a fantasy form, but he nevertheless, has done a great job in bringing out the satire he clearly intended when writing it. The story is dark, dangerous, and at times violent, but also entertaining and humorous. Never in my life had I thought I would say a dark and dangerous book entertaining. But in all honesty, it was entertaining; the due credit goes to Bugakov for his excellent writing. And although I'm still convinced I didn't understand the story fully, it was still an enjoyable read.

I understand this book is a classic.

I guess any leaden, murky, plotless book can be a classic, and this is a great example of that.