The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, is a classic of Russian literature written between 1928 and 1940.

A satire on the Soviet regime : o devil arrives in Moscow, invited by the intellectuals of the time.

That's right : o the book was written when Russia was already the USSR, during a period of censorship. Bulgakov was already a famous author whose works were banned by the regime.

The author wrote this book for more than 10 years and burned the pages. In 1960, his wife recovered part of the work.

In this book narrated in the 3rd person, the devil is invited by the intellectuals of the time (theater actors, writers who supported the regime) to go to Moscow.

1st criticism of the author that I noticed: "intellectuals" always think they know what's best for society.

In this book, the devil is a person, a magician known for performing black magic. He goes to Moscow with his gang - one of them, a black cat, an excellent character.

In one of his performances, the population goes to the theater to watch the magician (the devil!) with his gang.

In this presentation, the devil distributes money, shoes, clothes, etc. to the spectators. Luxury items that seemed to have some value at the time (spoiler: the next day, it was all a lie, everything fell apart! The money turned into insects, the shoes fell apart when you walked... Symbolic, right?)

All people who have contact with the devil and point out his evil deeds/attitudes are considered crazy and admitted to a mental hospital.

No one believes when someone points to the devil and says: "That's the devil, arrest him!"

And who is the master in question?

The master is an unsuccessful writer, who met his beloved (Margarida, who is married to another, very rich guy, but she is unhappy with him) and felt encouraged to try to publish his book.

Unsuccessful, he decides to check himself into a psychiatric clinic, far from his beloved.

Margarida, not knowing where her beloved is, meets the Devil, who every year throws a party and invites a woman named Margarida to be the hostess.

And our Margarida accepts the devil's invitation to host the party, with the hope that she will see her master, her love, again.

The devil invites several dead people to the party, people who REALLY existed, such as:

Monsieur Jacques (1395-1456), a French nobleman who worked for Charles II (the king at the time) and who poisoned the king's mistress.

Another interesting figure: Teofonia di Adamo, who lived in Italy around 1650 and was accused of poisoning more than 600 people.

Anyway, only good people, right? There are many more people at this party, it's one of the funniest chapters in the book.

The most GENIUS part of the book:

It tells two stories in parallel: the story of Pontius Pilate when he was governor of Judea and met Jesus Christ (year 33) and the story of the arrival of the devil in Moscow (the beginning of the Stalinist regime)

Do you understand the parallel yet?

I gave too many spoilers, but I devoured this book. I was euphoric. What a brilliant work! It is one of the most read books in Russia and it is really worth every page

Thank you to those who read this far 🫶❤️