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Cover of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov

  • 439 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 1966
  • 236 editions
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1 About this book

The Master and Margarita (Russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. The story concerns a visit by the devil and his entourage to the officially atheist Soviet Union.

The devil, manifested as one Professor Woland, challenges the Soviet citizens' beliefs towards religion and condemns their behavior throughout the book. The Master and Margarita combines supernatural elements with satirical dark comedy and Christian philosophy, defying categorization within a single genre.

Many critics consider it to be one of the best novels of the 20th century, as well as the foremost of Soviet satires. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967 by his widow Elena Bulgakova. The manuscript was not published as a book until 1967, in Paris.

  • Satire
  • Humor
  • Politicians
  • Magicians
  • Political fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Classics
  • Political

2 What to expect

A Soviet-era satire and fantasy: the Devil arrives in 1930s Moscow with a strange retinue, a huge black cat among them, and exposes the greed and cowardice of its literary and official world. Woven through are chapters set in the Jerusalem of Pontius Pilate and the love story of a persecuted writer and the woman devoted to him. It is funny, wild and sometimes confusing, shifting between farce, romance and philosophy, and notes on Soviet life help.

Good for readers who want: satire with the supernatural, a Russian classic, and a wild, many-layered story.

3 About Mikhail Bulgakov

1891–1940

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( buul-GAH-kof; Russian: Михаи́л Афана́сьевич Булга́ков, IPA: 15 May [O.S. 3 May] 1891 – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. He also wrote the novel The White Guard and the plays Ivan Vasilievich, Flight (also called The Run), and The Days of the Turbins.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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