Here is a copy of the Amazon review that I posted for this book (mainly added here to remind me to point the person who recommended the book to me to the review).
***
I had The Master and Margarita recommended as a literary classic and great. Unfortunately, I have been unmoved by it.
I have the Glenny translation suggested as superior by many of my fellow Amazon reviewers. I shudder to think what I would have made of the alternatives. While of course the English is well formed, I found the styles to be inconsistent and irritating. Unfortunately, I am unable to comment on the accuracy of the translation.
The bulk of the book was a confused mess. The vast majority of the characters were dragged out of nowhere for no particular reason and with no seeming point. Almost all of them were shallow and vapid. Yet this doesn't seem to be a constant fault of the author. He made one or two people come alive with the tiniest amount of effort. Some characters could be explicably empty, but some really missed a real existence to attach them to the reader.
This left the book hanging on to the story to redeem itself to me. Which is a shame as although there are some events that happen one after the other, there isn't much of a point to them. There is nothing more than a series of ideas strung out after each other with little connection or intent. Some individual scenes are magnificent in their potential, but wasted in this setting.
The political satire is well formed, and for me drags the book to two stars rather than one.
I can only assume that I have totally missed the point and that when I come to read The Master And Margarita again in twenty years time I shall go 'oh, so that is what he was trying to say'. For now, I shall stick to Pasternak and Dostoevsky for my Russian literature; they may be much harder work but at least there is reward for the effort.
20 February 2007
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4 comments:
A fine critique but sadly I cannot of course agree with you. I applaud however your interest in Russian authors. I posses a library full of them and often re-read them again and again. Perhaps as you say you will return to this classic in the future and gain something more from it. Try Lermontov - "A Hero of Our Time", a most enjoyable read.
Your uncle.
I have a copy on the way (http://www.greenmetropolis.com) and it shall be added to my ever growing list of books that I may manage to read one day before I keel over.
Quack! Amazing what, or rather who, you can find on the internet these days! Long time no chat. How you doing fella?
You still playing LSN?
GC
Hello GC, how are you?
I am fine, still subbed to LSN but haven't played a game for six months or so. I have been stupid enough to become addicted to World of Warcraft instead.
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