MY REVIEW OF A TIMELESS CLASSIC
The Master and Margarita
Bulgakov’s masterpiece. A captivating blend of love, madness, and the supernatural in Stalinist Moscow. A timeless literary gem. But is this book actually worth your time?
“The Master and Margarita” is one of the most beloved novels of the 20th century. A gem of modern classical literature, the novel depicts the Moscow society of the 1930s, a society corroded by communism under Stalin’s dictatorship. Bulgakov’s critical tone was so powerful in this writing that it was first published more than 20 years after his death.
Highlighting human cowardice as the gravest vice, the theme of the pact with the devil seems inevitable in a work that explores the human spirit, love, and the confrontation between good and evil. Thus, by skillfully reinterpreting the Faustian myth, Bulgakov manages to capture very well the moral aspects of the society of his time. The Master and Margarita” is built on two temporal planes: Moscow in the ’30s and Jerusalem during the days of Yeshua’s (Jesus) execution.
The story begins with the meeting between Berlioz, the editor-in-chief of a literary-artistic magazine, and the president of the literary group MASSOLIT. His discussion partner is Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, a writer who publishes under the pseudonym Bezdomny. The latter had been asked to write an anti-religious poem for the mentioned magazine, and Berlioz, a convinced atheist, explains to him that the poem presented is a mistake because even though it describes a flawed Jesus, it describes a person who existed at some point, a falsehood from Berlioz’s point of view.
However, their dialogue is interrupted by Professor Woland. Woland, none other than Satan, makes his appearance in the novel advocating for the existence of Jesus, arguing that he was even a witness when Pontius Pilate approved his crucifixion. In the same conversation, he also informs Berlioz about how he is soon to die: beheaded.
The other plane revolves around the moment of Yeshua’s death sentence under the authority of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Yeshua’s perspective based on compassion for humanity creates an internal conflict for Pilate, who tries to propose options to the crowd that could spare the condemned man, but without success.
Woland’s prophecy comes true, and Berlioz loses his head under a tram, just as he was told. It is the beginning of a festival of madness, orchestrated by a supposed hypnosis. The poet Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev also ends up being interned in a mental asylum. Woland, whose signature bears this state of affairs, has a team as efficient as it is malevolent that he can rely on: Koroviev, who always wears a pince-nez with a cracked glass, Azazelo, whose mouth has only one corner sticking out, and Behemoth, a talking cat.
In the chapter entitled “Ivan’s Doubles,” the long-awaited Master appears. His love story with Margarita begins when they are both married, but it flows regardless of the allowed or disallowed directions and transcends any limit that can be discerned on the realm of the mind, seeking a form of fulfillment in places that would not represent potential solutions for any lover.
“The Master and Margarita” is the type of novel that a reader can come back to again and again because the numerous characters and actions, the symbolism, the complexity, and the depth of the themes addressed demand attention and importance even from a mind that doesn’t like to remain in comfort, with each foray offering the chance to rediscover a new experience or perspective.
"The Master and Margarita" is the type of novel that a reader can come back to again and again because the numerous characters and actions, the symbolism, the complexity, and the depth of the themes addressed demand attention and importance even from a mind that doesn't like to remain in comfort, with each foray offering the chance to rediscover a new experience or perspective.
