He was very famous soviet author, and also

a doctor.

Actually that is why often in his books you

may meet medical topics.

He was born in Kyiv city in the family of Theological Seminary

Associate Professor Afanasiy Ivanovich Bulgakov, and his wife

teacher of women's gymnasium Varvara Mikhaylovna.

Mikhail Bulgakov got the profession of a doctor in Kyiv

university and later worked as a doctor in many

cities of Russian and Ukraine.

And also at the front and even the Red Cross.

And, of course, he is the author of many novels,

stories and plays.

Master and Margarita - this is one of the most famous

novels of Mikhail Bulgakov.

Work at it he started around the age of thirty

years old, and did not finish until his death.

That is, the novel was never finished by the writer.

All drafts were edited already by his widow

after the death of Mikhail Bulgakov.

And, of course, the novel was first time published

already after the author's death.

Total Mikhail Bulgakov created several versions of the

novel.

And the first of them was called "The hoof of engineer", then

"Black Magician" and some others.

However, this version author burned in 1930.

This is a very interesting fact, because in the novel

"Master and Margarita" Master - the protagonist of the novel - also

burns his novel.

That is, there is a clear parallel between the caracter

of the novel and Mikhail Bulgakov himself.

After that Mikhail Bulgakov added another line

to his novel, rewriting it from scratch.

There already appears a love story between a Master

and Margarita.

The final title of the novel was chosen only

in 1937, just three years before his death.

The novel "The Master and Margarita" in Russia and the CIS countries has

approximately the same reputation as the "Macbeth" in the UK.

This novel has always been surrounded by some secrets, mysticism,

disputes of critics.

Probably because in the novel takes part the Devil himself!

That is, the Devil is one of the main characters

of the novel.

In general, the novel contains 2 storylines.

The first deals with biblical subjects.

This is a story about the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate and Jeshua

Ganotsri, the prototype of which was the biblical story

about procurator of Judea, and Jesus Christ.

The second storyline takes place in the modern

for the writer times in Moscow.

Margarita is a woman, living in an unhappy marriage, who

continues to look for love.

And one day she meets on the street with the Master, and understand,

that he is "the one", the only one, her beloved person.

But the Master had got problems because of his novel,

and to save him, Margarita goes to a deal with the Devil

and becomes a witch.

You see, that the story is really very unusual and entangled

by bunch of mystical moments.

Therefore, the reading will be very exciting!

I am sure that this novel will be liked by fans of

mysticism, philosophy, as well as to all the romantic natures,

to incorrigible romantics.

In this novel, you will be able to see flights over Moscow on a broomstick,

speaking black cat,

"So what? It seems that I am asking in the Russian language: so what?"

You will be able to look inside to the arguing neighbors window,

you will see the demon Azazello that can walk

through the mirrors.

"-Azazello - I'm going!"

will visit the session of black magic in the Moscow theater "Var'yete".

and even at a ball at the Devil himself!

Many filmmakers believe that the novel "The Master and

Margarita" is cursed.

They tried to film it many times.

The first director, very known in the Soviet

Union received reject from the government, another director had

insufficient funding.

The third in a dream, as he said, saw the wife of

Mikhail Bulgakov, who said that the screening won't be done.

In '71 came the first film version of the novel.

In '89 came even four-part series.

Then in '94 it was filmed the 3rd version of the film,

however, it was released only in 2011 (can you

imagine it?), and all because of disagreements between the director and producer

of the movie.

The most famous and successful, in my opinion, and the opinion of

many critics, the film adaptation of the novel is a series

"Master and Margarita" 10 series, which was released in

2005 by director Vladimir Bortko.

However, even here was not without mystery, because

within 10 years after the filming, died

18 people who played in this series.

And the actors were of different ages, and the death of some

of them it was really sudden.

And iactually in the novel "The Master and Margarita" the Devil himself

says these words: "Yes, man is mortal.

But this would be not so bad.

The bad news is that he sometimes suddenly mortal.

That is the problem".

This novel combines many topics, such as

important social issues like that all the evil in the world

is done by the people themselves, and not, for example, by the Devil

or demons; philosophical issues such as "is there

a life after death?" or

question of faith in God; and religious issues, wherein

biblical themes (Bible stories) are shown

on the part of human feelings and human

behavior, so the pictures from the Bible as if anew

come to life "in the hands" of Bulgakov; of course there is very

strong love theme, it is the power of love of Master

and Margarita and what sacrifices they are ready to make for

each other.

I believe that this novel can be easily put on the one

shelf with such well-known works of the world

literature as "Hell" (Inferno) by Dante Alighieri, "Faust" by Johann

Wolfgang Goethe and "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare. Now

let's look at some famous quotes from this

novel.

I think that they will not leave you indifferent.

So, as you can see, the novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

is worthy of your attention. And

If this review called your interest, you can

read this book by yourself. If

you already have a good level of Russian language, you can

read the book in original. If

you are not completely confident in your abilities (reading in original), then look at

the link that I left below the video - there you will find

parallel translation of the novel. What

does it mean? In

one column there is the original text in Russian,

in the other one - literary translation into English.

So, when you have a problem with the translation, you

will be able todeal with the problem quickly, taking a look

to the English translation. This is

a very good variat of reading. If

you are a beginner, or do not want to read "The Master

and Margarita "in the original, but still interested

in this novel, of course, you can read it in translation.

I think that reading in translation - it is absolutely normal,

because, if I would not read the translations, I

would never have met wonderful books

from around the world: from Japan, from England, from France. Therefore

you absolutely easily can read the translation of the novel

to your langiage. And

of course, I can also recommend you to watch the TV series "The Master

and Margarita" from 2005 (link also can be found under this

video).

This will be a very good practice of listening.

Of course, do not expect a super cool special effects in this

series, because maybe it was not enough

of the budget or may be in 2005 there was no yet good enought

technology, but still the game of actors there

terrific, and the film adaptation is really worthy.

And that is all for today.

Write in the comments about your impressions of the novel, if

you've already read it, or if you just start to read it.

Because, really, the opinions about this book diverge,

and I am interested in YOUR opinion.

Also, please write in the comments whether you want to

hear other reviews about Russian literature.

I wish you good luck in learning the Russian language, reading

Russian literature, and hope to see you at our future

video lessons.

Good luck to everyone!

Bye-bye! :)