The Master and Margarita
by Edward Kemp · first published 2004
67% recommend24% neutral9% critical
Why HN recommends it
Imaginative, readable satire written in secret under Stalinist rule, blending the Faust legend with a retelling of Pontius Pilate. Suits readers who like political critique through humor, metaphor and magic.
Common criticism: Context and satire can be lost on readers without Soviet background or good footnotes
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
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…minimum, you will learn to hope which is a big takeaway from this novel. If you are on the fence reading this, just go for it. Other books which I find interesting - The Slight Edge - Sapiens - The Master and Margarita (apart from the fact it is a great novel, this is so wickedly funny )
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗My to-go favorite for relaxed summer evenings is "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov. It is a literature masterpiece that magically adjusts to my current inner state. It can be both easy reading when I'm tired and just want to unwind, and thought provoking when I'm ready…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗…of the Rings: The other bible. Not even the very wise can see all ends; be of good cheer. - A Wrinkle In Time: 9 year old me, there is such a thing as a tesseract, and there is also Mrs. Beast. - The Master and Margarita: apocalyptic reading from someone who knew, and a cat who always pays his way. - the Discworld series: Sir Terry knew our hearts better than most, and sin, young feller, is treatin’ people as things.…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗The Master and Margarita.
on “Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?” ↗"Orthodoxy" - GK Chesterton "The Abolition of Man" - CS Lewis "The Master and Margarita" - Mikhail Bulgakov "The Brothers Karamazov" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
on “Ask HN: What are the books that changed the perspective of your life?” ↗…Michael Jordan. It's about a guy trying to keep a business alive: almost from day one there no let-up, the company is continually under threat. Also the early employees are a really fun bunch. 4. "The Master and Margarita" (Mikhail Bulgakov) Fiction. It took me a while to warm up to this but I'm glad I stuck it out. I think the charm is in the language and the crazy mix of characters, the way religion is dealt with in…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Autobiography/Memoirs: Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard Feynman What Do You Care What Other People Think? - Richard Feynman Crime and Guilt: Stories - Ferdinand von Schirach Fiction: The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov Technical: Bulldog: A Compiler for VLIW Architectures - John Ellis
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗Things you can easily read on the beach: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (but read Kitchen Confidential first if you haven't already). Also recommend FiveBooks.com, which does interviews with various academics and "thinkers"…
on “Ask HN: Summer Reading Recommendations?” ↗I don't tend to read biz books, but recently I've read a ton of great Russian texts. The Master & Margarita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita Goethe's Faust & the story of Pontius Pilate retold in 1930s Russia. Really, I mean really damn good. Very readable. Books 1 & 2 of The Gulag Archipelago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulag_Archipelago…
on “Ask HN: Great book that you read recently?” ↗The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is possibly my favourite magical realism book. I found that some of David Mitchell's writing is similar to Murakami, specifically number9dream, Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas. Through…
on “The Desk of Haruki Murakami” ↗in no particular order: Lord of the Rings Cryptonomicon Anathem Moby Dick The Master and Margarita Walden Arabian Sands Gawain and the Green Knight Beowulf
on “Ask HN: What books have most influenced the way you see the world?” ↗…the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, "The House of the Dead" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, "Conversations with an Executioner" by Kazimierz Moczarski, "Diary 1954" by Leopold Tyrmand, "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, "A World Apart: A Memoir of the Gulag" by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński
on “Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?” ↗If you lack crimestop reflex for heresy and are interested in gospel reboots, I recommend the J'lem chapters of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita.
on “Tolstoy as philosopher” ↗Some of my favorite fiction books and short story collections in no particular order: 1) Collected Fictions by Borges 2) The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka 3) The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov 4) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison 5) 9 Stories by J.D. Salinger 6) 60 Stories by Donald Barthelme 7) 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 8) The Sound and the Fury…
on “Ask HN: What are some must read books?” ↗…16. The Garden of Forking Paths 17. Dhalgren 18. The Gods of Pegāna, basically all the fantasy work of Dunsany. 19. The Lathe of Heaven. Anything by LeGuin. 20. Their Eyes Were Watching God 21. The Master and Margarita 22. The Gulag Archipelago
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗