A review by bokslukaren
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

challenging medium-paced

2.0

The writing stood out to me at once - both modern and classic. There were chapters where I was completely inside the book, and others where I was completely lost, and still others where I felt personally pointed out and wondered “is it talking to me?”. It's worth mentioning that I would've enjoyed the book more if it had embraced and developed the horror themes. Behemoth was my absolute favourite, so much that I'm naming my newly adopted cat after him. This was an entirely surrealistic experience which at times felt like an incomprehensible fever dream - I'm a firm believer that those who understand everything in this book are lying and that Bulgakow’s satire is really poking fun at the readers who are pretending to understand. I've got no experience whatsoever when it comes to Russian culture and Russian names, which made my head a complete mess while reading this. No, I did not know whom Bulgakow was referring to at any given time, but I should've taken some responsibility and written the names down at least. The only reason I didn't DNF was because I was hoping that I would understand when I finished it, but alas.
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