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Mikhail Bulgakov

VestnikRA

Member
Russian author. A brilliant writer and a mystic who lived in the first part of 20th century. He is one my favorite writers. I think The Master and Margarite is his best work.
 
I'd really like to read something by Mikhail Bulgakov. I have a copy of Master and Margarita that I've tried to get into several times and failed - not because it's not interesting, the language and descriptions are fantastic but possibly a little dense (maybe the translation I'm reading?). One day I'll manage it!

Any other works you'd recommend?
 
I read The Master and Margarita and I liked it . I'd like to read another book by Bulgakov. Does anyone recommend anything else?
 
I haven't found time to read it yet but i've often heard that people who loved The master and margarita (like myself) also liked Heart Of Dog from the same writer.
 
I'm actually reading The Master and Margarita right now. I'm only about a quarter of the way through, but I like it so far. It's definitely involved... there's a lot going on.
 
Found a double volume of To A Secret Friend and Notes On The Cuff, two fragments of short novels written by Bulgakov in the early 20s. Apparently, no complete versions survive; what we have is what's left after self- and Soviet censorship. Both centre around (the slightly fictionalised) Bulgakov's experiences as a young writer in the years during and immediately following the Civil War (in other words, when he was writing and trying to sell The White Guard). To A Secret Friend is probably the most interesting for Master And Margarita fans (which also makes it the most frustrating since large chunks of it are missing and it eventually stops mid-sentence); the story of a young writer who sells his soul to the devil (in the guise of a publisher) to get his novel published despite censorship and smart people taking advantage of the situation. While both works bring up some of the same ideas and attitudes about fiction under dictatorship as M&M, they're also a long way from it in the way their pathos is far more obvious; they lack the darkly humourous distance and grand vision of M&M, telling the story in first person from the frustrated writer's micro-perspective. Also, Bulgakov still wears his influences a little too much on his sleeve and namedrops Hamsun a little more than maybe he should have. Still, they're interesting, with flashes of what the next 20 years would bring, and I really need to pick up The White Guard at some point. :star3:
 
Yes, I agree that The Master and Margarite is intresting work, but I think it has a lot mystics
 
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