Wednesday, December 28, 2016

The Master And Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov)

Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master And Margarita



An odd tale involving the devil and his minions causing havoc in Moscow intertwined with the story of Pontius Pilot and the crucifixion. A fascinating story and very readable. Not being around when it was written in 1920s - 20s USSR I can only guess that it's somehow paralleling the biblical story of good and evil with the evolution of the revolution from a people's uprising into a tyrannical dictatorship and the resultant Stalinist purges. And possibly hitting out at contemporary religious superstitions in what was meant to be a country without religion. Plus a bit of sniping at the arts establishment I'm sure. A review of academics analysis will no doubt prove my take on the book wrong and I wrote this resisting the urge to have a look on-line. A great book and I'll have to read more by Bulgakov. This translation also has reference notes which is fairly essential to really understand the storyline.

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