Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Master and Margarita

Did I understand what was happening for most of this book? No, not really. But did I enjoy being confused by it? Oh yes.

Satan comes to Moscow to throw his annual ball, and in the process of organising this his entourage makes mischief across the city. Woven between chapters describing the effects of this devilry, there are chapters set in Biblical Yershalaim -Jerusalem- capturing the internal turmoil of Pontius Pilate as he pronounces judgement on criminals brought before him. In addition to these two strands of the novel, Bulgakov incorporates a third theme- the romance between a woman called Margarita and the man who she calls the Master, a struggling writer. As the book progresses, these three stories intertwine in a surreal, and often humorous, but still at times extremely poignant, tale.

I can understand that this book is not for everyone: the satirical portrayal of the literary and bureaucratic circles in Bulgakov's Moscow does not make for easy reading. I would recommend taking the time to check the footnotes if your edition includes them, as without the context they provide (unless you are an expert in '30s Soviet intellectuals) some of the humour may go over your head!

In contrast, the tomfoolery between Satan's cat Behemoth, who has a penchant for vodka and primus stoves, and Koroviev, the man who organises most of the mischief in the devil's name, is amusing even without flipping back and forth to the footnotes - I thought the chapters focussing on them were some of the best in the book (alongside the story of Pontius Pilate, which whilst entirely different in tone, is also extremely well portrayed)

Overall, an extremely strange book, but well worth the effort it requires to understand it. If you enjoy Russian literature, surrealism, satire, talking cats and naked witches, and even a bit of Biblical retelling, you will enjoy this!

Content Warnings

urfavpunk's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

pythonesque's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lisa_m's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

3.5

I finally did it! I finished The Master and Magarita! And I don't know what to say.
I 100% understand why people love this book. It has just been extremely tedious to read and I had to motivate myself a lot to get through it all.

The first 200 pages are basically just world building/ giving the readers all the knowledge they need in order to understand and enjoy the second half. It got really boring for me to the point where I would literally fall asleep after reading 3 pages (multiple times!!). I did not enjoy the first half. There were some very funny bits but most of it was exhausting.

Minor spoilers ahead

When I got to the second half though my opinion changed completely. I still think it's funny that the main protagonist (after whom the book is named!) Only appear halfway into the book. But as soon as we got to meet Magarita I started liking the book. I really enjoyed her character and story. Also the whole Satans Ball was super fun. I also finally felt like I understood Woland and the others.

The whole becoming a witch thing was entertaining and I finally understood why you need the first half because I wouldn't have understood anything in the second part if I hadn't read the first part.

Still I think it's ridiculous that you need to get through 200 pages(!!) to get to the really good part.

I want to give this book 4 stars but I really can't so 3.5 will have to do.

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