The Master & Margarita
A book which you can't put down, once you begin !
An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The
Master and Margarita is recognized as one of the essential classics of
modern Russian literature. The novel's vision of Soviet life in the
1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during
its author's lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the
1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its language has become part of
the common Russian speech. One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow,
accompanied by an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess
and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to
believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy
Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a
novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves
the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for
him. What ensues is a novel of inexhaustible energy, humor, and
philosophical depth, a work whose nuances emerge for the first time in
Diana Burgin's and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor's splendid English
version.
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