
Life Got You Down? Time to Read The Master and Margarita - wyndham
https://lithub.com/life-got-you-down-time-to-read-the-master-and-margarita/
======
peatmoss
The Master and Margarita is indeed a fantastic read, but there’s a dark
subtext. For example, the supernatural happenings and bumps in the night from
the neighboring apartment are likely Bulgakov making commentary on the purges.
Bulgakov layered things. On the surface, lightheartedness. Underneath, a very
bleak and tortured soul.

~~~
habosa
I read a version with enough footnotes to help me understand that underneath a
funny and beautiful book is an attempt to use satire to say something serious
about the regime that Bulgakov lived under. Part of what makes this book so
great is how it is effective at this goal but also just fantastic literature.

I'm a heavy reader but bad at reviews. All I can say is read this one. One of
the best books I've ever read and that was clear to me before I finished it.

~~~
Tomte
I've read/skimmed two academic books commenting on The Master and Margarita
and it lessened my enjoyment.

There was lots and lots of "Woland is obviously not the devil, unlike everyone
assumed" and much lofty discussion that I couldn't follow at all.

I'd strongly advise to leave that out, but read a more conventional commentary
like the web site linked somewhere in this thread.

~~~
innocentoldguy
I agree! I highly recommend against reading academic interpretations/critiques
of any book. I graduated summa cum laude with a degree in creative writing.
Much of my college study was focused on literary criticisms and theory. As
someone trained in the art, I believe taking a perfectly good novel and
blowing it through the enema of Marxist, Postmodernist, or Feminist activism,
for instance, is the best way to shit all over an author's work.

~~~
blablablerg
I see how you graduated summa cum laude in creative writing.

~~~
ironic_ali
Fair enough... But please explain why.

------
siberianbear
When I was living in the United States and studying Russian, I started to read
some Russian literature. After reading some short stories by Chekhov, I
decided to delve into something harder: Dostoevsky.

I couldn't understand the first page of Crime and Punishment even with a
dictionary. Dostoevsky has a very eloquent way of writing with very long
sentences and complicated grammar, but it's very hard for a non-native speaker
to understand.

So, I went to a Russian colleague of mine, who recommended that I try to read
"The Master and the Margarita" instead of Crime and Punishment. I found that I
could read and mostly understand it, but the plot made no sense.

I told this experience to my Russian teacher, and she laughed uncontrollably.
She said that it's true that the grammar in The Master in the Margarita is
easier, but you'll never really understand the plot without having lived in
the Soviet Union. She said that every element in the story is a jab at some
aspect of life or politics from that era.

I continued to stick with short stories by Chekhov and Gogol after that.

~~~
mynegation
Dostoyevsky is a hard read even for native speakers of Russian. I would not
characterize him as eloquent, more like raw and rough around the edges. I can
definitely imagine how hard it is for a non-native speaker to understand his
writing, with his archaic words, words for things that do not exist anymore,
references to Russian folk tales, or cultural context of the 19th century
Russia, on top of all the things that you mentioned. In a way, Dostoyevsky is
somewhat watered down Russian precursor of James Joyce.

~~~
madaxe_again
But Dostoyevsky is brilliant, his impenetrable style notwithstanding - in
Crime and Punishment he paints such vivid scenes that I can still in my mind’s
eye see Raskolnikov’s crappy apartment, the widow slumping to the floor, axe
in her head, the markets of St Petersburg, the reeking drunks by the
stables... it builds into something glittering, always, even when painted only
in dun and ochre.

Joyce is an apt comparison - he’s similarly a painter with words - I feel like
I’ve visited 19th century Dublin having read his works, although he does make
Dostoyevsky look sedate and restrained.

------
JerryPavlic
I attended a Russian poetry event by accident a couple of days ago. I didn't
understand a thing but this made my whole experience of it even more
beautiful. I could literally feel what the artists were talking about and the
reactions of the crowd. I guess it had to do a little with the fact that they
were expats and the Russian poetry probably reminded them at home, but the
energy in the room was so intense. Later i spoke with one of the attendees and
he explained that poetry (or literature in this case) is a way of connecting
similair perspectives to life to people divided by the enormous distances in
Russia. Thats why the people attending the event - even though they didnt know
each other, had a great feeling of connection and were prone to expressing
their patriotic emotions. To quote him: "I felt Russian for the first time in
a long time tonight."And this is a great quote: "Literature can be a catalyst
for change. But it can also be a safety valve for a release of tension and one
that results in paralysis"

------
msadowski
Master and Margarita is one of my favorite books. First time I've read it when
I was 17 or 18, then around 22 and then around 25. Each time I've read it I
took something else from it and was surprised that it's the same book.
Probably it has something to do with growing up.

At some point I was really into Russian and Polish fantasy/sci-fi and I
especially liked the social aspects of some of the stories.

~~~
Bartweiss
I picked it up at about the same time for some English class, and I remember
being a bit shocked that something so obviously Deep and Literary could be
quite so much fun. It's not the only example, of course, but for me it still
occupies a special intersection between "flip through it when I'm not up to
anything heavy" and "reread it carefully to see something new".

I first picked up Lem not long after, and got the same feeling. I wonder if
the "literary vs. genre" dichotomy is less engrained outside of English
writing - or perhaps I was just mislead by our stereotypes about the weight of
"Russian Literature".

~~~
toyg
Or perhaps "Russian literature" is a concept as vast as the country, and some
of it transcends easy labels. Like Bulgakov, Dostoevsky was capable to write
at various different levels.

~~~
Bartweiss
Yes, certainly. I wasn't very clear, but my meaning was that there's a certain
Western/American concept of "Russian Literature" as being exclusively long,
philosophical, realistic, and depressing - as though _The Brothers Karamazov_
and _Anna Karenina_ are the prototype for everything else.

But it's obviously not true; reducing Russian-language literature to Tolstoy,
Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn is insulting crude. (And even Dostoevsky can be
funny!) Bulgakov and Pasternak are at least recognized, but reduced to one
work each. Zamyatin ought to be taught next to Orwell and Huxley, but he and a
great many others are basically unknown. And all of that's before the
conflation of Russian, Soviet, and Eastern Bloc work. Lem, Čapek, and so on
aren't even Russian writers but get subsumed in the same category of thought.

It's a frustrating gap in American-read canon all around, and as a particular
fan of sci-fi I think the focus on Russian 'literary' over 'genre' work has
left a major hole in our perception of SF.

------
mynegation
For a context: Russian, read several Bulgakov's works as a teenager, as it was
part of a school program.

To provide an alternative view: I did not like "Master and Margarita",
especially compared to "Heart of the Dog" and what I consider Bulgakov's best
novel "The White Guard". Part of this has to do that with the fact that author
chose religion and mysticism as literary vehicles and I am not a big fan of
either. The whole book felt rather frivolous. I warmed up to this type of
novel after reading several works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez though much later.

"The White Guard" on the other hand left much deeper impression on me. The
novel does a great job showing helplessness of people in front of their old
life crumbling down, caught in a whirlwind of turbulent times.

~~~
madaxe_again
Likewise loved The White Guard - and unlike a sibling reply I agree with you
that it reflects helplessness - I certainly didn’t see any of the protagonists
“controlling their destiny” - I saw them being washed up on and dashed against
the shores of time like so much flotsam and jetsam, making ultimately
meaningless decisions against a backdrop of inevitability.

Another Bulgakov book I loved was “A Country Doctor’s Notebook”, which
reflects both the hope and the privations of the early USSR.

Finally, if you like Bulgakov, I really recommend Andrei Kurkov and Victor
Pelevin - they explore similar themes in a similar fashion.

~~~
vl
British mini-TV series is pretty decent as well:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Young_Doctor%27s_Notebook_(T...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Young_Doctor%27s_Notebook_\(TV_series\))

~~~
madaxe_again
Huh! I have no idea how this passed me by. Shall have to have a watch, thanks!

------
yakshaving_jgt
I read TMaM when I was 25, after being given a copy for Christmas from my
father. He's Polish, and studied Russian in school. I put off reading it for
two years, because I don't read much. Among my English friends, there's an air
of sophistication to being able to say you're reading a Russian novel.

My girlfriend is Russian, and she said she enjoyed the book when she read it
as a child.

A humbling moment.

------
dmitrygr
I love the book as much as the next Russian, and have read it the requisite
three times, but this article is nonsense. It gets even the basic facts wrong
(Margarita flies around _before_ the ball, Woland is not in any way unhappy
about her asking for the Master to be freed, etc)

That being said, do read this book a few times! If not reading in Russian,
read different translations. If too young (or unaware of Russian history) to
get many references, reading "Дети Арбата" beforehand will help slightly.

------
sonnyg
For people who have read it, what translation do you recommend?

~~~
bardam
Richard Pevear/Larissa Volokhonsky, a husband and wife team who have been
translating Russian novels for close to 30 years. Having read most of
Dostoevsky's works, some their translations, some others, I highly recommend
their translations when available.

~~~
notyourday
Those two are fantastic, largely because they don't translate. Rather they re-
write the works in the target language that both of them speak extremely well.

------
simtam
Say, how are things with adaptations of "The Master and Margarita" into other
media? There was some Hollywood movie undergoing, or wasn't it? Pretty sure I
didn't mistake it with the Fantastic Beasts franchise...

I myself gonna humblebrag, one of my mods for Skyrim is named "Never Talk To
NPCs" after the first chapter of the book. Of course it's only rehashing a few
selected tropes, not an adaptation in the strict sense.

So is "The Master and Margarita" really for people who feel low in their
lifes? My activity once led me to reading a thread on 4chan about "The Master
and Margarita", where the OP-anon insisted there's no point in a book where
there is magic and "the protaganist [i.e., Woland] can do everything". Not
sure if it was genuine trolling or some poor soul forced to read in for a
class assignment, but there's a grain of good question in that observation.

SPOILER if Woland frees the Master only after Margarita wished to free other
person, maybe Woland wasn't in power to free the Master without that
happening? we'll never know in the book, but I shall imply that the whole
thing was set up precisely for that accomplishment END SPOILER.

------
konart
Life Got You Down? Time to read Ilf and Petrov (The Twelve Chairs, The Little
Golden Calf, One-storied America)

~~~
doombolt
It is very often overlooked, but "The Little Golden Calf" is awesome. It is an
amazingly fun read yet it is full of deep insights into pre-war Soviet Union's
everyday life. The character is basically a superhero who goes through this
society as a hot knife through butter. Yet it is much more serious than
"Twelve Chairs" which is basically a sitcom.

~~~
romwell
Wouldn't call "The Little Golden Calf" overlooked (not by Russian speakers, at
least); and yes, after reading it, I wondered how it ever passed censorship
back in the days.

The movie[1] is also great. Shot in black and white, it adds to the solemnity
amid the humor.

[1][https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%82...](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%91%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BA_\(%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BC,_1968\))

~~~
doombolt
The movie is also awesome and I think I saw the movie first.

------
Tharkun
Any book that features a tommy gun toting tomcat is worth a read, regardless
of whether life got you down. It's one of my favourite books, and it's one
that can reread multiple times, each time revealing new insights and
references.

------
satori99
I have never heard of this book before, but the description made me think of
the Robert Heinlein novel 'Job: A Comedy of Justice'.

Especially the line "The final joke of the book is that maybe Satan is not the
bad guy after all"

I am adding it to my reading list. Thanks!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job:_A_Comedy_of_Justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job:_A_Comedy_of_Justice)

------
barbarian
I've read a great deal of Russian literature old and modern, but I didn't much
like this book. It was like an unplanned Salmon Rushdie novel, where the
metaphors don't seem to add up to anything - very likely there was a lot of
cultural reference in the symbology that went over my head - but still, just
didn't get much pleasure from reading it.

~~~
JauntTrooper
I felt the same way. My wife and I each got copies of the book so we could
read it together and were excited about it, given the rave reviews, but
neither of us could get into it.

I think I would get a lot more out of it as part of a structured class or
group discussion that could explain some of the cultural references and
symbology, as you say.

------
janvanhellemont
You can now read «The Master and Margarita» and understand its satire through
a free smartphone app with annotations per chapter.

iPhone
[https://itunes.apple.com/app/id770608895](https://itunes.apple.com/app/id770608895)
Android
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.p9370G...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.p9370GG)

The annotations are also on the «Master and Margarita» website
[https://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/02themas/aantekeningen....](https://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/02themas/aantekeningen.html)

------
IndrekR
I was not expecting much from the book when I started reading it. Yet it is
one of the few I could not put down before it was 9am and I had read it all.
The wit and all the layers! A true surprise for me, in a positive way.

------
Insanity
Since I don't understand Russian, is there any English translation that you'd
recommend over another?

I've only ventured slightly into Russian litarature (English translations
thereof) with "The death of Ivan Ilych" and "the dream of a rediculous man". I
consider the former to be one of the best books I have read this year, and
would like to give TMaM a try but always have trouble deciding on a
translation.

~~~
80801
Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky. Since they get so much praise, anything
russian I have read was translated by them.

~~~
FabHK
And they did the Penguin 50 yr anniversary edition [1]. It has some useful
notes at the end, too.

I found the notes in the Annotated Lolita [2] very helpful, unfortunately I
haven't really found an annotated version of M&M (beyond what's in [1]).

[1]
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143108271](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143108271)

[2] [https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Lolita-Revised-
Updated/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Lolita-Revised-
Updated/dp/0679727299)

------
murrayb
Disappointed to find out that there is no Kindle version. I actually find that
uncommon lately so it is a surprise when there isn't one.

~~~
politelemon
I was able to find multiple Kindle editions on Amazon UK:

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BKA4H6W](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BKA4H6W)

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Margarita-Vintage-Classic-
Ru...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Margarita-Vintage-Classic-Russians-
ebook/dp/B003ELY7JM)

and Amazon US

[https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Vintage-Classic-
Russ...](https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Vintage-Classic-Russians-
ebook/dp/B003ELY7JM)

[https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-Bulgakov-
ebo...](https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-Bulgakov-
ebook/dp/B01DC7OGSO)

However I can't tell which is the 'best' version - some classics have appeared
on Kindle full of typos or can be translated badly so you have to look for a
good one.

~~~
murrayb
Apparently I was searching wrong- no clue how, possibly as a result of
following a Google link into Amazon. Thank-you for the links.

------
dmitripopov
I always wonder why non-Russian speakers perceive books like "The Master and
Margarita" as "fun". I guess the reason is that the spirit of the novel gets
lost in translation. In Russian all humorous elements sum up as a dark
depressing feeling towards the end of the novel. That what makes it a Russian
classic.

~~~
notyourday
It is just signaling of intellectualism. Most of English translations of
classic Russian lit suck -- for example one is highly unlikely to get by
reading English translation of "The Master and Margarita" that it is satire
even if one gets hundreds of pages of foot notes.

Volokhonsky and Peavar do the best but one still needs those hundreds of pages
of footnotes which are just not there. Reading TMAM pretty much requires
jumping off the TMAM train every few paragraphs and venturing into
Literaturnaya Gazeta, history of KPSS, lore of the MGU, etc just to realize
the mood of those paragraphs.

~~~
simias
That's pointless projection. I read The Master and Margarita a long time ago
because I read somewhere that it was one inspiration for the Rolling Stone's
Sympathy for the Devil, so I wasn't exactly driven by pretentious
intellectualism. It still managed to become one of my favorite novels and I
even started learning Russian because of it (still working on that actually).
I hope someday I'll be able to read it in the original language.

In hindsight I only regret starting with an English translation instead of a
French one as I suspect that Russian maps better (although obviously still
very imperfectly) with French grammar.

Now if you want signaling of intellectualism I've also seen Simon McBurney's
adaptation of the novel as a play at Avignon's theater festival a few years
ago and it was absolutely magnificent.

~~~
notyourday
> I read The Master and Margarita a long time ago because I read somewhere
> that it was one inspiration for the Rolling Stone's Sympathy for the Devil,
> so I wasn't exactly driven by pretentious intellectualism.

I have a hunch you do not discuss The Master and Margarita at parties.

Edit: The downvotes on this is the exact reason why McDuff is popular - it is
intellectual masturbation. The one _mocked_ by Russian writers. One, of
course, should read it in Russian on in V&P translation to notice this plot
twist. It is always fun to watch.

~~~
simias
The downvotes are because you keep making a non-sequitur strawmen instead of
contributing anything of value to the discussion. Why wouldn't I be talking
about it at parties?

What's your point exactly? Do you think that Master and Margarita is overrated
or do you think people like it for the wrong reasons?

~~~
notyourday
> Why wouldn't I be talking about it at parties?

For the same reason why you would not be discussing "Confucius, Philosopher of
the Chinese" \-- wrong audience.

> Do you think that Master and Margarita is overrated or do you think people
> like it for the wrong reasons?

I gave the answer above - fawning over TMAM among the western population is
signaling of intellectualism targeting their friends. TMAM actually addresses
it.

------
GeoffKnauth
This is one of my favorite books ever. I've read it in Russian and English. I
have the DVDs of the TV series made in Russia about 10 years ago. Is there a
Russian audiobook version anywhere?

~~~
Koshkin
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=мастер+и+маргарита+аудиокнига](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=мастер+и+маргарита+аудиокнига)

------
person_of_color
Just finished The Name of The Wind and time to read this ;)

~~~
tk75x
You should check out the sequel to The Name of the Wind, A Wise Man's Fear.

~~~
mindcrime
_You should check out the sequel to The Name of the Wind, A Wise Man 's Fear._

Yes, then re-read both, as well as the entire catalog of Dostoevsky, the
Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, The Illiad, and The Odyssey, and by then
Rothfuss might actually be finished with the third book in the trilogy...

~~~
tingol
I kinda lost interest after the second book, it was pretty bad tbh...

------
kharms
The Russian language version on Audible is one of the best narrated books I’ve
listened to, with the other being The Sympathizer. I recommend it.

------
usermac
I found it just now using the iOS app Libby which links to my local library
card and allows me to check it out for two weeks.

------
krueger71
Great book! When I borrowed it the librarian said she envied me the experience
of reading it for the first time

------
petecooper
Thanks for this.

Life has got me down a bit at the moment, and I wasn't aware of this book --
so thank you for the pointer.

~~~
onewhonknocks
I'm just a random, anonymous, internet person, but I hope that you feel better
Pete. Remember that the way you feel now is just a snapshot in time, and that
things will almost certainly get better from here.

~~~
petecooper
Thank you, that made me smile. I really appreciate your words.

------
pjmlp
One of the best books I have read.

------
CraneWorm
I'd like to offer a supplementary medicine for falling of the gravy train of
life.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EchbzHN3lek](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EchbzHN3lek)

------
smsm42
I love this novel, but I wonder if it's possible to really appreciate it
without knowing the realities of the time it was written about (the 1930th is
Russia, the time of the Big Terror) and the personal situation of Bulgakov
himself (he was intending for Stalin to read the novel and expected it would
make him change Bulgakov's very problematic stance with literary and
theatrical establishment). And of course I am not sure how it is possible to
translate Bulgakov's rich and masterful language. But do try it anyway, still
worth it.

------
Graham24
there was a great radio 4 adaptation of this from the 90s, but I can only find
references to a 2015 version.

------
aleyan
Life got you down? Take a piece of advice from another of Bulgakov's (author
of Master and Margarita) novels and stop reading the news. There is nothing
actionable in the news; next to no utility. News is simply a time sink that
depress your spirit. So take the good doctor's words from Heart of a Dog: "If
you care about your digestion, my advice is [sic] never read soviet newspapers
before dinner" and generalize it to the sources of outrage in your life that
are getting you down.

With that said, I highly recommend reading Master and Margarita as it is my
favorite novel. It is a work however that is deeply rooted in its time and
place, so looking at annotations[1] that explain the subtlety is very useful.

This comment was based on my previous two comments here[2][3].

[1]
[http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/](http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/)

[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14282358](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14282358)

[3]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14870327](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14870327)

~~~
Y_Y
As an honest question, how well does this apply to Hackernews? I know that BBC
News is bad for my health and does nothing for my career. Holistically I'm not
sure about hn.

~~~
qubax
The problem with hacker news and social media in general is that "real" news
is targeting it for clicks and views. Bloomberg, nytimes, washingtonpost and
almost everyone else have social media teams dedicated to spreading their
articles on social media. If anyone else was doing it, we'd call it spam.

Even worse, hackernews gives these organizations favorable treatment and
privileges where they can get away with it. Can you imagine what would happen
if foxnews spammed HN everyday?

The only saving grace for HN is that HN is so small that it is an afterthought
for these spammers. The real problem is in reddit, facebook, twitter or larger
social media. That's why those platforms are so toxic. It's overrun with news
media employees and spammed content.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
>That's why those platforms are so toxic. It's overrun with news media
employees and spammed content.

4Chan isn't exactly overrun with spammers and it's the same toxic cespool that
Reddit is (granted Reddit has better manners and at least pretends to emulate
civil conversation). I don't think the news sites spamming their articles is
more than a minor contributing factor.

------
atomical
> I have a friend who married her husband almost exclusively because he told
> her he had read it.

So believable.

~~~
Koshkin
... and now he wishes he hadn't.

------
zyvy
Novel for Stalin. Noticed that this book is loved by the all
security/intelligence services like KGB-FSB -> don’t like it more [https://ru-
bykov.livejournal.com/2015279.html](https://ru-
bykov.livejournal.com/2015279.html)

~~~
Muha_
This book is not for Stalin and not against Stalin. This book is about bad
people, good people and faith in fairness. And this is just a good fiction.

