This is one weird book. But I don’t mean that as a bad thing. It is pretty funny. Though I had a rough start with it (mainly because I had too many things to read for uni and could only read this in the subway-bus ride in the afternoon), when I finally could sit down and actually READ the book, I enjoyed it a lot. I wasn’t expecting that, so it was a nice surprise.

The plot of the novel is a little absurd. It happens in two different settings: 1930’s Soviet Russia and Jerusalem in the time of Jesus’ death. The second is more of an embedded story, but is really interesting. Anyway, I’ll focus on the main plot now. In the 1930’s, the Devil decides to go to Russia to mess with everyone’s heads. Which I believe to be a noble and funny goal, mind you. The first guys he meets are Berlioz, the big boss at the MASSOLIT (Moscow Association of Writers), and a young poet named Ivan, who signs his poems as “Homeless”. Berlioz is explaining that there was no historical figure that could be associated with Jesus, even if leaving aside him being a son of God. The Devil, who names himself Dr. Woland, tells him that it isn’t true and proceeds to tell the story of Jesus’ trial by Pilates, claiming he was there. He also predicts Berlioz’s death.

[*CRAZY FACT OF THE DAY: Apparently, there’s some theory that says that The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” was based on this novel.]

Afterwards, Berlioz dies (beheaded by a tram or something like that) and Homeless if left pretty shocked. So much that he ends up in a mental hospital, where he meets the Master, a mysterious man. He is writer, whose book about a historical Jesus (Yeshua) was censored and spurned by the MASSOLIT. That has left him emotionally destroyed and made him leave his devout lover, Margarita.

And then we get to Margarita. She appears in the second half of the book, and she’s one of the best heroines I’ve ever read. She was intelligent, compassionate and caring. She cared not only for the Master, but for others. When she is called by the Devil to be the hostess of his ball, she accepts the offer. For her services, she is granted a wish. She wishes that a woman who she met in the ball (who had killed her son and was constantly being reminded about it) is set free of her punishment. That was the point in which I liked her the most. She also wished to save the Master.

He can only be saved by dying, so after Margarita goes to look for him, Ivan is told that the man in the room next door died (there’s also a scene in which Margarita kisses him to make him feel better). As they aren’t too good to get to Heaven, but not as bad to get into Hell, they are left to roam the earth.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. I wish I had more context, because my knowledge of Soviet Russia is not very comprehensive. So, I’ll probably give it another read later. I’m sure it has a lot of things worth discussing and analyzing.