The Master and Margarita: Book One

I'm 80 pages in and so far I don't love it. I wanted to love it, expected to love it. I am reading after a day at work, so maybe I'm tired or could it be those three tiered Russian names playing havoc with my brain? This weekend I'll set some quality reading time aside (me and a coffee at a cafe with no interruptions.

My edition is over 500 pages and whilst TM&M is not as long as War and Peace, it's still a daunting task for me to read a book of this size.

#2/J - Did you get your quality reading time? How are you faring now with TMM? I agree that keeping the characters straight in a Russian novel is challenging, their names change with the situation. Can't tell your players without a scorecard.

TMM can be absurdly funny and I think you can appreciate the humor best if you imagine seeing the story as in a movie, one of your own imagination. The Chase, then, becomes a sort of dream sequence, with the professor always tantalizingly just out of reach, then the poet wandering the streets of Moscow in his underwear, hiding in alcoves along the way so he won't be ridiculed or arrested. It becomes a magical, mystical carnival in the Moscow thread of TMM.

#3 You have described TMM beautifully. It is like a slapstick movie where the scenes change quickly and the pace is frantic. Absurd and unlikely things happen in Moscow and then you have the scenes with Pilate which are quite realistic. As you said, "a magical, mystical carnival" that constantly surprises.

I did indeed get my quality reading time and I kept on reading until I finished the book. I had to know what happened to the characters and I'm looking forward to discussing the book. It's the most unusual book I've read for a long time. Since finishing the book I've read up on Bulgakov and Russia at the time.

I'm only about four chapters in, but terribly intrigued! My version has chapter commentaries at the end that add interest, but aren't really necessary. I have to move a project off my plate this weekend, so it may be slow going for a few days, but I'm anxious to move along with it and to hear what others are thinking.

I'm thrilled, confused, titillated, intrigued, frustrated... anything but indifferent! I find it difficult to follow the string of characters and all of their mishaps but can't wait to find out more about them. I feel intellectually challenged by the Pilate story, where it will lead, how it is related to the main plot and the whole commentary on Communism (I'm too ignorant to know what are the direct criticisms but not enough to know I'm missing tonnes!). Finally, the absurdity of the situations and the characters are both hard to understand and delightful - I am impressed by the world that was created in so few, precise words... I definitely like the qualifier of Carnival, especially the 19th century version with its geeks and bearded women...

Looking forward to see how it all ties into the second book and who is the mysterious Margarita?

I'm four chapters in and loving it. It's an odd and wonderful book and I'll jump on the bandwagon and agree that carnival is a good word to describe it. I find that when I'm reading the Pilate story I forget completely what book I'm reading and then am surprised in the next chapter when it goes back to Russia. In some books having to stories makes me enjoy it less but the opposite is true with this book.

Leo el Libro Primero, Capítulo 2, Poncio Pilatos. Es pronto para dar una idea global del libro, creo sin embargo que El Maestro y Margarita ofrece un rango enorme de diversidad literaria. La prosa de Bulgákov es precisa, por momentos deslumbrante y, para mi, con giros siempre inesperados. Seguiré leyendo y pondré nuevos pareceres. Por ahora, admiro ese diablo tan "normal" y sencillo, del Capítulo 1, y ese Cristo demasiado humano y sorpresivo del Capítulo 2.