The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
Translated by Katherine Tiernan O’Connor & Diana Burgin & Diana Burgin & Katherine Tiernan O’Connor
30 May 2019Synopsis
With an introduction by the writer and critic Viv Groskop.
In this imaginative extravaganza the devil, disguised as a magician, descends upon Moscow, along with a talking cat and an expert assassin. This riotous band succeed in fooling an entire population of people who persistently deny the devil’s existence, even as they are confronted with the diabolic results of a magic act gone wrong. The devil’s project soon becomes involved with The Master, a man who has turned his back on his former life and sought sanctuary in a lunatic asylum, and his former lover, Margarita.
A literary sensation from its first publication, The Master and Margarita has been translated into more than twenty
languages. Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel is now considered one of the seminal works of twentieth-century Russian literature. By turns acidly satiric, fantastic and ironically philosophical, this story constantly surprises and entertains.
Details
30 May 2019
9781509823307Reviews
Funny and frighteningLondon Review of Books
Incandescent . . . one of those novels that, even in translation, make you feel that not one word could have been written differently . . . it has too many achievements to list, but the way it keeps faith in love and art even in moments of unspeakable humiliation and cruelty must be the greatestNew York Times
