Master And Margarita - Simon Nabatov Quintet

MY LIFE WITH 'MASTER AND MARGARITA'

Advantages: Read and decide.
Disadvantages: None as such, you stupid box. Not for everybody perhaps.

'Early in the morning on the fourteenth of the spring month of Nisan, the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, in a white cloak lined with blood-red...' In the days before audience measurement, when some books were banned from official publishing and others would be only available on second-hand market at a price akin to 10% of a teacher's monthly salary, I heard the sentence quoted above read aloud on Polish Radio 3 and so my first experience of 'Master and Margarita' began. I didn't know it was beginning of the second chapter. I didn't know that the action of the first one took place 1900 years later in Stalinist Moscow. Little I expected that the following ones will include Soviet literati world, broom-stick riding witches, great ball at Satan's and flying pigs. I was 13 years old and I was hooked. Of course, I didn't manage ...

magdadh 07.08.2004 (22.10.2004) · Read full review
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Review of The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov

Master & Margarita

Advantages: A great read, totally immersible
Disadvantages: some difficult parts to read through

Without sounding over the top here, this is possibly the most wonderful, immersing read I have experienced. I decided to buy The Master and Margarita, after reading a collection of short stories by Bulgakov, sent to me by a Russian friend. The first thing i found is how Bulgakov has a wonderful ability to paint the scene so wonderfully, that the reader cannot help be transported there, to Moscow, to sit with Woland, and Koriev and Behemoth, to hear the trams rattle past. I found also that as i read on more, i found myself almost sympatising with Woland. I got the message in book two, that Woland is not inherently bad, but is merely fulfilling a role, as each one of us must play our part in the story of life. The book was a great read, but not so easy for some younger readers I fear. I'm 23, and found that at times the text ...

HarMarSuperstar 13.09.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov

Masterful

Advantages: Everything good you can think of in one book
Disadvantages: The covers not a great design ...

There aren't many books you read and know are the work of a genius. Even the so-calledclassics can leave a lot of people doubting that their as good as their reputation. This, however is a good book. I read it twice when i first encountered it and i still reread it when i have the time. The plot is complex. It involves a witches sabbat(is that thr right word?), the devils visit to russia, a master writer in an asylum, and the story of pontius pilate and jesus christ. These stories are brought together by the master. The devils visit is due to his appearence at the witches party and he chooses as his queen the masters former lover Margarita. The master is then freed from the asylum. Pontius Pilates story was the book he was writing before his imprisonment. If the plot wasn't enough, there are brillant scenes within it ...

Telute 14.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov