Have you ever had a conversation where everything you said turned out to be the wrong thing? You think you are following the rules of polite conversation, but the other person keeps changing the rules. Now imagine that you are having that conversation with someone who can ruin your life. This is Mikhail Bulgakov’s seditious satirical masterpiece The Master and Margarita.
I have a tremendously difficult time writing an even somewhat satisfying review for The Master and Margarita. It is such a layered novel, and I respond to it on so many levels. My inner intellectual history nerd is fascinated by the satire of life in Moscow under Stalin. The book lover in me loves the beautiful writing and chaotic adventure. The reviewer part of me turns pedantic listing all the ways I can see that Bulgakov skewers Stalin, but I know I am missing so much because I am not a Muscovite and I did not live in the Soviet Union. I do want to assure you though, that you do not have to know anything about Stalin, the Soviet Union, or living under a mercurial tyrant to appreciate The Master and Margarita. Even without context, it is funny, frightening, chaotic and lyrical.
The Devil, in disguise as a foreign professor named Woland, comes to Moscow for a visit. He and his entourage have many conversations with people that expose greed and hypocrisy, cause confusion and frequently end in violence. Woland’s time in Moscow is a satire on at least two levels. The most obvious is the exposure of the greed and hypocrisy of artists and bureaucrats, particularly artists who are bureaucrats. The more subversive is of the never referenced Stalin. Life under Stalin was always dependent on his whim. The greatest safety was in never gaining his notice, but once you had come to his attention, there were no rules to follow for safety, because Stalin made the rules. Even if you benefit from his notice, the price to be paid is high.
I first read and reviewed The Master and Margarita for Cannonball Read V. In my previous review, I focused a lot on the author, the history of the book and the ways in which The Master and Margarita is a personal book. It is impossible to review the book without addressing the author, but I’m going to try to keep the focus more on the plot and characters. You should read about the history of the author and the novel, because they are fascinating.
The edition I enjoyed this time was the Audible version narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt. The translator was not listed. It was interesting listening to a different translation than the one I read 3 years ago. This translation is much more detailed and somewhat less poetic. I appreciated feeling like I got a more complete story, but did regret the loss of some of the beauty.
As always I must mention that I would never have read this had it not been for the encouragement of Natalie Kapuler.
(The map featured above was created by Jamie Whyte. His work, including other maps, can be found at his website jamiewhyte.co.uk.)
