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Gran Leon Books - The Master and Margarita: A Graphic Novel (Eye Classics)
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List Price: $19.01
Our Price: $19.01
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 3 weeks
Manufacturer: Self Made Hero, a division of Metro Media Ltd
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780955816925
ISBN: 0955816920
Label: Self Made Hero, a division of Metro Media Ltd
Manufacturer: Self Made Hero, a division of Metro Media Ltd
Number Of Pages: 128
Publication Date: 2008-11-02
Publisher: Self Made Hero, a division of Metro Media Ltd
Studio: Self Made Hero, a division of Metro Media Ltd
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Editorial Reviews:
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This title is translated by Michael Glenny. The devil makes a personal appearance in Moscow accompanied by various demons, including a naked girl and a huge black cat. When he leaves, the asylums are full and the forces of law and order in disarray. Only the Master, a man devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman he loves, can resist the devil's onslaught.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: I stopped every ten minutes to exclaim, "Genius!"
Comment: Needless to say, those around me weren't too happy with me the day I read the oh-so-genius "The Master and Margarita". I'm trying to remember the last time a book influenced me this much and made me realize its genius halfway through and laugh hysterically throughout appreciatively. It was probably "Don Quixote", which we all know is a simply brilliant book. "The Master and Margarita" surpassed even that in terms of genius.
For instance, chapter 13: "Enter the Hero". 120 pages into the book, Bulgakov introduces readers to the central characters for whom the book is named. The important characters until then remain major, however it becomes clear that the story is not, in fact, about them at all. What other book can start with the whimsically titled "Never Talk to Strangers" chapter, go on to talk about devils, evil black cats with guns, witches, and dying in order to be happy? Never has a book about evil been quite as enjoyable.
"The Master and Margarita" is a perfect example of where the central characters you grow to love are remarkably evil, if amusing, awkward, and perfectly human (despite not being human by any means). One of my favorite moments is when one of the devil's lackeys complains about being forced to do a task he feels is better suited to another lackey. One can't help but love the panic and chaos left behind by the devil (though he is only officially declared to be the devil late in the book, it is clear throughout, not least by the revealing back of the book...).
The back of the book is strangely revealing (as are the reviews), but strangely, it's not the plot that drives the novel (though it certainly makes it more enjoyable). Clever writing, good storytelling, fabulous characters and characterization, and the most brilliant moments in literary history that I've encountered in my life, "The Master and Margarita" can be summed up in one simple word that I've definitely overused in this review: Genius.
This is an enjoyable, brilliant, well-written, genius (there it is again!) must-read. A 100% enthusiastic recommendation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: something for everyone...
Comment: Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita. ISIN-10:0141187792
Phantasmagorical - a hilarious and a ripping yarn.
A Soviet mockery, tripping through the darkside of life - exploring the influences of evil and good, malice, mischief aforethought.
All about hate and love, lies and truth, nihilism and anarchy - misplaced idealology.
Wonderfully wicked and demonic, a well organized but chaotic read.
Inspirational and inspiring in a boisterous romp.
It's just a lot of fun - never boring.
Burlesque - it's satire at it's best.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Delicious Satanic romp through Soviet Moscow
Comment: Gloriously fun and funny novel, a real treat and change-of-pace. During Stalin's Soviet Russia of the 1930s, the rational and scientific take absolute preference over the intuitive and metaphysical, vast mechanisms are in place to hush up anything extraordinary or inexplicable, and aberrant citizens disappear mysteriously on a daily basis. What better place for Satan and his ministers to wreak supernatural havoc?
The first half of the novel is dizzying and delirious, depicting the wickedly humorous exploits of the devil--in the guise of Woland, a black magician--and his unholy companions through the eyes of several average Russian characters. The second half zooms in on the title charcters, a sort of reversal of the Faust lovers, with young, beautiful Margarita seeking Satan's help to reunite her with her lover, a perscecuted novelist. Woven throughout the crazily uneven events of the main story are excerpts from the "Master's" novel manuscript, a demythologizing of the Pontius Pilate story.
A terrific, extremely readable Russian masterpiece. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: "a liberating, exuberant social and political satire (Moscow) combined with a profound moral and political allegory (Jerusalem);
Comment: a vindication and a celebration of the persecuted (metaphorically executed?) Russian intelligentsia clad in the revered garb of the Holy Fool; a hymn to the strength of the weak," writes Simon Franklin in the Michael Glenny translation Introduction. Hugh Aplin, in a newer translation, contends that, (p 433) "The novel demands several readings, such are the depths of interconnected details and implications." Following his advice, I've now read the book three times in as many months (Aplin's, then Glenny's, then Aplin's again). Each time I learned something new.
As the story begins, two men, Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, an editor, and Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyrev, a poet, are sitting on a bench in Moscow, discussing an anti-religious poem the latter wrote for the former, when, speak of the devil, he arrives, (p 6 HA) "A citizen almost seven feet tall, but narrow in the shoulders, unbelievably thin, and a physiognomy, I beg you to note, that was mocking." Intrigued by their contention that Jesus never existed, he places himself literally in the middle of the conversation, plunking himself down between the two and assuring them that the man did indeed exist. As the discussion and foreigner become increasingly animated, the Muscovites agitatedly realize that something is not right. He introduces himself as Woland, claims to be a "specialist in black magic," and correctly prophecies Berlioz' imminent and gruesome death. The poet, determined to track down the mysteriously murderous man, ends up in a sanatorium while Woland takes up residence in the deceased's flat. His new roommate is, conveniently, the manager of a local theater. When they first meet he learns (without prior knowledge or rememberance) that he has contracted with the devil to do a series of shows in the theater. The first performance, attended by over two thousand persons, is a hit. Meanwhile, in the sanatorium, Ivan meets The Master, so nicknamed by his lover Margarita, a woman who has left an idealic life and marriage as a result of her obsession with an article he's written about Jesus, to be, instead, with him. The two parties meet when the Devil's henchman, (p 90 HA) a "lanky man in broken glasses" solicits Margarita's services to hostess a wicked party. Lathered with a magical cream, she temporarily becomes a young witch, complete with a broomstick that allows her to fly (her maid Natasha does same and joins her). They, along with the Devil's henchcat ("black" and "large as a boar") terrorize the residents of Moscow for one horrible night while they entertain the spirits. Margarita chooses to be kind to a new acquaintance over asking for a reunion with her lover, but Woland ends up honoring both requests.
As far as the difference between the two translations, I liked them both but for different reasons. The Michael Glenny version did not have footnotes, which was less distracting. The Hugh Aplin translations gains (I'd think) the authentic feel of Russian words, but the reader has to flip back to the Notes to find out what they are. At first I thought it was pretty clever that Aplin translates (more than Glenny) talk by mortals related to the devil to some sort of phrase containing the word "devil," for example (from pages 10-81), "what the devil does he want?" "The devil, he heard it all..." "But then, the devil knows" "the devil knew who she was..." and "There was this devilish business..." But the second time through, it wasn't as appealing. I would recommend reading the Michael Glenny translation first, then the Hugh Aplin version (with its more specific details). The Master and Margarita, with it's outstandingly odd story and famous phrase "Manuscripts don't burn," is truly a masterpiece, but will probably be better appreciated by serious fans of Russian literature. Also good: Doctor Zhivago by Bernard Pasternak, The Fixer by Bernard Malamud, and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Customer Rating:
Summary: seductive masterpiece
Comment: The Master and Margarita is permeated with so many characteristics of greatness-depth, humor, irony, tragedy, mystery- that it is hard to adequately convey my respect and admiration for this novel. Basically it reworks the time-honored theme of the individual of artistic or intellectual temperament trying to discover and attain to the fullest the possibilities of his own particular consciousness. Almost always, it seems, whatever regime is ascendant in the world is dedicated to dragging that consciousness down to the level of the lowest common denominator where it can be understood and controlled by the ruling power. Thus, we see the Master incarcerated in an asylum; his "aberration" being the writing of a novel about Jesus and Pilate; a parallel drama which reinforces the idea of confrontation between the spirit and earthly authority. The story oscillates between Soviet Russia of the 1930's and the events of Jesus' crucifixion. These two worlds overlap in strange and intimate ways in the consciousness of the characters and both worlds exemplify this tension and opposition between the individual and the system of the world. In a Neo-Platonic way God is represented as being the First Cause who initiates, but then stands isolated from It's creation. Therefore, it is left to the Devil to take a hand in earthly affairs on the side of the individual. Some truly phantasmagorical supernatural episodes provide an exquisite setting for the metaphysical drama being played out. Inevitably, Bulgakov's tale invites comparison with Faust, who also accepted aid from the Devil in his quest for transcendence. This brings me to the only qualm I have about the book. I don't believe that Bulgakov was advocating Satanism in any form or fashion or I would not touch it under any circumstances. My view is that his use of the Devil as a character was a literary device to show that there are cosmic forces at work, that are neither good nor bad in an absolute sense, but are processes of becoming. At any rate, it appears that the book has acquired a cult-following that is focused on this one aspect of the story. This is regrettable, but there is always that danger with such a powerful and appealing work that it might resonate strongly with some readers, but be interpreted too narrowly. I would certainly not claim that my own interpretations are impeccable. There are many scholars who have devoted a great deal of effort into trying to unravel the levels of meaning contained therein. Though my understanding of it is, admittedly, likely very superficial, I feel confident in my belief that it is a modern masterpiece.
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