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Recent Discussions |
Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovDecember 2013Sarah Bartlett introduced a discussion on Master and Margarita replacing the December First Tuesday slot
Please take the time to refresh yourself with the novel or read for the first time in advance of the discussion, but at least read the couple of reviews below by way of wetting your appetite. From Sarah's review (link below), an interesting quote jumps out that's worth thinking about in terms of discussing things like the Arab Spring, and that is:
By embedding the realistic in the fantastical, Bulgakov succeeded in sneaking a powerful social satire past the regime, with what Malcolm V Jones calls ‘Aesopian techniques for fooling the authorities’, and created an exhilarating novel and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Especially in the chaotic middle section, as disorder spreads across Moscow, both language and incidents are lively and colourful, with comedic use of bathos to offset the unreal and unite it with the real. The Master and Margarita is a vivid and richly-pictorial novel; it lifts the reader high above Moscow in a fantastical tale which is both thoughtful and entertaining from start to finish.
Some background readingsThe Master and Margarita performed at Unity Theatre, reviewed by Georgina Kirk, Manchester Salon October 2013 The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, reviewed by Sarah Bartlett and Joanne Green Manchester Salon November/December 2013 |