Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

12 reviews

kmhst25's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

1.5

While the first sections are extremely promising, the book ultimately devolves into male fantasies and fever dreams. I don't know how anyone can take this novel seriously. For example:

• There is one main female character, and she is naked for more than half of all of her appearances.
• There is one secondary female character, and she is naked for all of her appearances. 
• In fact, most of the background women in the book are also naked. Female nudity is basically a theme. Theoretically, a lot of it can be explained by the association of witches with nudity, but there are so many non-witch naked women floating around that that explanation proves flimsy.
• The "Master" is a man who writes one novel that his (barely fleshed out) lover reveres so much that she only calls him Master from then on, and he adopts the name as his own. (He still calls her by her name though, and her defining characteristics are that she's beautiful and that she's devoted to him.) If anyone asks him who he is, he only says, "I'm the Master." The Master conveniently shares several traits and life experiences with the author of this book.
• Later in the novel, it becomes clear that some of the chapters that we have been reading are actually excerpts from the Master's brillaint masterpiece. So not only is he similar to the book's author, but the book's author decides that he is also qualified to write the Master's genius work.

Need I go on?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

syliu's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

I'll admit there's something darkly tantalising in The Master and Margrita's style, rhythm, and strange twists. Satan's banter with Behemoth is fun, and the subject matter is unique.

But Bulgakov is (to quote Théoden) a lesser son of greater sires. Nowhere does he delve into questions of morality and social responsibility with particularly startling depth, breadth or clarity. Instead there are far too many same-ish middle-aged male characters that muddle the narrative. And his treatment of women is extremely disappointing if not somewhat abhorrent. 

I can appreciate the book for what it is -- an intriguing and quaintly absurd time capsule from the Soviet Union. But my appreciation for it as a piece of literature does not stretch quite so far.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Gore, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder

tsunami935's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

5.0

Certified banger. Went so hard the Soviet Union censored it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

myaharris's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Gore

tamara_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Truly bizarre.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

sammelito's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

Crazy book with unclear plot. Would probably enjoy more if I had a better understanding of the historical context.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Murder

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

---

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

---

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

alexandra_skl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.25

While the allegory can sometimes be a bit confusing, the book still serves as a poignant critique of Soviet absurdism and nonsense

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

bluejayreads's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

Ever since I read Vita Nostra I’ve been chasing that high, looking for another book that’s a similar combination of incomprehensible and enthralling – or even a book that’s equally enthralling as that masterpiece. I picked up this book because I hoped that maybe another Russian novel about Satan’s hijinks in Moscow would be what I’ve been searching for. 

It really wasn’t. It was well-written, to be sure, and interesting enough to finish, but it didn’t hold a candle to Vita Nostra. I’m not entirely sure anything will. 

There isn’t a main cast in this story, unless you count Woland (the alias Satan took for his time in Moscow) and his entourage. The story follows many different characters showing all the different ways Woland and company mess with the people Moscow – usually by getting them arrested or sent to an insane asylum. It’s not entirely clear to me if Woland has a reason for being there or if he’s just there to cause chaos. I did enjoy his companions, especially the cat. They were all unique, well-drawn, and entertaining personalities. 

This book wasn’t published in the author’s lifetime because the censors didn’t like its portrayal of life under the Stalinist regime. I don’t know enough about Russia, Russian culture and attitudes, and what Russia was like under Stalin to pick up on any of that. In fact, I felt like I didn’t really pick up on anything this book was trying to say. It’s one of those where I wish I had an English teacher telling me what I’m supposed to be seeing, like those magic eye pictures where it’s easier to find the hidden image if someone tells me what I’m looking for. 

The plot itself is fairly comprehensible on a surface level. (The hardest part was keeping track of the names, because many of the characters had nicknames that did not at all relate to their names. There were several times where I was confused at the introduction of a new character only to realize later that I’d already met him under a different name.) I understood the what, but not the why. I can tell that there’s some other layer of meaning behind Woland tormenting Moscow, the story of the Master and his lover Margarita, and whatever Pontius Pilate had to do with anything, but I couldn’t figure out what. It was a good story, but I finished it feeling like I’d figured out what it was about but was completely missed what it means. 

I enjoyed the story for itself. Once I figured out that the guy the story started with was not the actual protagonist, it was a lot of fun. But I wish I had read this in an English class or with a friend who was really into Russian literature or something, because there’s a lot more underneath the surface here that I just can’t grasp. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, and Infidelity