Mikhail Bulgakov's Satanic Fantasy The Master & Margarita
commentary by rbadac
By now this could be considered a classic, though it hasn't been given nearly the attention it deserves. Bulgakov finished the novel in 1938, after an eighteen-year output of plays, short stories, & other works. He went blind the following year, & died the year after that. He was plagued with censorship his entire career; after 1927, none of his works appeared in Russia during his lifetime. The book itself didn't see light until late 1966, when it was serialized in the magazine Moskva. Public readings had to be held to satisfy the overwhelming popular demand when all available issues promptly disappeared. Parts of the novel which were frank in their depiction of sex & Stalinist-era goods shortages were suppressed in its magazine printing, but are restored to the English versions.
Like all great literature, it shows no signs of age; it is every bit as scintillating & uproarious now as it ever was new, as ever doubtless it will be hence. Lovers of the fantastic will find themselves utterly bewitched, but really anyone should enjoy this multi-layered & madcap novel, which soars & plunges like a freshly-oiled rollercoaster, & never lets up its breakneck pace for a moment.
While in a public park discussing the nonexistence of God, the magazine editor Berlioz & the poet Bezdomny encounter an ominous personage who is obviously not from Moscow; this importunate stranger proceeds to grill them both on their lack of belief -- as if to illustrate his being privy to pertinent information on the subject, he predicts the manner of Berlioz' death, a prediction which comes true with shocking suddenness.
Bezdomny is badly shaken by the encounter, but the bizarre events are only just beginning. The stranger who seems to know so much is not God. He goes by the name of Woland, asserts himself to be a Professor of black magic, & plans to give a public show, & he is not alone. In his retinue there is also a tall, thin man who affects a check jacket & a broken pince-nez, & calls himself Koroviev; a short man in a bowler with a walleye & one protruding fang named Azazello; a stunning redhead with green eyes named Hella who goes about completely naked; & a massive black cat that smokes cigars, walks on its hind legs & speaks, & is a dead shot with a Browning automatic.
Entwined with the narrative, & written in a completely different style, are scenes from the life of a certain Roman Procurator & his reluctant disposition of a not-so-common public nuisance named Yeshua, in a little jerkwater province called Judaea; these glimpses are soon to be revealed as excerpts from yet another book, written by a man known as the Master, who in a fit of despair burned his manuscript & abandoned his mistress Margarita, & now resides in a madhouse.
This same madhouse, run by a Dr. Stravinsky, quickly becomes populated by the myriad poor souls who have had the misfortune to run afoul of Professor Woland, whose influence expands daily until all of Moscow is under his malevolent spell. The brave & devoted Margarita, a Faustian reference in more than name only, takes extraordinary steps to find her beloved Master, & the denouement is an astounding display that will leave afterimages on the retina of the mind's eye long after the fireworks have died down.
My Signet paperback & my library's Collins & Harvill Press hardcover (the corresponding American edition is by Harper & Row) both date from 1967, both the same excellent translation from the Russian by Michael Glenny, though the recent Burgin & O'Connor one is said to be even better, & more carefully done. The Pevear translation I would shy away from, on the basis of how he handled Gogol, which lacked literary sense, but a comparison would be more revealing than any opinion offered.
While you're looking for a version to read, go to
It is one of the best sites devoted to a book I've ever seen, full of information, maps, bibliographies, articles, theme analyses (be careful, though; the timeline is one long spoiler), & dozens of first-quality illustrations that will enhance your experience of one of the most amazing supernatural novels ever written. Read it, & see if it ain't so.