This was my first ‘Russian master’ novel, and without having read any others, I am here to tell you: start with this one: it was so.much.fun! (Cbr13bingo Gateway square). These are things I feel like I have heard no one ever utter about War and Peace or Anna Karenina, and so I feel like if you’re going to start somewhere, it should be somewhere fun.
The Master and Margarita is like a Eugene Ionesco absurdist play in novel form, with the focus on Stalinist Russia. Here is the scene: it is summer in Moscow and Satan, under the pseudonym Woland, has come to hold a party. He brings his henchmen, one of which is a giant black cat (who still pays for his tram rides). Everywhere Woland and is little party go, chaos follows. To be fair to Satan and his crew, Stalinist Russia brings a peculiar chaos of its own, with all sorts of rules and hierarchies just made to be subtly poked fun at.
The first half of the novel follows Woland as he arrives in Moscow and find himself an apartment to stay in and a theatre venue in which to hold a show. Interspersed with Woland’s preparations are chapters from a revised story of Jesus Christ, which we later find out is the manuscript written by The Master. The second half introduces us to the titular Margarita, who Woland needs to serve as his hostess for the black ball. Margarita is unhappily married but in love with the other titular character, the Master, who languishes in a mental asylum. Margarita agrees to help Woland with his black ball, harbouring hopes that he might free her love from the mental and physical walls currently containing him.
There is probably a ton that I missed, and I’m sure a lot of it is commentary on Stalinist/communist Russia (I followed the footnotes so I have somewhat of an idea, but I’m sure there are a whole whack of masters thesis in here). Bulgakov was writing this between 1928 and 1940, so he would have had a lot of material to draw from.
I really enjoyed this, definitely recommend it.