B0nnie’s review of The Master and Margarita > Likes and Comments

I didn't know there was a movie too. Thanks for the tip.

It'a a 10 part TV series and just fantastic. Follows the book very closely and the actors are amazing. The whole thing is on youtube, but the quality of the video isn't great.

Wonderful review Bonnie! I'm so glad you liked it!

Yes, I like it! thanks. Have you watched that tv series?

Awesome pics Bonnie. Now I want to read the Zhelvakov's illustrated edition. This is a full service review. The only thing missing is where to download a Russian mistress. haha

Thanks Jeffrey. Didn't you get the ad there on the right - "meet REAL Russian women"??

Great review, Bonnie! And thanks for all the links - I'm curious to compare the original and translation side by side. Oh, and Daniel Radcliffe - that was awesome.

Beautiful review :)

This is amazing!

Mary, Nataliya - thanks! I suddenly like dear Daniel. The side by side translation is very interesting - if you use Chrome you can get a side by side machine to human comparison too.

Moira...! thank you!

The best thing about this book is its huge array of pretty covers.
I LOVE THE PRETTY COVERS!

(hate the book, though.)

Fabulous review, Bonnie! The pics and links are great too!

I agree with you - it is so much easier to see the depth of this book on second reading. I loved it the first time, but this reading was so much richer for me..

Jason wrote: "The best thing about this book is its huge array of pretty covers.
I LOVE THE PRETTY COVERS!

(hate the book, though.)"

I love the pretty covers too...my wall of fame...I have a room where I've tacked about a hundred albums to the wall. Didn't even take the records out.

Jim wrote: "Fabulous review, Bonnie! The pics and links are great too!

I agree with you - it is so much easier to see the depth of this book on second reading. I loved it the first time, but this reading was ..."

Jim, thanks. There's a lot going on - it's impossible to get it all the first time. I don't even want to think about the political allegory!

Kat wrote: "Love your multi-media review! And thanks for the links."

Thanks Kat. Enjoy!

"Both Christian and Atheist get to see what a dog and pony show their ideas can be." Now that sounds good to me! Published in English in 1967? I will be there soon!

Bonnie, I love both reading and looking at your reviews.

Judy wrote: ""Both Christian and Atheist get to see what a dog and pony show their ideas can be." Now that sounds good to me! Published in English in 1967? I will be there soon!"

Judy, it's crazy fun. And very moving. Hmm yet some people hate it! tsk.

Ian wrote: "Bonnie, I love both reading and looking at your reviews."

Thanks Ian - I should do all image reviews, lol.

Then I'd only enjoy looking at them.

Although I'm not a Bulgakov fan, I really enjoyed your review: and actually watched an hour of the episodes, thanks for the links. Overall really good, considering, although felt both Lavrov and Basilashvili were miscast as Pilate and Woland. Margarita was just a I imagined her. Satan's Grand Ball very pictareque if a bit vampiric. The links were great, thanks

The music from the miniseries is pretty cool.

Fabulous review! Thanks for all the images and links. I'm enjoying the YouTube film clips. The bilingual version of the book is a great find.

Great review. I am reading this within a few weeks for our book club. Pictures are wonderful, but isn't there supposed to be some naked lady? Where is she? She was half the reason I signed up to read this book?

Knig-o-lass wrote: "Although I'm not a Bulgakov fan, I really enjoyed your review: and actually watched an hour of the episodes, thanks for the links. Overall really good, considering, although felt both Lavrov and Ba..."

Knig, perhaps Pilate should not have been so old... but I loved how Kirill Lavrov handled the part. His voice, the way he could convey emotion with just his eyes - truly an amazing actor. He died 2 years after this series was made. *Sad now*. I thought Basilashvili was very good, although he is also too old. Margarita looked the part for sure. It's worthwhile to watch the entire series.

Jason wrote: "The music from the miniseries is pretty cool."

Yes I liked the music very much...it is evocative and matches the mood so well!

Seth wrote: "Fabulous review! Thanks for all the images and links. I'm enjoying the YouTube film clips. The bilingual version of the book is a great find."

Thanks Seth. The bilingual version is indeed a great find. Now if only some ambitious person would add a couple more translations to that table...

B0nnie wrote: "Knig-o-lass wrote: "Although I'm not a Bulgakov fan, I really enjoyed your review: and actually watched an hour of the episodes, thanks for the links. Overall really good, considering, although fel..."

Basilashvili is definitely much too old to play Woland - but his performance won me over in the next 10 minutes, and the shots of his face during the scenes at the Variety theatre were just great.

Kirill Lavrov made Pilate appear much more frail than what I ever imagined him to be, but again, his acting just grew on me until I could not imagine anyone else playing that part.

Steve wrote: "Great review. I am reading this within a few weeks for our book club. Pictures are wonderful, but isn't there supposed to be some naked lady? Where is she? She was half the reason I signed up to re..."

Steve,there's a lot of naked ladies in the picture Satan's Grand Ball. Behind Behemoth is the naked Margarita. And remember...



Your book club seems to be in on the M&M zeitgeist that's going around lately.

Nataliya wrote: "B0nnie wrote: "Knig-o-lass wrote: "Although I'm not a Bulgakov fan, I really enjoyed your review: and actually watched an hour of the episodes, thanks for the links. Overall really good, considerin..."

Yes, I grew very fond of these guys. Funny, because they represented the dark side. And Basilashvili had that walking stick with the poodle head!

I have this show playing in the background as I'm reading "The Casual Vacancy". I forgot how much I love Woland's introduction of the first Pilate's scene - Basilashvili is scarily good.

Nataliya wrote: "I have this show playing in the background as I'm reading "The Casual Vacancy". I forgot how much I love Woland's introduction of the first Pilate's scene - Basilashvili is scarily good."

Nataliya you multi-tasker! so that is your secret! And you're posting comments...and you're on an exercise bike...and writing the review for "The Casual Vacancy" (hurry up please) and listening to music...

Was Pontius a Scot?

Pete wrote: "Was Pontius a Scot?"

Pete, we won't know for sure until Michael Moore and Alex Jones sound off about it, and even then there's a chance of misinformation...! But for what it's worth I'll quote this article:

"The legend that Pontius Pilate was born in Scotland has been exposed as an "elaborate joke" concocted by an aristocrat and his high-society friends, writes Mark Macaskill.

Research by Neil Hooper, a Scottish historian, shows that the first mention of the Roman governor's supposed link with the village of Fortingall in Perthshire was in the late 19th century, around the time that Sir Donald Currie, a shipping magnate, bought the Glenlyon estate in 1885.

Hooper believes the former MP for Perthshire and patron to writers such as Rudyard Kipling and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, invented the story as a prank with the help of his literary friends.

According to legend, Pilate was born beneath the branches of the Fortingall yew. Some claim he was the illegitimate son of a Roman legionnaire and a Celtic chieftain's daughter.

According to Hooper, the earliest reference to Pilate's Scottish roots was an article in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1899, which claimed his father was sent to Scotland as an ambassador. A few years later, Currie wrote to The Times, suggesting a stone on his estate inscribed with the initials "PP" was further evidence of a connection.

"Sir Donald was a patron of writers such as Tennyson and Kipling and it is strange how many supposedly ancient local traditions can be traced back only to his time," said Hooper. [The Sunday Times, Jan 03, 2010, p4, 1p]"

Great review Bonnie. Have never read the book, but enjoyed the review.

Interesting story, Bonnie. I was unfamiliar with that hoax.

There's also an older legend that the man who cut off the head of John the Baptist was Irish and that unhappy events like Viking invasions and the Conquest were punishments for that. The story seems to be connected to millenarianism in Ireland.

Brian wrote: "Great review Bonnie. Have never read the book, but enjoyed the review."

Thanks Brian - I think you'd really appreciate the Pontius Pilate and Yeshua episodes.

Miriam wrote: "Interesting story, Bonnie. I was unfamiliar with that hoax.

There's also an older legend that the man who cut off the head of John the Baptist was Irish and that unhappy events like Viking invasio..."

Miriam, I first saw it referenced on Wikipedia. It's an interesting story how these things get started. Once it's in the air though, there forever lingers a doubt whether it is false or not. Ah, the poor Irish. Getting the blame for something that wasn't their fault. Even if it were true.

What a great review!

Thanks Carol!

This is a great review, thank You.

Wow, you really have a talent of writing reviews and advertising books, a very bright, detailed and elaborate telling!

Never would have thought about comparing it to The Idiot, but I agree!

"A wild circus with Woland as ringmaster". Perfect descriptor, Bonnie!