The Master and Margarita [Paperback]

Mikhail Bulgakov (Author), Mirra Ginsburg (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 1994

Suppressed in the Soviet Union for twenty-six years, Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece is an ironic parable of power and its corruption, good and evil, and human frailty and the strength of love. Featuring Satan, accompanied by a retinue that includes the large, fast-talking, vodka drinking black tom cat Behemoth, the beautiful Margarita, her beloved - a distraught writer known only as the Master - Pontius Pilate, and Jesus Christ, The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy into a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered one of the greatest novels ever to come out of the Soviet Union. "A wild surrealistic romp.... Brilliantly flamboyant and outrageous."-Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit News; "Fine, funny, imaginative.... The Master and Margarita stands squarely in the great Gogolesque tradition of satiric narrative."-Saul Maloff, Newsweek; "Funny, devilish, brilliant satire.... It's literature of the highest order and . . . it will deliver a full measure of enjoyment and enlightenment."-Publisher's Weekly; "A rich, funny, moving and bitter novel.... Vast and boisterous entertainment."-The New York Times

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A wild surrealistic romp. . . . Brilliantly flamboyant and outrageous.” —Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit News

“This dark, absurd, and subversive treasure lay hidden for many years, even after Bulgakov’s death, such was the fear of reprisal for such a pointed, authentic stab at life under the tyrannical malevolence of Uncle Joe and the withering Soviet climate of the time.” —Johnny Depp, “My Essentials” in Entertainment Weekly’s “Best of the Decade” issue (December 11, 2009)

“Fine, funny, imaginative . . . . The Master and Margarita stands squarely in the great Gogolesque tradition of satiric narrative.” —Saul Maloff, Newsweek

“The book is by turns hilarious, mysterious, contemplative and poignant. . . . A great work.” —Chicago Tribune

“Magnificent . . . a gloriously ironic gothic masterpiece . . . had me rapt with bliss.” —Patrick McGrath, Guardian (UK)

“Funny, devilish, brilliant satire . . . It’s literature of the highest order and . . . it will deliver a full measure of enjoyment and enlightenment.” —Publishers Weekly

“A rich, funny, moving and bitter novel . . . . Vast and boisterous entertainment.” —The New York Times

“A classic of twentieth-century fiction.” —The New York Times Book Review

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 402 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (January 13, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802130119
• ISBN-13: 978-0802130112
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Russian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece, but choose a right translation, April 30, 2000

By 

Igor Biryukov (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Master and Margarita (Paperback)

I am Russian, and have read this novel (which is my favorite Russian novel), in Russian. However, for some reason, a week ago I decided to look through Michael Glenny's translation of this novel and I was shocked by the various little mistakes in the text. In the very first dialog, one of the main characters asks for a glass of Narzan (which is a famous brand of mineral water in Russia), which M.Glenny translates as lemonade. Close, but no cigar...And it goes further like this. That leads me to believe that the translator probably was not familiar with nuances of Russian language, or may be simply didn't care. Nevertheless, I know that it had been the only one English translation available since 1967 and thanks Mr.Glenny for that. Now we have Mirra Ginsburg's more accurate translation (I have checked), which makes me happy. The novel is truly fascinating. A really remarkable person wrote it. Bulgakov was a doctor by profession, he received an exellent education in the pre-Revolutionary Russia and lived through the horrors and turmoil of the Revolution of 1917 and the Civil war. This is a wonderful satire on Communism and a biblical story. This novel populated by very interesting characters, one of them is "unknown visitor" Woland, who is the Satan visiting Moscow with his entourage. Woland is a complex figure, a diabolical seducer, father of lies - the Devil himself, but also "he, who has brought the light" - Lucifer. He laughs at the Soviet Communists, who mistakenly think that they have rooted out all evil and have build a society which is even beyond the good and evil. In the clash with Woland they watch how the "perfect" and godless society crumbles down. Please read it, and you will enjoy it, because the novel goes beyond Russian culture to the world of archetypal characters and events that have meaning to all humans.

82 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY ONE OF A KIND, May 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Master and Margarita (Paperback)

This extraordinary and unique book opens in 1930s Moscow during the darkest period of Stalin's repressive reign. Near Patriarch Ponds, two writers sit on a bench engaged in a discussion regarding the nature of Jesus. True to their times, both writers devoutly discount his existence. As their discourse continues, they are joined by a third man, a well-dressed stranger who claims not only to believe in the existence of the historical Jesus, but to have actually been present at Jesus's trial and crucifixion. Unbeknownst to the two writers, this stranger is none other than Satan, himself, who is now calling himself Woland. The next chapter takes us to Yershalaim (Jerusalem) and Pontius Pilate's interrogation of Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Jesus). Much to Pilate's dismay, Yeshua freely admits to all of the charges brought against him. Pilate, although finding himself captivated by Yeshua and desiring to free him, has no choice but to order his execution instead. Yeshua is sentenced to death and crucified and Pilate grows more and more disturbed. Back in Moscow, things have taken a bizarre turn. When Woland's prediction of the death of the writer Berlioz turns out to be true, another writer, Ivan the Homeless is unceremoniously carted off to an asylum and the esteemed Dr. Stravinsky. As heads roll and people are driven mad, Ivan meets his neighbor in the asylum, one known only as The Master. The Master, also a writer, has been working on a novel centering on Pontius Pilate and the story, not coincidentally, is more than similar to Woland's eyewitness version. Ivan also learns of The Master's love for the beautiful Margarita with whom he shared both an apartment and an affair until the rejection of his novel drove him insane. Margarita, meanwhile, is living in a loveless marriage and spends her days pining away for her lost Master, knowing nothing of his whereabouts. The story then moves back to Yershalaim and Pilate's struggle to come to terms with the death of Yeshua. He is visited by Matthew Levi and subsequently orders the death of Judas of Kiriath (Judas Iscariot) for his betryal of Yeshua. Moving back to Moscow again, we learn the reason for Woland's visit. He wants to give a Grand Ball and is in search of a hostess--a hostess named Margarita. Margarita instantly agrees and the Grand Ball proceeds, apparently lasting for hours and hours with the guests having been chosen from among the most sinful and corrupt of all the deceased. With the dawning of the new day, Woland, who is pleased with Margarita's performance, tells her he will grant her her fondest wish. Of course, that wish is to be reunited with The Master. How this request is accomplished is one of the most extremely inventive passages in all of literature and involves not only Woland, but his wily accomplices (Azazello and Behemoth), Matthew Levi and Pilate, himself. Suffice it to say, all turns out well for all intended and The Master and Margarita eventually come to reside together for all time. In The Master and Margarita, Bulgakov has created, not only a technical masterpiece of flawless writing, but also one of immense creativity, making use of innuendo, iconography, metaphor and satire. This is a multi-layed book, encompassing many themes, drawn with a painstaking commitment to detail. Although, at first glance, the two concurrently running stories seem to bear no relation to each other, a closer examination shows us just how creative Bulgalov was and how great was his genius. As the story of Yeshua and The Master are occurring nearly two thousand years apart, it would seem, on the surface, impossible to link them. Bulgakov, however, forgets this span of years and tells the story by the day and the hour instead. As the Easter weekend unfolds, so do his stories, just as though they were occurring each at the same time but in different locations. Bulgakov did not intend for the story of Yeshua to be of historical significance. Instead, it is used as a device to further the satire of Stalinist Russia. For it is within the social and political issues of Stalinist Russia that the true basis of this work is grounded. Banned until the 1960s (and then embraced) the story of The Master is a veiled belief of Bulgakov's in the importance of his own work. However, one does not need a knowledge of Russia or Russian politics to enjoy this extraordinary book. It is an entertaining read in its own right. If one understands the subtext, it is all the more enjoyable. The Master and Margarita represents one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century and one that has certainly never been equalled. Anyone who is serious about literature absolutely cannot afford to pass this up.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Which translation?, June 5, 2004

By 

Diego Banducci (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Master and Margarita (Paperback)

There are four translations of "The Master and Margarita" presently available Two of them, those by Mirra Ginsburg and Michael Glenny, are based upon a 1966 censored Russian version of the novel, while the later, Burgin/O'Connor and Pevear/ Volokhonsky translations are based upon the final uncensored version. Additionally, the latter two translations contain useful endnotes (footnotes would have been preferable) that explain references to people, places and things in the Moscow of the Thirties.

Despite these shortcomings, after reading all four translations, I found that I enjoyed the Ginsburg translation the most. Since I do not read Russian, I based that opinion on the facts that (1) for me, it read the most smoothly, and (2) the comic passages were simply funnier in her translation (Russians, justifiably consider the novel to be a comic masterpiece). I attribute these characteristics to the Ms. Ginsburg having been born and raised in the country of Byelorussia and her being a successful writer (in English!) in her own right.

Based upon those criteria, I rank the translations as follows:

1. Mirra Ginsburg (1967) [ISBN 0802130119]. Simply the most readable. Read also her translation of "Life of a Dog."

2. Diana Burgin and Katherine O'Connor [ISBN: 0679760806]. Conveys a wonderful sense of mood, especially in the Pontius Pilate chapters.

3. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (1997) [ISBN: 0141180145]. I had the sense that this is the most accurate translation, but it is less literary than the two preceding choices. The comic passages simply do not come across. Pevear and Volokhonsky, a husband and wife team, are prolific translators of Russian literature. I have enjoyed several of their other translations, but this one just does not seem to work.

4. Michael Glenny (1967) [ISBN: 0679410465]. No reason to buy this one.

Having read all four, would I do it again? Absolutely! I'm convinced that this is one of the great novels of the 20th century, and with each reading I picked up subtleties that I had not noticed before.