Why did I love this book?
People who read The Master and Margarita will tell you that it is one of the greatest books they have ever read, but few can tell you why. It defies description. It is truly unique.
It opens on a blistering hot day in Moscow, a paradox in itself. The devil, seemingly out of Goethe’s Faust, is on a visit to the town. He and his strange entourage would be laughable, if they were not so lethal. Only the madness of Stalin’s paranoid Communism could have created such a story.
Bulgakov has an uncanny way of investing even the most unlikely scenes with intense realism. You never doubt him. At times hilarious, at times terrifying, the book shows us what a fragile hold we have on reality.
17 authors picked The Master and Margarita as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
'Bulgakov is one of the greatest Russian writers, perhaps the greatest' Independent
Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign, The Master and Margarita became an overnight literary phenomenon when it was finally published it, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere. Bulgakov's carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow one Spring afternoon. Brimming with magic and incident, it is full of imaginary, historical, terrifying and wonderful characters, from witches, poets and Biblical tyrants to the beautiful, courageous Margarita, who will…