num_pages: 415
description: Mikhail Bulgakov's devastating satire of Soviet life was written during the darkest period of Stalin's regime. Combining two distinct yet interwoven parts—one set in ancient Jerusalem, one in contemporary Moscow—the novel veers from moods of wild theatricality with violent storms, vampire attacks, and a Satanic ball; to such somber scenes as the meeting of Pilate and Yeshua, and the murder of Judas in the moonlit garden of Gethsemane; to the substanceless, circus-like reality of Moscow. Its central characters, Woland (Satan) and his retinue—including the vodka-drinking black cat, Behemoth; the poet, Ivan Homeless; Pontius Pilate; and a writer known only as The Master, and his passionate companion, Margarita—exist in a world that blends fantasy and chilling realism, an artful collage of grotesqueries, dark comedy, and timeless ethical questions.Though completed in 1940, "The Master and Margarita" wasn't published in Moscow until 1966, when the first part appeared in the magazine "Moskva." It was an immediate and enduring success: audiences responded with great enthusiasm to its expression of artistic and spiritual freedom
language: English
title: The Master and Margarita
titlecomplete: The Master and Margarita
characters: Natasha (The Master and Margarita), Behemot, Lucifer, Stephan Bogdanovich Likhodeyev, Margarita Nicolaevna, Korovyev, Pontius Pilate, Azazello, Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov, Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, Master, Yeshua Ha-Nozri, Hella (The Master and Margarita)
genres: 20th Century, Literature, Classics, Novels, Russian Literature, Russia, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy
ratings_count: 333683
places: Russia, Moscow, Jerusalem
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Premi Crítica Serra d'Or de Teatre i arts escèniques, awardedAt: 1388563200000
name: Read Russia Prize
category: 20th-Century Russian Literature for Alexander Nitzberg
publisher: Fontana