THE MASTER AND MARGARITA - Mikhail Bulgakov 🇷🇺 BOOK REVIEW

Why is The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov many people's favorite book? Why should you read and re-read The Master and Margarita?
I have read this Russian novel already three times and I love it more every time I read it.
You can get the books on this video here:
- The Master and Margarita: 50th-Anniversary Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition): tidd.ly/3BwhCK5
- The Master And Margarita (Penguin paperback): tidd.ly/3wHX5Ch
- The Master and Margarita (Vintage trans. Michael Glenny): tidd.ly/3wF2QRf
- The Master and Margarita: New Translation (Evergreens trans. Hugh Alpin): tidd.ly/3wGcAL4
- The Master and Margarita (Everyman's Library hardcore): tidd.ly/3CJowQ8
- The Master and Margarita (Avalon trans. Mirra Ginsburg): tidd.ly/3ARLOAP
- The Master and Margarita (Pan Macmillan trans. Katherine Tiernan O'Connor and Diana Burgin): tidd.ly/3KsElfP
- The Trial: tidd.ly/3vXqNkV
- Goethe's Faust: tidd.ly/3lTAg7U
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[@natojavakhishvili6622]

Dog's heart is a masterpiece as well. Please read other novels too, they are great. Bulgakov has his unique style, he writes with humor, but his writings are deep and philosophical, Read at least "Dog's heart".

[@nadya671]

Несколько раз начинала чтение этой книги и оставила. И только в 30 прочла и получила наслаждение, как великолепное вино. Я впитала каждую строчку.

[@DimitrisLian]

Fantastic review! These two translators (husband and wife) have really offered us the best translations of Russian masterpieces these last decades.

[@JuanReads]

Thank you! I have read several translations by them and as far as I can tell they are very good. I wish I could read the books in Russian, though. Maybe one day I will!

[@sergeipavlov9574]

Muchas felicitaciones por su pasión y conocimientos. Es una novela increíblemente profunda y lo raro es que esta profundidad está escondida detrás de un sarcasmo medio extremo. En realidad, esto fue típico para los artistas rusos durante la época de los años treinta: la única manera de decir la verdad fue hacerla parecer un chiste (muchas veces era peligroso hasta decir chistes, pero éste es otro tema). En el arte de Shostakovich y Zoschenko, por ejemplo, como en la obra de Bulgakov, el sarcasmo "duele", porque detrás de este sarcasmo se esconde una tragedia. Esta gran novela no es una excepción; recuerde la transformación de Koroviev al final de la obra: lo que Bulgakov revela debajo de "la superficie" chistosa es una profundísima tristeza. Es un poco como en los cuadros negros de Goya (la comparación no es ideal): la "caricatura" resulta ser el infierno. Un importante desacuerdo aquí: Bulgakov no critica la fé ortodoxa (su padre, era un gran teólogo), es exactamente al revés. El prototipo de Ivan the Homeless (Ivanushka Bezdomny) es Demyan Bedny (Damián El Pobre); un poeta sin moral, lackey of Stalin, quien en 1925 escribe un bodrio de poema: "El evangelio sin defectos según el evangelista Damián". Al leerlo, Bulgakov está totalmente asqueado. Lo que Bedny en realidad hace, es continuar la tradición de Lev Tolstoy de "purificar" los evangelios de todos los milagros y de presentar a Jesús como un hombre común y corriente. La respuesta de Bulgakov es "crear" un infierno "mágico" y surreal (la magia en la tradición otodoxa es una gran herejía); un infierno como "producto" de este tipo de "evangelios" en cuales Jesús El Hijo de Dios nunca existió. Yeshua Ha-Nozri no es Jesu Cristo. Es la creación enferma del Maestro, cuya mano (y mente) fue poseída por Woland. Ha-Nozri es un reemplazo infernal; así como Woland quiere que "veamos" a Cristo. Como dice un crítico ruso bien brillante, en la novela de Bulgakov no hay ni un personaje positivo; lo que el autor creó a propósito fue una realidad infernal, una imagen no simplemente de la realidad soviética, pero una imagen de qué sería el mundo sin la fé que Cristo existió y su resurrección de verdad sucedió, así como lo cuentan los evangelios. Mundo sin salvación. En el final de la novela la idea del paraíso es pura ilusión (también ilusión creada por Woland): Margarita y el Maestro se van a un "paraíso" donde los cerezos siempre "florecen". Florecen, pero NUNCA dan frutos! Cuál es la música que el Maestro va a escuchar allá? La de Schubert, música del compositor más triste y trágico en la historia del arte occidental; música totalmente obsesionada con la idea de la muerte. Los amigos del Maestro le van a visitar? En la novela el Maestro no tiene ni un amigo! La luz de la luna? Es nada más que una reflección, un engaño. Luz fría, muerta. La luz de los LUNÁticos. Esta maravillosa novela es una obra maestra, donde NADA es lo que parece. Y es probablemente la novela más oscura de toda la literatura rusa. En Dostoyevsky, hasta en sus obras más mórbidas, al final siempre hay salvación a través de Cristo. Aquí "la paz eterna" del final es la paz de la tumba. Escribiendo este texto, Bulgakov agonizaba. Al terminarlo, hasta su muerte, seguía agonizando. Fue la agonía de alguien quien sabía muy bien qué es el infierno. Gracias por su video otra vez. Poca es la gente hoy día que tiene aprecio por la gran literatura del pasado. Me encantaría si puede presentar Las Sonatas de Valle-Inclán o Abel Sánchez de Unamuno. La gran literatura española se conoce tan poco in the English-speaking world. Saludos desde EEUU.

[@Shteno]

I wrote a review about this phenomenal book, but it's not on English, it was published on the native, Balkan languages (where I come from), so I won't start converting even small fragments, although I'm sure many would like it and find it very thorough and complete. Thus, I'll only say that "Master and Margarita" is one of those "addictive" books, that makes you go back to it, again and again. I very much agree that the book is to be at the top of anyone's list for recommendation, BUT, ONLY for people who already have at least some literary background. Not for those who'd just began reading, or have read only 20 some books- in other words, not experienced readers! Also, despite the similarities between Faust and Master and Margarita (obviously Bulgakov took inspiration from it, when it comes to the initial idea about the relationship between the Master and Margarita), it's VERY SMALL THING, because Bulgakov takes the book into totally different direction, the nature of the character of Margarita is THE EXACT OPPOSITE (along with her behavior and relationship towards the devil,and of course, the love of her life, in this case, The Master) of the one of Faust's Margo. So, as I've said,I won't write a huge comment, therefore, I'll stop here, with the words - if you are a literature (and philosophy) aficionado, Master and Margarita MUST BE at the top of your list of next books to read before you die! It's a trip that will take you to places where you'll enjoy being there, for every second! Bye to everyone - Dimitri

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I read this last year and really liked it. It was just so zany and weird and oddball. 😅 It did a really great job of integrating the humor with more serious and poignant moments too. It's a classic that's actually fun to read, lol. Good review! 🙂

[@JuanReads]

Thanks!

[@seriela]

¡Brillante reseña! With lots of historical context, which I love. Ahora to read it!

[@Leino26]

One of the best book i have ever read. Good review!.

[@paulfildes5489]

The plot was transposed into the song "Sympathy For The Devil" by Mick Jagger, who depicts various chapters of Satan’s visit to the Soviet Union in the lines: “I stuck around St. Petersburg/When I saw it was a time for a change/ Killed the czar and his ministers/Anastasia screamed in vain.” Despite the lyrics, Jagger has claimed the song is more about the darker nature of man than celebrating the devil. By the time 1968 rolled around, the group was searching for a new path forward. “I was educating myself,” Jagger once said. “I was reading a lot of poetry, I was reading a lot of philosophy.” It was around this time that his then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull introduced him to The Master and Margarita. Inspired by the story, Jagger started to shape the song.

[@marciagermano7508]

Parabéns pela resenha. Li esse livro ano passado e simplesmente adorei!!! É muita loucura junta, as vezes confuso, e as vezes dava até medo. Ate sonhei com o Woland hahaha

[@JuanReads]

É um livro incrível! Obrigado pelo comentário, Márcia.

[@JuanHugeJanus]

Here 15 years after reading the novel it's still as I were in a very intriguing dream. It's so vivid in my memory how these cartoon like characters are changing reality and flying through the city as if it were my subconscious mind

[@TheVimarys1]

My favorite book of 2022, with this one I would add Cadaver Exquisito ( Tender is the Flesh).

[@Aleksaan]

the unligthed point: Devil (Voland) in this book joins past and future. He is like endless power of justice. He is everywhere. He punishes human for their vices and does it sometimes softly, sometimes absolutly hard like in a real life. Someone manages to avoid devil's hand. He is awful only for weak people. He is like people's conscience, inevitable punishment each of us. He is like universe which looks at mass of people and estimates them. This theme (theme of forgiveness, conscience and truth) passes over novel from the start to the end.

[@pers443]

Currently I am reading this

[@thisisveryannoying]

Heart of a Dog and A Young Doctor's Notebook are also great! BTW, I think there was a slip of the tongue where you say that Berlioz was sent to a mental institution, it was Homeless who ended up there. Berlioz had a different fate (no spoilers :)

[@akjemalbalayeva817]

Read it 2 times. Love it

[@bokidimi5215]

the best book. period. read lav, Tolstoy, horghe, marques, and Huxley Hesse nitche Kant ...alll... this is the one, i know i dont know. but, ye, even above Goethe, faust. an obelix, not a masterpiece, but a monument to humanity.

[@MichaelHenderson1948]

Enjoyed this review, so thank you. At 15'22" you said Berlioz is sent to a mental institution. That's wrong, as he was killed early on. Ivan is sent to the institution. It didn't spoil the video though.

[@JuanReads]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed my reply despite my little slip up with the plot.

[@migmit]

Actually, the novel does not tell us what "MASSOLIT" means. I don't know if they added it to the translation, but it could just as easily mean «Московская АССОциация ЛИТераторов» - "Moscow ASSOciation of LITerary workers". It's a kind of pun. "Behemoth" in Russian is actually another word for hippopotamus (besides the biblical monster). So, it's a cat called "Hippo", in line with his role as Woland's jester. I can easily see numerous flaws in translation. For example "citizen" is a literal translation of the word Bulgakov used - but back then it was used more like "man". Or "and yes" is again a literal translation, but it should be "Oh, by the way" instead. I'd agrue that "the Homeless" is at least a secondary protagonist, as well as the POV character for a big part of the book. We come back to him several times, and even one of the parts of the Jerusalem storyline is delivered as his dream. Another famous novel by Bulgakov is "Heart of a dog" - highly recommended. Berlioz was never in an asylum. Ivan the Homeless was.

[@JuanReads]

Indeed, it was Homeless who was sent to an asylum and not Berlioz (how could he in light of what happens to him in chapter 3?). I mixed up the names of the characters. Thanks for pointing that out!

[@Jofridful]

In fact, In Russian "Behemot" and "Hippo" called the same, Its not meaning that cat had been named Hippo. Nope, His name Behemoth like demon although in Russian.

[@chrisrehr7116]

i like ginzburg's version great review

[@nicholasvincent6014]

Why didn't u say the reasoning for Woland summoning Margarita? I know he told Azzello to go get her and The Master to take them away to their eternal resting place, but I don't recall the reasoning in the book. Would love to know why he summoned her.

[@stevebenigsen]

She's got royal ancestry.

[@user-qy6st5gj2s]

@@stevebenigsen moreover, Woland has got a tradition to invite women with name “Margarita”

[@denkosh7766]

она его внучка. он хозяин бала, хозяйка бала должна быть или женой или родственницей. воланд упомянул о ведьме которая повредила ему колено в пятнадцатом веке. эта ведьма прабабушка маргариты.

[@denkosh7766]

@@user-qy6st5gj2s ну да , и поэтому всякая проклятая знать целует колени какой то маргарите.

[@user-qy6st5gj2s]

@@denkosh7766 одно не отменяет другого. Я ж написал «moreover”

[@VangelVe]

Many years ago, I was playing Trivial Pursuit at my residence. The beer was flowing and the music was blaring. Sympathy for the Devil came on and during Jagger's lyrics where we are asked to guess his name a drunk girl says that she will sleep with anyone who knows the Devil's name until she sees me and says except him. I took it as an insult and most people laughed. But then another young lady began to laugh at the guy's and said that it was they who were being insulted. They were not well read and would not know the answer. I said Woland and told her not to drink too much. I love the novel.

[@elliotwalton6159]

The titular characters show up late, but certainly one can't discount Satan as a main character. This is very much his story as much as any other character, as are the citizens of Moscow. An unconventional and brilliantly hilarious dark comedy of serious intent.

[@occamsox5331]

That book doesn’t look like it’s been read. It looks brand new. It looks, untarnished. Maybe you did read it. Three times. But you also said Berlioz goes to an institution. And Annahuska had already spilled the oil.

[@user-zy8kc4uz1y]

You made a big mistake in Bulgakov's biography. There was no "Ukrainian People's Army" at all, and during the russian civil war ukrainian military units couldn't be on north Caucasus. Bulgakov served in "ВСЮР", that can be translated as "Armed Forces of Southern Russia". That organization was part of White movement. There was case when Bulgakov was mobilized in ukrainian military unit for one day. Bulgakov was born in Kiev and was russian monarchist. He also wrote book about Kiev in 1918, "The White Guard".

[@SanjeevKumar-hn2ml]

Watch anime..it has 10x more crazy plots