Master and Margarita

£8.99 BUY

In Stock

  • Author: Mikhail Bulgakov
  • Publisher: Oneworld Classics
  • Catalogue: 176701
  • Size: 13x20cm
Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita poses a delightful dilemma for anyone trying to write a summary description of its plot, its characters, or “what” it is about. A classic, in the cult sense, and a rite de passage read for those interested in Russian literature, Master and Margarita unfolds against the back drop of Stalinist Moscow and the author’s own personal suffering at the hands of state censorship.

So…the “devil” and his entourage, which includes a 5ft tall-hind leg walking-cigar smoking-chess playing-talking cat, arrive in 1930s Moscow to strip away some of its façade. Meanwhile a writer, the Master, is slowly spiralling downwards due to the selfish, state designated reaction of critics to his novel. His lover, Margarita, makes a pact to become a witch and the hostess at the Devil’s annual ball in order to bring his manuscript and reputation back to life. Contemporary scenes are interspersed with fantastical imaginings of the final days in the life of “Jesus”, the conscience of Pontius Pilate and the sin of being unfaithful to yourself. Back in the capital people are decapitated by trams, stripped naked on stage, admitted to the lunatic asylum and spirited off to Yalta.

To say it all ends happily ever after would be inaccurate; to say that it ends at all would miss the mark. Above all, Master and Margarita is living proof of one of its most famous lines: ‘Manuscripts don’t burn’.