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Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940)

Author of The Master and Margarita

329+ Works 29,891 Members 651 Reviews 217 Favorited
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About the Author

Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov was a Russian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer best known for his use of humor and satire. He was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 15, 1891, and graduated from the Medical School of Kiev University in 1916. He served as a field doctor during World War I. show more Bulgakov's association with the Moscow Art Theater began in 1926 with the production of his play The Days of the Turbins, which was based on his novel The White Guard. His work was popular, but since it ridiculed the Soviet establishment, was frequently censored. His satiric novel The Heart of a Dog was not published openly in the U.S.S.R. until 1987. Bulgakov's plays including Pushkin and Moliere dealt with artistic freedom. His last novel, The Master and Margarita, was not published until 1966-67 and in censored form. Bulgakov died in Moscow on March 10, 1940. (Bowker Author Biography) A practicing physician like Anton Chekhov, Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov became a popular writer and playwright in the comparatively easier political climate of the Soviet Union during the 1920s. The civil war and its internecine horrors became one of his major themes as did the new Soviet society. His early prose is often satiric, with strong elements of the fantastic and grotesque, but it also contains the themes of guilt and personal responsibility that become so crucial in his later work. Bulgakov wrote a number of important plays that provoked bitter attacks in the press, and he was shut out of the theater and literature in 1929. Only a direct appeal to Stalin allowed Bulgakov to resume a professional career. Even then, however, some publishing houses and theaters rejected some of his important works, such as the novel Life of Monsieur de Moliere (1933). Bulgakov's masterpiece written over a number of years and only published decades after his death is the novel Master and Margarita (1966-67). Combining two principal plot lines-Satan's visit to contemporary Moscow and the trial and execution of Jesus in biblical Judaea-the work may be read on many levels, from the purely satiric to the allegorical. It has been acclaimed as one of the most important achievements of twentieth-century Russian fiction. Today, Bulgakov is celebrated for both his plays and his novels. Several of his plays are public favorites and standard fare in Russian theaters. Bulgakov died in Moscow on March 10, 1940. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Works by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita (1966) — Foreword, some editions — 20,429 copies
Heart of a Dog (1968) 3,160 copies
The White Guard (1926) 1,451 copies
A Theatrical Novel (1937) 763 copies
The Fatal Eggs (1925) 733 copies
Morfine (1926) 261 copies
Diaboliad (1972) 176 copies
Diaboliad and Other Stories (1972) 162 copies
Flight & Bliss (1985) 58 copies
Six plays (1991) 50 copies
Flight (1927) 41 copies
J'ai tué (1988) 33 copies
Romanzi e racconti (1990) 29 copies
Zoyka's Apartment (1991) 21 copies
Livets stråle (2014) 16 copies
The days of the Turbins (1926) 15 copies
Ecrits autobiographiques (1997) 15 copies
Romans en verhalen (2014) 13 copies
Tutto il teatro (2004) 13 copies
Racconti fantastici (1991) 13 copies
Cartas a Stalin (1990) 12 copies
Racconti (1970) 11 copies
Uova fatali­Cuore di cane (2010) 11 copies
Black Snow {Adapted} (1986) 10 copies
אי הארגמן (1990) 10 copies
Le anime morte (1992) 9 copies
Morfin & andra noveller (2018) 9 copies
Пьесы (1992) 8 copies
Teatro 7 copies
Kleine Prosa I (1983) 7 copies
Feuilletons 6 copies
Red and White (2002) 5 copies
Pühameeste sepitsused (1993) 5 copies
Djävulens Vändkrets (2013) 5 copies
Ouăle fatale. Diavoliada (1991) 4 copies
Fyra romaner (2022) 4 copies
Meistererzählungen (1993) 4 copies
Ханский огонь (1988) 4 copies
Kíev-Moscou (2022) 4 copies
Son Günler (puskin) (2015) 3 copies
La locomotive ivre (2005) 3 copies
Relatos de Moscú (2008) 3 copies
Seytanname (2021) 3 copies
Los días de los Turbín (2002) 3 copies
Creative Review (1975) 3 copies
Till en hemlig vän (1988) 3 copies
Vzetes tojok kisregyek (2008) 3 copies
Rasskazy (1988) 2 copies
Stücke II (1990) 2 copies
Morfi povest, rasskazy (2018) 2 copies
Rusia. Volumen 2 — Contributor — 2 copies
Izbrannoe (2000) 2 copies
Pismo vrhovnoj vlasti (2012) 2 copies
The Embroidered Towel (1926) 2 copies
Избранное (1991) 2 copies
Bir Ölünün Anilari (2021) 2 copies
Maleficios (1992) 2 copies
Ölümcül Yumurtalar (2020) 2 copies
Pʹesy (1991) 1 copy
Romany 1 copy
Los huevos fatídicos (2021) 1 copy
Povesti (1983) 1 copy
El verbo 1 copy
Sobache serdtse (2016) 1 copy
Guruló lakótér (1990) 1 copy
Stücke I (1982) 1 copy
Kleine Prosa 1 copy
劇場 1 copy
Theatre Stories (1998) 1 copy
Journal confisqué (1992) 1 copy
Opowiadania 1 copy
Morfijs (2005) 1 copy
I grandi romanzi russi: Nuove traduzioni (2015) — Author — 1 copy
Köpek Kalbi (2021) 1 copy
Dil-i sag (1385) 1 copy
Pripovetke 1 copy
Stalin'e Mektuplar (2015) 1 copy
Kader Yumurtalari (2022) 1 copy
Hayatimizin Bir Günü (2021) 1 copy
White guards 1 copy
Paura 1 copy
Run 1 copy
En diaboliad 1 copy
Kol Manşetinde Notlar (2015) 1 copy

Associated Works

The Literary Cat (1977) — Contributor — 241 copies
Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida (2005) — Contributor — 223 copies
The Fatal Eggs and Other Soviet Satire (1965) — Contributor — 125 copies
The Big Book of Modern Fantasy (2020) — Contributor — 108 copies
A Life in Medicine: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 82 copies
Great Soviet Short Stories (1962) — Contributor — 77 copies
1917: Stories and Poems from the Russian Revolution (2016) — Contributor — 35 copies

Tagged

1001 (85) 1001 books (84) 20th century (482) anthology (80) Bulgakov (130) cats (120) classic (274) classics (381) communism (74) devil (176) ebook (78) fantasy (444) favorites (108) fiction (2,954) Folio Society (84) humor (87) literature (585) magical realism (421) Mikhail Bulgakov (96) Moscow (197) narrativa (75) novel (715) own (89) read (283) religion (127) Roman (147) Russia (1,260) Russian (1,165) Russian fiction (174) Russian literature (1,598) Satan (98) satire (576) science fiction (136) short stories (206) Soviet (82) Soviet Union (296) to-read (1,721) translated (111) translation (253) unread (131)

Common Knowledge

Members

Discussions

Master and Margarita in Fine Press Forum (November 2023)
The Master and Margarita - Group Read in 75 Books Challenge for 2017 (February 2018)
Mikhail Bulgakov in Fans of Russian authors (November 2017)
The Master and Margarita Group Read: Part 1 in Club Read 2012 (July 2017)
Master and the Margarita Group Read (April) in 75 Books Challenge for 2016 (May 2016)
Best Bulgakov Translation? in Fans of Russian authors (March 2015)
The Master and Margarita Group Read: Part 2 in Club Read 2012 (July 2012)
Master & Margarita Spoiler-Free in The 11 in 11 Category Challenge (February 2011)
Group Read (January): The Master and Margarita in The 11 in 11 Category Challenge (January 2011)
The Master and Margarita: What edition are you reading? in Group Reads - Literature (August 2009)

Reviews

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.
… (more)
 
Flagged
ZetaRiemann | 464 other reviews | Apr 4, 2024 |
A bizarre non-stop adventure. A very interesting real-life example of smuggling a narrative of belief into a tyrannical society.
 
Flagged
trrpatton | 464 other reviews | Mar 20, 2024 |
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.
 
Flagged
cspiwak | 464 other reviews | Mar 6, 2024 |
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.
 
Flagged
simonpockley | 464 other reviews | Feb 25, 2024 |

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Associated Authors

Máximo Gorki Contributor
Isaak E Bábel Contributor
Borís Pasternak Contributor
Clara Coïsson Translator
Sergio Leone Translator
Mauro Martini Contributor
Vera Dridzo Translator
Marko Fondse Translator, Afterword, Foreword
Michael Glenny Translator
Mirra Ginsburg Translator
Hugh Aplin Translator
Ellendea Proffer Afterword, Translator, Introduction
Thomas Reschke Übersetzer, Translator
Claude Ligny Translator
Alexander Nitzberg Translator, Übersetzer
Danusia Schejbal Illustrator
Ulla-Liisa Heino Translator
Jüri Ojamaa Translator
Vera Dridso Translator
Melissa Jacoby Cover designer
Krystyna Skalaki Cover designer
António Pescada Translator
Zoia Prestes Translator
Martti Mäkelä Translator
Zlata Kocić Translator
Ojārs Vācietis Translator
Vida Flaker Translator
Aleksandr Kalugin Cover artist
Robert Goldstrom Cover artist
Felicitas Hoppe Afterword
Jørgen Harrit Translator
Gert Jan Pos Translator
Priit Rea Illustrator
Janez Gradišnik Translator
Simon Franklin Introduction
Richard Pevear Translator
Orlando Figes Introduction
Diana Burgin Translator
Manuel de Seabra Translator
Vappu Orlov Translator
Aai Prins Translator
Libor Dvořák Translator
Peter Suart Illustrator
Andrew Bromfield Translator
Viveca Melander Translator
Friso Henstra Cover artist
Roy McMillan Narrator
Boris Misirkov Translator
Josep M. Güell Translator
浅川 彰三 Translator
中田 甫 Translator
Evgeny Dobrenko Introduction
Marian Schwartz Translator
Silvia Serra Translator
Hélène Gibert Translator
Dick Peet Translator
Esa Adrian Translator
Keith Gessen Introduction
Terry Gilliam Introduction
Piero Cudini Afterword
Maria Olsufieva Translator
Wladimir Zatskoy Translator
Doris Lessing Foreword
Carl R. Proffer Translator, Editor
Marianne Gourg Translator
Silvia Sichel Translator
Jaume Creus Translator
J. A. E. Curtis Introduction
Aggy Jais Translator
Julie Curtis Introduction
Carl Proffer Translator
Alison Rice Translator
Barbara Nasaroff Translator
Frank Dwyer Translator
Julia Pericacho Translator
Víctor Gallego Translator
Gerardo Escodín Translator
法木 綾子 Translator
石原 公道 Translator
水野 忠夫 Translator
José Ardanaz Translator

Statistics

Works
329
Also by
21
Members
29,891
Popularity
#671
Rating
4.1
Reviews
651
ISBNs
1,358
Languages
38
Favorited
217

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