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    The Master and Margarita
    The Master and Margarita
    The Master and Margarita
    Audiobook (abridged)8 hours

    The Master and Margarita

    Written by Mikhail Bulgakov

    Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Master and Margarita is one of the most famous and best-selling Russian novels of the twentieth century, despite its surreal environment of talking cats, Satan and mysterious happenings. Naxos AudioBooks presents this careful abridgement of a new translation in an imaginative reading by the charismatic Julian Rhind-Tutt. With War and Peace and Crime and Punishment among the Naxos AudioBooks best-sellers, this too promises to be a front title.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateMay 1, 2009
    ISBN9789629548308
    Author

    Mikhail Bulgakov

    Mikhail Bulgakov was born in 1891 in Kiev, in present-day Ukraine. He first trained in medicine but gave up his profession as a doctor to pursue writing. He started working on The Master and Margarita in 1928 but due to censorship it was not published until 1966, more than twenty-five years after Bulgakov’s death.

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    Reviews for The Master and Margarita

    4/5

    294 ratings182 reviews

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    • 5/5
      One of my favorite books of all time. He's got the whole Russian thing going on, as good as Dostoevsky or Tolstoy, but also has this weird & funny side of him which makes this book quite enjoyable. Have read a few other Bulgakov's but this is by far the best.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read though I think many of the levels of this novel went over my head. The social satire of 30s-40s Russian culture and people was fun and funny.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Quirky and interesting. Just the publication history alone made me want to read it and was glad I did. A modern Dostoevsky mixed in with some magic realism.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This took a me a shamefully long time to read, but it was so weird and wonderful. I love books where absurd things happen in a rational world, and this book was dreamlike and surreal like that. Totally brilliant, even if I struggled stepping into it each time because of said surrealism (and those Russian names always get me)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      In spite of my many years of experience as a reader of a wide variety of literature—from YA novels to Shakespeare and lots of stuff in between—I am a newcomer to magical realism. So new, in fact, that I had no clue there was such a thing as Russian magical realism, which apparently predates Latin American magical realism, the better-known type. I suspect that my lack of familiarity with the genre, compounded by my very limited knowledge of Russian history and literature, made this novel a rather tough task for me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it but obviously not as much as I would have had I the proper prior knowledge.The novel defies summary. Woland (Satan) visits Moscow in the 1930s. He brings with him three henchman (one in the form of an oversized feline named Behemoth). A series of episodic adventures ensues—there is an “accidental” beheading, a theatrical séance, literary skullduggery, trips to asylums, multiple disappearances, lots of minor characters, and only a vague sense of plot coherence. And the titular duo do not become prominent in the story until the second half of the novel. Oh, there’s also a book-within-the-book: a narrative account of Pontius Pilate’s ruling on Christ’s execution. Yes, the narrative’s loose structure and multiple plot strands make it a challenge to follow. But Bulghakov’s humor is bitingly charming. I cannot even attempt to explain what the novel is about—that would require research and conversation with others who’ve read the book, neither of which I was fortunate enough to enjoy as I read it. These constraints limited the pleasure I derived from the novel, and I’m sure there’s more “there” in this confoundingly delightful book than I was able to identify. If you’re up for a challenge, you could do worse than The Master & Margarita.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Not a good translation, by Mirra Ginsburg.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Wunderbar verrückte Geschichte mit tiefem politischen Hintergrund
    • 3/5
      This book surprises with very fine articulation. Nevertheless, it lacked a consistent storyline, and many characters were chaotically introduced throughout the plot. 'The Master and Margarita' was definitely a fun book to read, however, rather shallow and overrated, I'm afraid.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read though I think many of the levels of this novel went over my head. The social satire of 30s-40s Russian culture and people was fun and funny.
    • 5/5
      I had to hide this book from open view on its shelf because people kept asking me what it is about. I was then forced to tell them that "The Master and Margarita" is an allegorical novel about early 20th century Russian society. They never fully recovered from the shock.
    • 5/5
      Wow, simply amazing! It’s pretty accessible, not totally dense like "Dr. Zhivago", which I didn’t get past the first hour in the audiobook."The Master and Margarita" has so much going on, but it’s still easy to follow. Like David Eggers’ "The Circle", on the surface it’s simple and direct, but at a second glance you see the metaphors and symbolism.Part of "The Master" is a satire on the Soviet system, and some of it deals with the New Testament.Can’t recommend this book enough. I’ll probably buy it for family and friends and give it to ‘em over Christmas (oh, the irony!).I heard the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky version is superior. Maybe I’ll get the latter for myself. There aren’t too many books worth rereading. This is one of them!!!
    • 5/5
      I just love this book..
    • 3/5
      Long-winded and clunky writing. Still enough brilliant scenes to save the book, but after about 100 pages all the fastidious characters blurred together and I found myself counting down until it was over. None of the characters are very deep, unfortunately; you could likely combine most of the supporting cast into a singular nervous figure. The mischievous devils do make for some fun scenes but that too became redundant---the same trickster scenes over and over.

      Also, worst of all, the Master's novel-within-the-novel was incredibly dull. I had a hard time finishing all the sections about Yeshua and Levi. Nothing interesting there; a slightly-skewed version of the same old Biblical story. It didn't really add much to the story either, other than set-up the overplayed duality between Good and Evil. Th language felt incredibly dated for a book from the 30s---Lines like 'Follow m O Reader,' and the phrase 'the devil knows' appears about 300 times too many. It soon became obvious that Bulkagov worked most of his life in the theater, since his character's exaggerated dialogue reads like something straight off the stage.

      I got some of the satire, but I never read this book with an interested in the USSR. As a historical artifact this book may hold more weight than it does; as a work of art, this has to be one of the most overrated books I've read in a while. It's not even the best book I've read this week, let-alone one of the greatest works of the 20th Century. The first half of the book was quite good, though, while Bulgakov set up the intrigue of Behemoth and the devil, and there are some genuinely riveting scenes.
    • 5/5
      A bit of a head trip that requires some background on the author's political situation in the USSR and the overall period, but certainly original, lyrical, visual and unforgettable. Worth reading a second time.
    • 1/5
      I read a lot of Russian literature back in the day, but I no longer find any pleasure in the long-winded, nonsensical speeches that lard the story. This book, which was recommended to me by several very intelligent people, is like the unholy love child of Kafka and Dostoyevsky. The plot is surreal and the characters mere mouthpieces—there was nothing in it I could care about.
    • 5/5
      Mikhail Bulgakovʻs THE MASTER AND MARGARITA is the MOST BRILLIANT NOVEL written during the era of Stalinist Russia -- far more original, daring, in-your-face and under-your-nose satire that undertakes REALISM as PHANTASY for TRUTH-TELLING. The writing follows a masterful gymnastʻs thinking except the rings of the event are hard core history. IT IS THE MOST INTELLECTUAL NOVEL of the TIME, speaking of the absolute need for human freedom and when that is not physically possible, for the survival of human spirit. In a profound sense, it is not merely of Stalinist Russiaʻs terrorist government but of all tyrranical extremist governments that force individuals to take to the most interior parts of their minds and hold them together with the falterings of their hearts to keep alive, all the while there is wholesale betrayal, fear, desperation, suffocating restraint, forced conspiracies, murder. The air itself is poisoned. And the way to escape is to set up a satirical phantasy, except like all clowning that is truth-centered, it is self-immolating to point out in any other way. Masked as supreme weirdness and light-headed fantastical exhortations and wicked double crostic steely wit, THIS IS TRAGEDY AT ITS MOST PROFOUND,Bulgakov was a renowned dramatist in Russia. His plays were allowed to be written but not produced. He was also a poet. But he wrote in novel form because it allowed him the action of drama, the intellectual significance of plot which is motivated action, and the warp and woof of character development as the theme could be unfolded. He was a MAGICIAN of Belles Lettres. So subtle is the Magic that in much of the democratic Middle Class world, the magic is treated like circus magic, whereas it is in fact a tragedy rolled into comedy -- in order that, if found, it would not condemn the holders of the manuscript to automatic execution or what is another form of that: life without human expressive witness to the truth of one manʻs inhumanity to millions of his countrymen of the time.For that reason, I rate this book a SOLID FIVE STARS.
    • 5/5
      I'm sure I missed a fair amount of the historical, satirical references, but I thoroughly loved this book.
    • 5/5
      Yeat another Russian author from whom I just can't seem to read enough. Fantastic and filled with satire, sarcasm and symbolism. A beautiful telling of tough times under the Old Communist Guard.
    • 3/5
      DNF at page 110.This is well-done, but it's simply not my thing. It's clever, witty, and absurd. However, I simply couldn't care less what happens to any of the characters, and the humor simply isn't enough to keep me going.I received a complementary copy of this via a Goodreads Giveaway.
    • 5/5
      Terrifically translated and read! Thank toy for doing one of my favorite books justice.
    • 4/5
      It was a baffling book, with allusions and situations that often went over my head. Someday when I have some free time I'll have to read it again with a guide.
    • 4/5
      How to describe this weirdly fantastic novel other than to say it’s Russian? I have to admit to problems with all the long Russian names which make it tough following sometimes. Plus, there’s an undercurrent of bizarre events obviously referring to actual historical happenings. But nevertheless this book is amazing and well worth a read if for no other reason than to get a wonderful description of Satan – a very Russian Satan who throws a wrench into the day-to-day of Moscow. This is a great translation with notes (in the back) explaining some of the more obscure references.
    • 4/5
      Classic, Russian Literature, Magical Realism
    • 4/5
      This made me chuckle frequently. It's probably the most absurd book I've ever read. I mean the protagonist is Satan... that alone tells you a lot. I probably missed a lot of the political context, and I'm convinced the book will be even better once I get to re-read it.
    • 4/5
      A novel in which the Devil comes to Moscow to play mischief on literary types and is accompanied by a talking, boozy black cat? My first reaction was, Yes, please! I thought I'd absolutely love this one because it seems that it would be weird in all the right ways for me, but I'm sad that I didn't. Love it, I mean. Maybe because I'm not keen to understand the political protesty background? Maybe because Russian lit has never been my absolute favorite (although there are a couple that I did very much enjoy)? I feel I've failed some test somewhere with this one, but, well, *shrug*.
    • 1/5
      I don't do Russian funny! The book had a slapstick feel to it. I got half way through it and decided life too short to waste my time on this. I see the book is highly regarded but it wasn't for me.
    • 3/5
      Ugh. I’m so glad to be done with this. Maybe I just need to accept that Russian Literature is not for me. This book is bizarre. Chaos reigns when Satan comes to Moscow. I found the social commentary interesting, but I feel like I really missed the point of the Pontius Pilate chapters. There must have been something important there and I just didn’t get it. I struggled with the story early on, wondering what the point was of the tale, and was told by multiple people that things really pick up in Part II when we are introduced to Margarita. Sadly, the introduction of Margarita had the opposite effect for me. I did not like her character or her storyline. I much preferred the bizarre events of the first part of the novel. Overall, the writing was compelling. I am usually not afraid to bail on books, but this grabbed me and I NEEDED to finish. However, I did not enjoy it and I’m more relieved than anything else that it is finally over.
    • 5/5
      Freaking amazing! Don't give up on it. The ending wraps everything together. This book is like Alice In Wonderland set in Moscow, but without children.
    • 4/5
      A wide-ranging story of the Devil's appearance in Moscow.
    • 4/5
      Clever, surreal, and quietly hillarious. Loved it.