Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

28 reviews

jinglelocks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Violence

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?

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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

_quinnsreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, and Mental illness

meecespieces's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness and Violence

Minor: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

barefootsierra's review against another edition

Too ethereal 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Blood

elessahr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

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.

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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

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Alcohol

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