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The Devil has come to town.

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But don’t worry – all he wants to do [br]is stage a magic show.

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This absurd premise forms the central plot[br]of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece,

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The Master and Margarita.

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Written in Moscow during the 1930s,

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this surreal blend of political satire, [br]historical fiction, and occult mysticism

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has earned a legacy as one of the 20th [br]century’s greatest novels–

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and one of its strangest.

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The story begins when a meeting between[br]two members of Moscow’s literary elite

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is interrupted by a strange gentleman [br]named Woland,

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who presents himself as a foreign scholar

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invited to give a presentation [br]on black magic.

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As the stranger engages the two companions[br]in a philosophical debate

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and makes ominous predictions [br]about their fates,

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the reader is suddenly transported [br]to first-century Jerusalem.

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There a tormented Pontius Pilate

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reluctantly sentences Jesus of [br]Nazareth to death.

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With the narrative shifting between [br]the two settings,

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Woland and his entourage– Azazello, [br]Koroviev, Hella,

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and a giant cat named Behemoth–

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are seen to have uncanny magical powers,

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which they use to stage their performance

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while leaving a trail of havoc [br]and confusion in their wake.

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Much of the novel’s dark humor comes [br]not only from this demonic mischief,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but also the backdrop [br]against which it occurs.

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Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same [br]setting where it was written–

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the USSR at the height of the [br]Stalinist period.

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There, artists and authors worked [br]under strict censorship,

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subject to imprisonment, exile, [br]or execution

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if they were seen as undermining [br]state ideology.

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Even when approved, their work–

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along with housing, travel, [br]and everything else–

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was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy.

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In the novel, Woland manipulates this [br]system along with the fabric of reality,

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to hilarious results.

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As heads are separated from bodies [br]and money rains from the sky,

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the citizens of Moscow react with [br]petty-self interest,

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illustrating how Soviet society bred greed[br]and cynicism despite its ideals.

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And the matter-of-fact narration [br]deliberately blends

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the strangeness of the supernatural [br]events

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with the everyday absurdity [br]of Soviet life.

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So how did Bulgakov manage to publish [br]such a subversive novel

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under an oppressive regime?

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Well… he didn’t.

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He worked on The Master and Margarita [br]for over ten years.

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But while Stalin’s personal favor

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
may have kept Bulgakov safe [br]from severe persecution,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
many of his plays and writings [br]were kept from production,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
leaving him safe but effectively silenced.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Upon the author’s death in 1940,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the manuscript remained unpublished.

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A censored version was eventually [br]printed in the 1960s,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
while copies of the unabridged manuscript [br]continued to circulate

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
among underground literary circles.

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The full text was only published in 1973,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
over 30 years after its completion.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship [br]and artistic frustration

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
lend an autobiographical air to the [br]second part of the novel,

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when we are finally introduced [br]to its namesake.

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‘The Master’ is a nameless author who’s [br]worked for years on a novel

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but burned the manuscript [br]after it was rejected by publishers–

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just as Bulgakov had done [br]with his own work.

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Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s [br]mistress Margarita.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned [br]dream bears a strange connection

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to the diabolical company’s escapades–

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and carries the story to [br]its surreal climax.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Despite its dark humor and [br]complex structure,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The Master and Margarita is, at its heart,[br]a meditation on art, love, and redemption

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that never loses itself in cynicism.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And the book’s long overdue publication [br]and survival against the odds

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is a testament to what Woland tells the [br]Master: “Manuscripts don’t burn.”

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Bulgakov’s masterful Russian prose [br]is often considered inimitable,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
though many have tried.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Of the several English versions available,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Pevear and Volokhonsky’s is often cited [br]as the most complete and accurate;

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on the other hand, some consider Burgin [br]and O’Connor’s earlier translation

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
more successful at capturing the author’s [br]style and humor.