One of the most interesting things in the novel is the way the two parallel stories (one being the
Satan's visit to
Moscow and other the story of
Jesus and
Pontius Pilate) are told. The story of Jesus, which some people might consider a
fable and a product of
imagination (at least it's not
historical, but
religious in nature and there's a big difference) is told like the things really happened that way, with nothing
mystical and
extraordinary while the Satan's visit to Moscow (happening in the
atheist Soviet Union) is a product of imagination gone wild.
Anyhow, it's a fantastic book and one of my all-time favourites. I just love all those characters, the crazy cat Behemoth and the choir leader Korovjev (whose name translates to something like "Cowley" - other characters have funny names too if you understand Russian ) are my favourites. Too bad I can't read the original, reading English translation is not much better than the Finnish version (though I've read both anyhow). Interesting fact: the Finnish version has a curious title - it's not "Mestari ja Margarita" ("The Master and Margarita" in Finnish), instead the book is called "Saatana saapuu Moskovaan" ("Satan arrives in Moscow"). Strange, but maybe it sells better that way...