While I am not an avid science fiction fan, this was an excellent book. The pages flew by without any effort. I would sit down to read for a few minutes only to look up and see that hours had passed.

It is easy to read not only because of the riveting plot, but because of the diction as well.

Not bad. It appears to have all the quintessential characteristics of the existentialist novel. There truly is no plot.

However its philosophical merits outweigh any lack in entertainment value.

Surprisingly readable and interesting piece of Russian literature. The opening is the most exciting part of the book, but the amount of interplay and parallel between the two main plots (that of Margarita and Woland and that of Pilate) helps carry the reader through. It is written in a most vivid language and this particular translation helps to preserve that aspect of the piece.

It appears that one of Bulgakov's primary purposes throughout the novel is to show that things are not always as they seem or as they should be. This is not an uncommon leitmotiv, but often it is used to the point of absurdity. Bulgakov does not go as far as to make nonsense, however he challenges certain norms a little too much for my comfort. Overall, it's a very enjoyable and interesting work.