Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

29 reviews

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A spectacular addition to my "where'd the funny parts go?" heuristic in books chock-full of hilarity that become all the more poignant toward the end where the humor falls away and the true heart of the book comes forth. My Eastern European friends say it was never funny to begin with; the early Soviet happenings are simply too close to home.

I finished this half a year ago and am still thinking about it. This could be a 5-star book in time. Impossible not to recommend to anyone even remotely interested in fantasy/magical realism, religious fiction, and Russian/USSR fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Animal cruelty and Child death

ms_sarah621's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okay, I have been putting this one off for years because Russian classics intimidate me. But, I regret doing so! This was phenomenal. The story itself was wildly entertaining and had me just blowing through certain chapters. Then, when you take a moment to analyze the story and relate it to the point of history when it was being written, it just makes it so much better. It says so much about the secret police, dictatorship, and the ways we define good and evil. I am left with a lot to think about. Also, the way it’s written and the storytelling makes the book feel more accessible. Some fear the language and background knowledge used for classics, but I didn’t experience that with this book. Now, you’re wondering why I’m not giving this five stars since I seemed to have loved it. Well, this book has two parts, and part one is beautiful. *chefs kiss* However, part two was extremely fantastical and difficult to follow at times. The entertaining bits were stripped away, and it started to feel more and more incoherent. I was enjoying Woland going around Moscow driving everyone to madness and the secret police being at a loss of what to do. It was crazy to see how everyone was affected and their reactions. Then, in the second half, I believe it focused on good and evil much more. I lost the feeling that I had in part one. I feel that part two could have been cut down and integrated into the plot of part one more. I understand that part two is important and is the reason for the book title itself, but it just didn’t go well with me and was difficult to get through. This can just be a case of my reading preferences, but, overall, I really enjoyed this book. Would definitely recommend to classic lovers or someone interested in trying out some Russian literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

jaimemt_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This is a very unique book.  I recommend reading Gogol before attempting this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Religious bigotry

lisztaffe's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

rchatterjee188's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sas_lk's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

3.0

I honestly just did not care. At first it was fine, then i enjoyed it for like 2 chapters, and then I just wanted it to end. I was bored. I got so confused about which character was which, and did not bother trying to understand because I was bored. Just felt meh...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Mental illness

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Racial slurs

readingsponsoredbybts's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Slavery

maithaalfalasi's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, and Mental illness

coramorton02's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

lisa_m's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

3.5

I finally did it! I finished The Master and Magarita! And I don't know what to say.
I 100% understand why people love this book. It has just been extremely tedious to read and I had to motivate myself a lot to get through it all.

The first 200 pages are basically just world building/ giving the readers all the knowledge they need in order to understand and enjoy the second half. It got really boring for me to the point where I would literally fall asleep after reading 3 pages (multiple times!!). I did not enjoy the first half. There were some very funny bits but most of it was exhausting.

Minor spoilers ahead

When I got to the second half though my opinion changed completely. I still think it's funny that the main protagonist (after whom the book is named!) Only appear halfway into the book. But as soon as we got to meet Magarita I started liking the book. I really enjoyed her character and story. Also the whole Satans Ball was super fun. I also finally felt like I understood Woland and the others.

The whole becoming a witch thing was entertaining and I finally understood why you need the first half because I wouldn't have understood anything in the second part if I hadn't read the first part.

Still I think it's ridiculous that you need to get through 200 pages(!!) to get to the really good part.

I want to give this book 4 stars but I really can't so 3.5 will have to do.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Classism