Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940)

Weird from start to finish, both subtle political satire and imaginative escapade, Bulgakov's masterpiece is certainly something that will stay with the reader for a long time. I can't think of any other book that manages to combine modern-day Moscow (at least modern for the author) with Jerusalem in the time of Christ, or the pranks of the literal Devil and his gang with a deep narrative about an artist's struggle to express himself in a society where this is forbidden and a woman's eternal devotion to this same man and his work. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll simply quote a phrase that I think perfectly summarizes this novel:
"Kindly consider the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?"
And of course the eternal:
"Manuscripts don't burn."… (mere)

Bulgakovovo vrcholné a poslední dílo, které autorovi právem získalo světovou proslulost. V Bulgakovově groteskním mnohavrstevném mystériu se rozvíjí a prolíná více rovin: je stejně tak fantaskním a symbolickým obrazem doby jako realistickým vylíčením dusné atmosféry Moskvy 20. a 30. let, biblickým apokryfem, eschatologickou vizí i ostrou satirou na poměry. Svůj „příběh novodobého Fausta“ začal Bulgakov psát v r. 1929 a poslední úpravy diktoval, už slepý, své ženě pět dní před smrtí roku 1940.… (mere)

I'll start by saying this: Pontius Pilate is completely gay for Yeshua like holy shit. This book was really good but man I wish it was like, half as long? There was sooooooooooooooo much filler and the good parts were really good but the boring parts made it really hard to keep reading and I will probably never read it again because of that. There are so many characters and most of them don't matter at all and I could not follow all of the names because not only are there way too many characters but in true Russian fashion they (mostly) all have AT LEAST three to five names.

Anyways, I'm sure a ton of the references and ideas here went wayy over my head but I kind of embarassingly cried a little bit at the end. Not as much as when I read Sofia Petrovna but I still didn't think I would at all this time... Uhm anyways it was a good book I think. I think I'll probably be going back and forth on my rating for a while because... like I said the good parts were really good but like half of it was just... I did not want to read it at all for a while. Margarita and Homeless were my favorite characters by far, what a delight! I can see why this book is so popular. There is a LOT going on here.… (mere)