This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
A "soaring, dazzling novel" (The New York Times), Mirra Ginsburg's critically-acclaimed translation of one of the most important and best-loved modern classics in world literature The Master and Margarita has been captivating readers around the world ever since its first publication in 1967. Written during Stalin's time in power but suppressed in the Soviet Union for decades, Bulgakov's masterpiece is an ironic parable on power and its corruption, on good and evil, and on human frailty and the strength of love.In The Master and Margarita, the Devil himself pays a visit to Soviet Moscow. Accompanied by a retinue that includes the fast-talking, vodka-drinking, giant tomcat Behemoth, he sets about creating a whirlwind of chaos that soon involves the beautiful Margarita and her beloved, a distraught writer known only as the Master, and even Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate. The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy to create a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered the greatest novel to come out of the Soviet Union. It appears in this edition in a translation by Mirra Ginsburg that was judged "brilliant" by Publishers Weekly.… (more)
CGlanovsky: The comparison is mostly to the "book-within-a-book" that makes up one half of Bulgakov's narrative. Both books tell a version of Jesus's encounter with Pilate where the Roman tries to intercede on the prophet's behalf.
I'll start by saying this: Pontius Pilate is completely gay for Yeshua like holy shit. This book was really good but man I wish it was like, half as long? There was sooooooooooooooo much filler and the good parts were really good but the boring parts made it really hard to keep reading and I will probably never read it again because of that. There are so many characters and most of them don't matter at all and I could not follow all of the names because not only are there way too many characters but in true Russian fashion they (mostly) all have AT LEAST three to five names.
Anyways, I'm sure a ton of the references and ideas here went wayy over my head but I kind of embarassingly cried a little bit at the end. Not as much as when I read Sofia Petrovna but I still didn't think I would at all this time... Uhm anyways it was a good book I think. I think I'll probably be going back and forth on my rating for a while because... like I said the good parts were really good but like half of it was just... I did not want to read it at all for a while. Margarita and Homeless were my favorite characters by far, what a delight! I can see why this book is so popular. There is a LOT going on here. ( )
A story about Russia in the 1950’s and a visit from Satan and some cohorts, including Behemoth, a very large and typical cat. I don’t know enough about Russia of the time to get all of the satire, though some is quite obvious. Read simply as a love story and for the touching novel within the novel about Christ and Pilate, it is fully satisfying. ( )
Despite the promising chapter titles, the first one hundred pages of this book was of so little interest that I gave up on it. Clearly I'm out of step with the vast majority of readers. There was no one I cared about and whatever literary and ethical subtext may have been present for others, was so obscure and illusive to me, that all that I could find was a tedious procession of hyperbolic outrages. ( )
Hostigado y perseguido, como tantos otros creadores e intelectuales rusos, por sus críticas al sistema soviético, MIJAIL BULGÁKOV (1891-1940) no pudo llegar a ver publicada "El maestro y margarita", que, escrita entre 1929 y su fallecimiento, sólo pudo ver la luz en 1966. Novela de culto, la obra trasciende la mera sátira, si bien genial, de la sociedad soviética de entonces -con su población hambrienta, sus burócratas estúpidos, sus aterrados funcionarios y sus corruptos artistas, cuya sórdida existencia viene a interrumpir la llegada a Moscú del diablo, acompañado de una extravagante corte-, para erigirse en metáfora de la complejidad de la naturaleza humana, así como del eterno combate entre el bien y el mal.
—I am part of the power which forever wills evil and forever works good.
Goethe's Faust
‘Say at last — who art thou?’
‘That Power I serve Which wills forever evil Yet does forever good.’
Goethe, Faust
Dedication
First words
One hot spring evening, just as the sun was going down, two men appeared at Patriarch's Ponds. (Diana Burgin & Katherine Tiernan O'Connor)
At the sunset hour of one warm spring day two men were to be seen at Patriarch's Ponds. (Michael Glenny)
At the hour of the hot spring sunset two citizens appeared at the Patriarch's Ponds. (Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky)
At the hour of the hot spring sunset at Patriarch's Pond two citizens appeared. (Hugh Aplin)
At the hour of sunset, on a hot spring day, two citizens appeared in the Patriarchs' Ponds Park. (Mirra Ginsburg)
Quotations
...manuscripts don’t burn.
what would your good do if evil didn't exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?
Last words
His ravaged memory quiets down, and no one will trouble the professor until the next full moon: neither the noseless murderer of Gestas, nor the cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the knight Pontius Pilate. (Diana Burgin & Katherine Tiernan O'Connor)
His bruised memory has subsided again and until the next full moon no one will trouble the professor—neither the noseless man who killed Hestas nor the cruel Procurator of Judea, fifth in that office, the knight Pontius Pilate. (Michael Glenny)
His needled memory grows quiet, and until the next full moon no one will trouble the professor — neither the noseless killer of Gestas, nor the cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the equestrian Pontius Pilate. (Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky)
His pricked memory quietens down, and until the next full moon the Professor will be troubled by no one: neither the noseless murder of Gestas, nor the cruel fifth Procurator of Judea, the horseman Pontius Pilate. (Hugh Aplin)
A "soaring, dazzling novel" (The New York Times), Mirra Ginsburg's critically-acclaimed translation of one of the most important and best-loved modern classics in world literature The Master and Margarita has been captivating readers around the world ever since its first publication in 1967. Written during Stalin's time in power but suppressed in the Soviet Union for decades, Bulgakov's masterpiece is an ironic parable on power and its corruption, on good and evil, and on human frailty and the strength of love.In The Master and Margarita, the Devil himself pays a visit to Soviet Moscow. Accompanied by a retinue that includes the fast-talking, vodka-drinking, giant tomcat Behemoth, he sets about creating a whirlwind of chaos that soon involves the beautiful Margarita and her beloved, a distraught writer known only as the Master, and even Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate. The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy to create a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered the greatest novel to come out of the Soviet Union. It appears in this edition in a translation by Mirra Ginsburg that was judged "brilliant" by Publishers Weekly.
▾Library descriptions
No library descriptions found.
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
Роман Михаила Булгакова (1891—1940) «Мастер и Маргарита» стал классикой мировой литературы, выдержал многомиллионные тиражи. Он переведен на многие языки мира, многократно инсценирован и экранизирован. На его сюжет созданы музыкальные произведения, оперы и балеты.
)
)
)
Google Books — Loading...
The Master and Margarita - Group Read
Wikipedia in English (8)
5
Anyways, I'm sure a ton of the references and ideas here went wayy over my head but I kind of embarassingly cried a little bit at the end. Not as much as when I read Sofia Petrovna but I still didn't think I would at all this time... Uhm anyways it was a good book I think. I think I'll probably be going back and forth on my rating for a while because... like I said the good parts were really good but like half of it was just... I did not want to read it at all for a while. Margarita and Homeless were my favorite characters by far, what a delight! I can see why this book is so popular. There is a LOT going on here. (