Poet Nigar Hasan-Zadeh has chosen to discuss Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, on FiveBooks (http://five-books.com) as one of the top five on her subject - Azerbaijan, saying that:

“…The Master and Margarita is the most mystical and mysterious way of describing the primitive and base sort of simplification of society under the Soviets. Literature and art and society lost its centre because it all became politicised, and the way Bulgakov describes that ugliness is incredible, and hilarious. I think the Jesus story is Bulgakov bringing lost spirituality back into the Soviet regime...”.

The full interview is available here: http://thebrowser.com/books/interview... ( )

The devil is unleashed in Stalinist Moscow. The funny thing is that while the devil kills, maims and causes havoc throughout the city, he is very far from a traditional definition of evil. In fact, the character struck me as being more like an avenging angel, punishing people for various sins such as cowardice, greed, vanity or lust.

There is a further subversion of expectations later in the novel when Margarita makes a pact with the devil to find the character she calls the Master. We are so used to Faustian pacts throughout literature and popular culture that the assumption is that it will work out badly – which it does in a way, but not in the way that you’d expect. The devil is more true to his word than most of the human characters in the book, and doesn’t require much in return for his favours.

Cowardice seems to be chief among Bulgakov’s targets, which is understandable given the times in which the novel was written. In Stalinist Russia, as under any dictatorship, the choice between cowardice and death would have been a frequent one, and the majority necessarily chose the former. There are frequent allusions to Soviet life: sudden disappearances, bureaucratic entities with ridiculous compound names, etc. I suspect that many of the characters are thinly-veiled versions of Russian writers and critics of the day, too, but my knowledge of 1920s/30s Russian literati doesn’t allow me to get the references. Still, it doesn’t matter – there’s plenty more going on here.

In fact, it’s the kind of book that you could probably read several times and get new layers of meaning each time. The character of Pontius Pilate appears throughout the book, including at the beginning and the end, and was the subject of a book written by the Master and a story told by the devil to prove the existence of Jesus to a doubting literature professor just before he predicts (or engineers?) the professor’s decapitation by a tram. Decapitation is a repeated motif, as are sin and punishment.

One thing I found amazing about the book was that I believed in the characters and the action, even when it was absolutely absurd, as it frequently was. I think Bulgakov achieved this by focusing on the ordinary aspects of the situation, not on the absurd. For example, when a cat jumps on a subway car and attempts to pay ten kopecks to the conductress, Bulgakov adds in little details like the fact that he grabbed hold of a handrail and paid through a window “open on account of the stuffiness”. By reminding readers of familiar things like this, he makes the situation seem more real. I know it probably still sounds absurd when taken out of context like this, but in the book itself it worked, trust me! ( )

The Master and Margarita is a comic novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. It is a farce on the story of Faust which I would give about 3 1/2 out of five stars. The novel works on many levels but fails on several others. I heard several people categorize this novel as a difficult read, but I did not find the reading of it difficult at all. Although, had I been trying to catalog all the literary allusions it would've been quite a task, but one which I'm not sure in the end would've been worth it. The story takes place in Moscow, in the 1930s were the devil shows up to hold a Midnight Ball. The idea of Satan showing up in the city which professes no belief in either him or God seemingly lends itself to a nice bit of comedy, however, in the end I found the humor insufficient and overplayed but found value in the secondary story, which, within the novel, is being written by the Master. The Master's tale is the story of Pontius Pilate on the night of the execution of Jesus Christ. Pilate’s story is intertwined with the story of the havoc wreaked by Satan and his minions in Moscow as they prepare for the ball. Margarita, deeply in love with the Master, agrees to be the queen of the ball in order to find her love, who has been institutionalized in an asylum which is slowly being filled by victims of Satan's pranks.

One of the problems I have with the novel is that Satan is more of a prankster than a devil. He appears on stage as a magician as one of his minions performs various acts of diabolical magic which cannot be explained and which leave half the audience prancing around in their underwear once the show is concluded. The use of constant phrases such as "who the hell knows" or "the devil knows," would be humorous if used occasionally, however, they often appear several times within a few pages, and I found myself quickly growing tired of them. The constant pranks taking place in Moscow began to remind me of Harry Potter. But at those times when the novel turns serious, I found myself drawn back into the story. There are three stories playing themselves out in novel, the love between the Master and Margarita, the story of Pontius Pilate as told by the Master, and the story of Satan visiting the city of Moscow. In the end the three stories are tied together and the unity is achieved; Pontius Pilate is forgiven, the Master and Margarita are granted peace and the ability to stay together, and Satan rides off into the sunset. But it is the first two stories within the novel that make it worthwhile. Thus, for me, the comic part of the novel was lacking and uncompelling, but unfortunately necessary as the three stories intertwine and make one.

The novel is short enough, a little over 300 pages, and if one is looking for a diversionary read you might find it enjoyable. However, I wouldn't place it high on my must-read shelf of books, and if one is looking for serious work of 20th century Russian literature there are better places to start, perhaps with Babi Yar or with Life and Fate. I should state for the record however, that I seem to be very critical with literature that is meant to be humorous. Of that genre I found Tom Jones the most satisfying and feel that at some point I must return to Tristram Shandy and give it a second chance. ( )

The devil comes to play in Moscow and punish the wicked, jealous and gluttonous in this Russian classic. Satan and his conspicuous entourage casually cause havoc to erupt throughout the city in an attempt to wake up the population to the evil that modern day activity has made routine. Dry and witty, The Master and the Margarita re-invents the devil and his light counterpart as two balancing, rather than opposing forces. Excellent! ( )

brilliant, fantastic satirical novel, but not a quick read. ( )