Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

10 reviews

kmhst25's review against another edition

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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?
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lisztaffe's review against another edition

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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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mardy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cuntiest book ever
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clarathromycin's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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wishbea's review against another edition

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

4.5

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rachelfek's review against another edition

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dark slow-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

3.5

I really enjoyed this book, especially the first half. However, there were some racist and sexist comments made. I feel this was due to the book’s age, but it was still present. 
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pineconeprovolone's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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a_p_n's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

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autisticmisabel's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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liaandersson's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This book surprised me in the best of ways. although I hadn't read much about it beforehand, I presumed it would be a piece of dry Russian classical literature, and boy was I fucking wrong. This book was so goddamn funny, sarcastic, ironic, I don't even know, but it had me laughing more than I usually do when I read. Bulgakov was very clever in his way of changing the narrative, giving us the backstory from which we could see, but fellow characters could not. It felt like we always knew more than they did. The only one knowing more than us being Woland, he is almighty. I strongly recommend reading this book.
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