"The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

Read:6/18/09

5/5 stars

Russian author, penning a novel criticizing the bureaucracy, and writing it in the 1930s in Stalinist Russia. What are the chances of it getting published? Almost nil, if not for the perseverance of his wife.

I began reading what is considered as Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece for two reasons: 1) The blurb said it was a satire: the devil visits Moscow with his retinue, and the city is in disarray. 2) It was in the 1001 Books to Read before you die list.

The story starts out with two of Moscow's most famous contemporary literatteurs discussing the non-existence of God in a park. Enter a tall and dark gentleman who joins their discussion. The conversation turns bizarre when the gentleman starts relating how he was discussing that particular topic with Pontius Pilate. Moreover, the strange gentleman, whom the two Muscovites identify as a "foreigner," openly laughs when the two poets stress their belief that the devil does not exist. The conversation gets curioser and curioser, but culminates in a tragedy for one of the Muscovites predicted by the mysterious foreigner. The remaining poet's sanity is unhinged.

From then on, strange occurences start happening, mainly involving the city's poets, artists, theater personalities. The foreigner, who by now the reader will identify as Satan but who names himself as Woland, is accompanied by two other bizarre and frightening men, a feral talking and walking cat, and a constantly naked female. The antics of the diabolical band are terrifying.

The asylum starts filling up with people. One of the earlier inmates of the asylum, however, calls himself the Master, and recognizes the new arrivals for what they are. The Master entered the asylum out of depression since the book he wrote about Pontius Pilate was refused publication, and he was defamed in press. The Master left behind a lover--a married woman named Margarita, with whom he had been having an affair. Margarita never knew what happened to the Master.

So ends the first half of the book. In the second half, lovelorn Margarita is introduced. She has been living for the past year in a limbo because she does not know where her lover is. On one fateful day, she meets one of the Woland's men, which leads to an extremely strange set of experiences. I resist describing those here, because I can't. They're extremely bizarre. But don't get me wrong--they were beautiful. Suffice it to say, in the end, there is resolution and redemption, and from the most unlikely source.

I think a satire is fully appreciated with the reader's familiarity with the context of the satire. Unfortunately, apart from a generic knowledge of the excesses of Stalinist Russia, I must admit a greater ignorance of the entire situation. What I do know is this: The Master and Margarita is an excellent piece of literature.

In the first part, Woland initially induces curiosity among the literati and the cultured of Moscow. Eventually, he and his companions strike terror. And that is how I read him. Terrifying. No compassion for him whatsoever. Granted, the people who were his victims were all fawning and twisted, hence deserving of such treatment. However, this did not make Woland and his men heroic people. Plainly, he was the devil. He has Behemoth, the cat, twist someone's head off. During a public show. (The head is returned and the person restored back to life. But the damage is done. The person has gone insane and constantly asks for his head back.) Woland did not inspire admiration for handing out these punishments.

But, in the second part, Bulgakov takes his readers along for a ride, not just story-wise, but also in terms of how one views the characters. Margarita is the main character in this part. She becomes a witch and participates in the devil's ball, among other strange happenings. But what stunned me in this part is how I found myself liking and liking Woland, and finally deciding that, among all of the characters, he was the most admirable one. Because, in the end, mercy, wisdom, and compassion came from him--the devil.

Perhaps this transformation can also be accounted for in how Bulgakov writes the book. In the first part, Woland, Behemoth, and their other companions were seen through the eyes of their victims--the officials and distinguished citizens who were so full of themselves. In the second part, the narrator follows Margarita, whose experiences with Woland were more personal. So, following Margarita, the female, the adulteress, the story and its characters achieve redemption. Great parallel to Mary Magdalene, eh?

Yet, for all the compassion and love that Margarita shows, the most heartwrenching character in the book is actually Pontius Pilate. Pilate appears in the story within the story. Yet, in the Master's retelling of the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus (or Yeshua Ha-Nostri in this book), Pilate takes center stage, is the main character. And what a sad character he is. Because of a bad decision and a lifetime of waiting for redemption.

The Master and Margarita is funny, intelligent, and unexpected. For those of you who like getting surprised and pleasantly challenged, I strongly recommend this book.

Here's the trailer to the movie adaptation. No English subtitles, but I think the images and the music will give you an idea of the mood. There's also a Russian mini-series, with English subtitles.