Favorite Book Fridays: The Master and Margarita
An image from a stage production of The Master and Margarita at the Theatre de la Complicite. Photo taken by Jane Pacheco Alvarez on May 17, 2015. CC 4.0
The Master and Margarita
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In our Favorite Book Fridays series, University of Chicago Library staff members share their favorite readings and the authors who inspire them.
About Megan Browndorf
Job title:
Slavic & East European Studies Librarian
Brief job description:
I help students, faculty, and other researchers navigate resources about and from Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. In addition, I buy materials and resources to help research in this area.
Years at the University of Chicago Library: 2 months!
About Megan's favorite books
What is your favorite book?
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
What makes it your favorite?
The Master and Margarita is whimsical and politically incisive with a glorious clarity of writing. It is absurd and realistic, hilarious and serious, deeply ironic and earnest all at the same time. It is a truly perfect book that I suggest to anyone who enjoys reading.
How did you find out about it?
I was assigned this in college.
What other books by that author do you like?
I would also recommend the beautifully absurd novel by Bulgakov called Heart of a Dog. While a good sense of Soviet history helps to understand this book, you can enjoy the ridiculousness and the satire without it. There is also a great film adaptation I highly suggest from 1988 by Vladimir Bortko (who also adapted The Master and Margarita for TV).
What books are on your nightstand?
I've been enjoying Marlon James's Black Leopard, Red Wolf. I also have a book called Lenin's Embalmers on my nightstand about the process of embalming Lenin's body.
What is your preferred format?
Agnostic
