Mikhail Bulgakov; translated by Michael Glenny
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, translated from the Russian by Michael Glenny, defies attempts at categorization or pigeon-holing. On the one hand, it is political satire and social commentary at its most scathing. On the other hand, it is witty, hilarious, weird, absurd, original, fantastic, and wildly entertaining. Bulgakov wrote the novel in secret for fear of reprisals. A censored version was published in 1966, a little over two decades after his death.
The opening seems sane enough. It is the 1930s in Stalin’s Soviet Union. Two men, Ivan Nikolayevich, (aka as Bezdomny) an aspiring poet; and Berlioz, a magazine editor and head of Massolit, the literary writers’ association, discuss the historicity of Jesus while sitting on a park bench. They are joined by a strange looking man, later identified as Professor Woland. Woland predicts the death of Berlioz under highly improbable circumstances. When the prediction comes true and Berlioz’s head is severed from his body, Ivan chases after Woland convinced that he is none other than the devil.
This begins our journey into a topsy-turvy world where bizarre events and magical happenings are taken in stride and where we meet a giant talking black cat; a couple of ominous-looking henchmen; and the beautiful, red-headed succubus, Hella. Characters appear and disappear; a pig flies; lies and subterfuge proliferate; a naked woman turned witch flies across the sky on a broomstick; authors and poets are carted off to the insane asylum; a magic show concludes with females stripped of clothing running out of the theatre; money turns into scraps of paper; Satan throws a ball with an illustrious guest list; wit and sarcasm are on full display; trickster-like antics wreak havoc with society; a severed head re-joins its body; Faustian deals are made with the devil; Margarita, the Master’s lover, transforms into Queen Margot to become hostess of Satan’s ball. A novel within the novel about the relationship between Jesus and Pontius Pilate adds to the general mayhem. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The mingling of the fantastical with the common place is one of the novel’s most endearing qualities. The tone throughout is light, witty, and humorous. Although the fantastical happenings and paranormal events cannot be taken seriously, the novel raises some very serious questions. How do you cope with censorship? With the curtailment of free speech? With living in a state of constant fear? With disbelief when you speak the truth? With disappearances of people? With mysterious happenings? With a summons from the authorities or a knock on the door in the middle of the night? With the re-writing of history to make it consistent with a political ideology? With the implausible and unreal made to appear plausible and real? In short, how do you cope with living a nightmare where truth and reality are sacrificed and where dissent is summarily squashed?
Bulgakov adroitly delivers a political message under the guise of a playful romp in magical realism. Simmering under the humorous dialogue, fantastical events, imaginative story line, and general hilarity is a scathing critique of the Soviet system and of authoritarianism, in general. The novel seems to suggest one needs humor and an attitude of wild abandon to confront Soviet-style censorship, repression, and abuse of power.
Highly recommended.