Final Blog-Book Review

You probably didn't read it in high school, but that doesn't stop it from being a classic. The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, is probably one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century, so they say. (You know, whoever they are). The novel comes from Russia, and the history behind this book is much longer and more eventful than I have the time to write about in this blog, but I promise it's interesting.

The plot is crazy, it's a whirlwind experience, and it's all over the place. The set-up is basically like this. Two intelligent men are having an intelligent decision about how God doesn't exist when, all of a sudden, a mysterious stranger arrives. Soon enough the characters remain unaware, but the reader has caught to the fact that this man is the devil walking around in Moscow, Russia. 

What is he doing here?

The devil affirms the existence of Jesus, but denounces the accuracy of the Bible. He predicts the (almost immediate) death of one of the men that he is talking to, and finally he proceeds to introduce the true character of Pontius Pilate- a major theme throughout the story. 

So that's just the beginning. After that it gets really crazy (don't let me spoil it for you but the devil throws a grand ball on earth). 

In my opinion, this novel does in fact deserve all of the attention that it gets as one if the greatest novels of the 20th century. It is written amazingly well, and it asks philosophical questions that really do speak for our generation. It blurs the line between reality and the fantastic, or at least seriously demands the reader to question it. 

The reader is never given any illusion that they will be able to understand completely the nature what is "truth" and what is "real". However the importance of philosophy, literature, and the pursuit of knowledge are encouraged through the themes in this book.  In fact, at one point in the novel, the devil saves a book that one of the characters, Master, had attempted to destroy. "Manuscripts don't burn" the devil tells him, as if that is an explanation. 

This novel is more than an adventure or religious (of some sort) piece. It achieves without effort a spot among the literary classics. It's themes run deep, and its encouragement of the pursuit of truth, regardless of how in vain that attempt may be, speaks for our generations desire for and struggle with the pursuit of religion and knowledge.