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GET THE PENGUIN EDITION INSTEAD. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS EDITION. IT IS POORLY EDITED AND FULL OF TYPOS AND ERRORS.
Still, a classic of dark fantasy literature and much more. The book is the same wonderful book that I knew, but the copyediting is not very professional which makes the translation seem awkward at places.
I highly recommend the Penguin edition The Master and Margarita (Penguin Classics) (Paperback). The publishing house is apparently just after a quick buck, abusing literature and readers in the pursuit of their goal. Never judge a book by its cover. The whole edition is very thoughtfully done, with helpful footnotes, enlightening the reader about the historical background, and an excellent translation. The pages are teeming with typos, and that, in the addition to the weird formatting, makes it torturous to read. The Master and MargaritaMikhail Bulgakov's novel is a masterpiece in every way.
I mainly bought it because I liked the evil looking black kitty on the cover. Do not buy this book, do not support this careless, corporate abuse. I truly love this book. You get the feeling that the people who published this book really hate Bulgakov and want to punish all of his readers. Do it for Bulgakov. That's why I cried when reading the CreateSpace edition.
The translation is horrendous and the editing done so carelessly that I wonder if anybody bothered to look it over before giving it into print at all.
'The Master and Margarita ' isn't a mess,but it just doesn't pack the punch its reputed to do. Yes, I got the idea abour cowardicw being terrors greatest ally and there's plenty of qoutable scenes, but you're often left wondering exactly is the point he is making.(The reading of the introduction and annotations are a must to keep the novel alive) The book was written, re written and revised many times between 1928 and 1940 and as a result it does seem over egged. I was put in mind of Bernard Malamud's story about Feidelman whom, on painting a masterpiece, thought he could make it better and kept altering it so that in the end his masterpiece became a mess. Satan and his cohorts come to Moscow and wreak havoc. Perhaps you would of have to have suffered the tediums and terrors-not to mention mind numbing 'proliterian literature' controled by the state-to get the full impact. Written during Stalins infamous show trials, Bulgakov's use of magic realism does invoke the climate of enforced thinking and terror,and in turn satarises the drabness and tedium of soviet life, but for me this book just doesn't shine. People disappear or need urgent psychiatric treatment and as a hostess for satans ball Woland chooses Margarita who willing accepts in order to free and be with the Master,an oppressed author of a novel about Pontius Pilate. Its no '1984' or 'Gullivers Travels' and neither does it give the joy of Garcia Marquez's use of the style.
i do think that this is the better one of translations. i bought this for my husband and i was really worried about the translation quality and whether or not there would be notes or i'd have to explain what was between the lines. but all my worries faded as i looked through the first couple pages.
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