The Master and Margarita (Eye Classics) by Andrzej Klimowski, Danusia Schejbal, Mikhail Bulgakov Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Master and Margarita (Eye Classics)
Book Review: Astounding book, appalling translation
Summary: 1 Stars
Just because the story is fantastical there is no reason why it cannot be translated into proper English. Avoid this edition and go for the Michael Glenny translation instead.Book Review: Fantastic book, awful translation
Summary: 1 Stars
I first bought The Master and Margarita when I was 17 or 18, in the late 60s and it has remained my favourite book ever since. I am on my fifth or sixth copy having lent it out often to friends. Buying this version was a mistake on my part, and I have now bought another Michael Glenny translation - he can not only read Russian, but can write English. I cannot recommend too highly the Glenny translation, the book is funny, atmospheric and deeply moving. I still cry at the end, despite having read it dozens of times.Book Review: Would go for Rusian literature but this is great.
Summary: 5 Stars
What a fantasic imagination Mikhail Bulgakov has! For the more casual reader, this translation makes Bulgakovs vision accessible to all without loosing the feeling of its interwar Moscow setting. I would have thought Russian humour wouldn't be easy to grasp but the darkly comical nature of this novel is splendid (OK, the purists might argue that the translator has taken some liberties in making it accessible to a modern western audience). A gripping, insightful, touching, ludicrous story. I was sorry it had finished when I reached the last page.Book Review: Fabulous
Summary: 5 Stars
I just re-read this book on a trip to Moscow, and loved it even more. Having been there, it came totally to life. I went to Patriarch's Pond where is starts, and I could literally see the characters in my mind's eye. There's also a fantastic graffiti mural on a wall depicting the novel which made my day.This novel is fantastic. Subversie, unsettling but totally wonderful, with a real snigger factor every now and again.
Book Review: Trust Me ! The Translation to Own
Summary: 5 Stars
This novel belongs in its own category, for there has never been another like it. A really great novel is like a best friend. We love to see them praised and are hurt when they are attacked. I am elated to see that so many Amazon both here and in the US readers share my love for this great work (not to mention in Russia, where Bulgakov is now revered). I have been reticent to write a critique, as I really can't do it justice. Words are too meager a medium to convey my true response to this masterpiece. Suffice it to say that this has long been my first recommendation whenever anyone approached me about books I most enjoyed. Now with the appearance of Diana Burgin's and Katherine O'Connor's superb translation, I can recommend it even more unreservedly. I've read the Ginsburg and Glenny translations, as well, and have to agree with the other reviewers here who take exception to them.The most recent is the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, but while I admire their attempts to make the text more closely resemble the original Russian, something of the humor and drama is lost. I find this to be the case with their new translations of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as well. Another major hindrance is that they use patrynomics in the same manner the Russian texts have. This is commendable, and preferable for a first time reader. But for someone like me, who has grown up with other translations, it really is confusing.
I envy those who can read Bulgakov and other Russian masters in the original language, but I make do with finding the best translation I can and pay heed to what native speakers have to say about the various translations. I hadn't come across any negatives about Burgin's and O'Connor's efforts until I read a review here
. The volume also contains some useful annotations, particularly helpful if you are unfamiliar with the era and with the layout of Moscow. There are also some great Bulgakov sights on the net that have detailed maps of 30's-era Moscow, for those interested in getting a clearer mental picture of the sites Bulgakov describes (Patriarchs Pond, The Aryat, etc.).
As far as placing Bulgakov in the Pantheon of Russian novelists, this novel alone propels him to the front ranks. Some of his other works, most notably Heart of a Dog and White Guard have not been adequately translated yet, so it is difficult to assess them. If you are a Pasternak fan (which I am not) you will probably enjoy White Guard, however. It is not satire, though, which in my estimation is Bulgakov's strong suit. Nor is there much humor there (at which he also excels in M&M). In fact I would be hard-pressed to come up with any other work in any literature that is as scathingly humorous and dead-on-target satirical as M&M. Burgess and Vonnegut are rungs below Bulgakov in either category. Bulgakov skewers every Moscow bureaucrat and literary hack (unfortunately in the Stalinist era most of those who maintained positions of authority in literary circles were obsequious no-talents who mouthed party-line propaganda) that ever did him harm (and these were legion). Yet there is not an ounce of vitriol involved in the skewering, which is remarkable in itself. Bulgakov had to be one of the most good-natured people ever to pick up a pen. That is the overall impression one gleans from the accounts of his contemporaries and it is evident throughout this book. Yes, stupid people behave stupidly and predictably(Annushka is Annushka ! ) but in most cases the divine forces at work here let them off the hook.
If you haven't been convinced by all these testimonials to give this novel a try, I am probably wasting space here anyway. This novel is the reason I go on reading. I hope someday to come across another like it. There aren't enough stars in the Amazon galaxy to do it justice.