N&IBL Bookclub: Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

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N&IBL Bookclub: Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

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Created
02.06.2023

Author
Melpomene

Melpomene

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02.06.2023 16:13:30
Melpomene

This is a sub-thread of The New and Improved BL Bookclub, where we take on reading projects together and gather to discuss them together after some time. Specifically, this thread is meant for discussing Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Feel free to comment your thoughts on this specific book here (even if your reading this months in the future). For inquiries regarding the bookclub itself, please consult the main thread.

Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

"One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him. What ensues is a novel of inexhaustible energy, humor, and philosophical depth, a work whose nuances emerge for the first time in Diana Burgin's and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor's splendid English version."

Genre: Magical Realism, Fantasy, Classic, Historical

Length: Around 372 pages (140,350 words)

Reading schedule:

May 16th to June 2nd: Reading time for “Book One” (Chapters 1-18)

June 2nd to June 5th: Official discussion time for “Book One” (continues unofficially after that)

June 5th to June 23rd: Reading time for “Book Two” (Chapters 19-32)

June 23rd and onwards: Official Discussion time for “Book Two”

Note: The plan is subject to change based on the length and difficulty of the book chosen as well as the general reading progress of the majority

Online resources:

https://www.masterandmargarita.eu/estore/pdf/eben001_mastermargarita_glenny.pdf (full text pdf)

https://www.d-pdf.com/book/663/read (full text pdf, slightly better format, more difficult to navigate)

There’s also a good professional audiobook you can find on most audiobook services and beyond with fairly little effort.

NOTE: CURRENTLY DISCUSSING PART 1 (CHAPTER 1 TO 18) ONLY. Discussion on full book to start June 23rd.

Question to start off the discussion:

- Some sources describe Master and Margarita as a work of “magical realism”. Certainly, the novel is full of fantastical events and sleights of hand. Does this make the narration unreliable at parts? Do the characters react realistically to the magic they encounter?

- What kind of morals do you think are present in the novel? Is there any rhyme or reason to who is met with “bad luck” after coming in contact with Woland and his entourage?

- To what extent do individuals in the novel control their own fate? Is all predetermined? Does Woland read faiths or rewrite them?

- Although the point of view character switches around quite a bit, the narration certainly seems to have personality on top of that? How would you describe the tone of the novel?

- Why does Woland insist, against the beliefs of Berlioz and Ivan, that Jesus really existed?

02.06.2023 16:13:30

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StrangeKindOfWoman

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02.06.2023 17:43:06
StrangeKindOfWoman

I'm on chapter 16 but I will share some very unstructured thoughts I had so far:
The presence of the devil and especially the chapter about Pilatus made me think of The Rolling Stones song Sympathy for the devil. And I think I've read somewhere this book inspired them to write the song.

There are quite many characters and they are difficult to differentiate for me. The only thing that sets the characters apart from one another is their profession. I couldn't describe the personality of any of the characters. I wonder, if someone else feels like this or, if this could be a deliberate choice by the author.

Also, I don't really get what the book is actually about. It seems to me like a lot of teasing for what's about to come later.

That might've sounded more negative than I intented :D but I actually quite like the writing style

02.06.2023 17:43:06

I am always stressed out by not knowing how to act like a normal person

CinnamonSugar

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02.06.2023 20:45:38
CinnamonSugar

To be honest, I haven't gotten to chapter 18 either.

I'm glad someone else is having trouble understanding what the book is really about. I am having trouble "getting into" the book. I told my partner that I felt like it was jumping around a lot.

For example, I was initially confused by transition from chapter 1 with Berlioz & Homeless in the park to chapter 2 with Pontius Pilate. I was like, "Did we just go back in time? How did we go from 'modern' time, roughly 1960s Russia, to BC or early AD in Judea?"...Then, I thought the chapter was supposed to be written by Homeless. Then, chapter 3 switches back to the park & we find out that the third person had told the story of Pontius Pilate to Berlioz & Homeless.

Which brings me to another issue. I'm not sure that third person had a name. He's described as a foreigner, an interlocuter, a professor, and more. The writer describes people without necessarily using a name to identify the character. This can make it confusing to know who's talking or what's happening.

I am curious how others feel about this writing style.

02.06.2023 20:45:38

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StrangeKindOfWoman

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03.06.2023 19:15:22
StrangeKindOfWoman

For me it was the opposite. There are too many names and I can't tell them apart at all :D

Concerning the questions, I guess it could make the narration unreliable. That didn't really come to mind to me but it's quute interesting and I will focus mkre on this when I continue reading.
I think most people react realistically to the magic, but who can really tell as nobody in real life has ever witnessed actual magic, right? Right?

I don't believe the individuals in the novel have a chance to control their own fate once Woland steps into their lives. And I think that was probably the point Woland tries to make since the first chapter. Like in chapter 17, when people just start singing against their will.

03.06.2023 19:15:22

I am always stressed out by not knowing how to act like a normal person

「DECADANCE」- Counting Goats... if I can't be yours-

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07.06.2023 19:43:55
「DECADANCE」- Counting Goats... if I can't be yours-

I'm super behind I'm in the middle of chapter 9 right now but I just want to say it seems as though there's a connection between Woland and migraines which i thought was funny. Both Pontius Pilate and and Stepa Likhodeyev had headaches and Woland was supposed to be around both times haha I'm just going to say I get my migraines from the devil next time someone asks what causes them.

So far I don't find the narration particularly unreliable so much as a bit confusing with how it jumps around like Cinnamon and Strange both noticed. I've also noticed it is much clearer in the translation I have a physical copy of than in the pdf version i'm reading online at work

Part of me wonders if the jumping around from person to person is supposed to evoke the confusion and frustration with bureaucracy i've encountered while reading kafka (lol sorry please bear with me, kafka is the only other russian writer i've read so far) It almost seems like it's turning the trope of being thwarted by bureaucracy on its head by instead showing Woland and crew deftly getting everything they want and all the bureaucrats they would normally have to go through (manager of the theater, chairman of the tenants association, etc) are instead the ones baffled but also numbly accepting that if it's written on paper (contracts, letters, etc) it must be true. It's very interesting lol but it is definitely a difficult read.

Okay! Those are my thoughts so far! Time to try and reach chapter 18!

07.06.2023 19:43:55

*hands you a monster*

StrangeKindOfWoman

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07.06.2023 19:49:09
StrangeKindOfWoman

Love your observation about bureaucracy!

07.06.2023 19:49:09

I am always stressed out by not knowing how to act like a normal person

「DECADANCE」- Counting Goats... if I can't be yours-

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07.06.2023 20:19:43
「DECADANCE」- Counting Goats... if I can't be yours-

thanks! haha here's a quote from Koroviev (Woland's... coworker?? haha) from the version of chapter 9 I'm reading on the computer that matches the interesting bureaucracy themes "Who is official and who is unofficial these days? It all depends on your point of view. It's all so vague and changeable, Nikanor Ivanovich. Today I'm unofficial, tomorrow, hey presto! I'm official! Or maybe vice-versa-- who knows?"

it made me laugh, I don't think this line was translated like this in my hard copy book (I'll have to check the translator when i get home) but I really like this quote.

07.06.2023 20:19:43

*hands you a monster*

StrangeKindOfWoman

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23.06.2023 12:27:36
StrangeKindOfWoman

Ok, I really have to say I didn't enjoy reading this. I have a feeling this would be a great one to read at school and analyse to death. I thought it was very metaphorical which I apparently do not like. Most of the time I didn't know what the hell was going on.
Also, it probably would have helped to know what was living in 1930s Russia like.

23.06.2023 12:27:36

I am always stressed out by not knowing how to act like a normal person

Melpomene

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24.06.2023 16:02:23
Melpomene

(Sorry about missing the discussion start yesterday. I had completely forgotten it'd be midsummer's eve and ended up being too busy with the festivities to finish the last few chapters)

I felt largely similarly with you all, struggling to find clear meaning of cohesive structure in this novel. There were reoccuring characters, sure, but I can't tell if the book had any sort of statement of theme behind it. I suspect, that it maybe didn't, and the absurdity was perhaps the intended result. I'm not sure.It's possible my groggy brain just isn't working well enough to uneart what all this was supposed to mean. Regardless of the aimlesslness, however, I quite enjoyed reading this. I liked observing people coming in contact with absurdity and was just able to kind of accept anything that happened. Why was it that Margaritha was able to free Frieda with justing knowing she could? Who knows? Let's just go with it! I was just in on the ride, not trying to follow it too much, so I ended up kind of liking tone-wise

I think the name is a little misleading. It leads you to believe this is a story primarily about Master and Margarita, but while theirs was the only complete and long tale, I'm not sure that they as characters were much more important than others. This is more like a collection of the mayhem that ensued when the devil came to Moscow. Sure, there is most emphasis on this couple who get reunited and bound together but that is sort of like a byproduct of the story rather than the point of it. Make any sense?

Can anyone help me understand what the Pontius Pilate chapters added to the story? I can only speculate with this. I did sort of like historical angle and different perspective they added. It just seemed like it was mostly there to divide up the main timeline? Maybe you could argue that they were an explanation about guilt, consequencies, and self-imposed beliefs limiting people? There was some of that kind of phiolosophy elsewhere in the novel. Like with how that Berlioz, the guy who got run over by the tram, "departed into the void" and became nothing after death because that what he believed would happen.

That's it based on what you all made me think. Here are some more discussion questions based on the whole novel for you:

- Again, I was left wonder, does Woland identify victims at random? Is the rhyme and reason to who he hurts and who he doesn’t?

- Are parts of Master’s story supposed to be reflections on Bulgakov’s own experiences as a writer? What parts? How?

- The Master and Margarita are sent to spend eternity together “in peace”- but notably this is not considered a form “light” or salvation. Neither does it seem to be hell. What kind of implications does this kind of fate have about afterlife? Do you agree with their fate?

- What about the fate of any other character in the novel? Do you see much injustice with how people ended up in the end?

- What similarities does the book have with the story of Faust?

- What kind of theological themes/statements attracted your attention in reading Master and Margarita?

24.06.2023 16:02:23

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StrangeKindOfWoman

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26.06.2023 05:27:29
StrangeKindOfWoman

I found the title to be misleading aswell. I would have named it something like The devil went down to Moscow :D

One of the questions before was how the people react to the magic. And while most of them tried to rationalise what was happening by saying it was hypnosis for example, Margarita quickly accepts the magic of Woland. I thought that was interesting but I don't really know what makes her different from the rest in that regard.

I think Decadance was really on point with her comment about bureaucracy, that means that Woland doesn't identify victims at random. That's probably because there was a lot of hate for the bureaucrats in that era. From what I've read the people thought bureaucrats were responsible for all that was wrong in the country at that time.

Also, I don't know much about Faust but I think Mephistopheles calls himself Woland at one point, so there is a clear connection.

26.06.2023 05:27:29

I am always stressed out by not knowing how to act like a normal person

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