Late, as usual...

[Ashley]

I'm still gathering my thoughts about this one; I feel like I need to know much more about Russia in the 1920s and 30s to fully appreciate it, particularly the humor. Mostly I found it sad, but complicated and very compelling. Does anyone else have any other thoughts so far?

[Andrew]

Sorry I've taken so long to respond. I have no good excuses so I'll blame the squirrels. I really liked this (again). My edition had footnotes, which were by turns irritatingly unnecessary and wonderfully illuminating, but I think there's no getting around the fact that I didn't get quite a few of the jokes and references. I did like the characters (Behemoth and the pirate maitre d' - I forget his name - in particular) and the liveliness of it all, and I loved the bits about Pilate and Ha-Nozri. I did find it a little sad too.
I've read a handful of books set in the Stalinist era but written more recently, which tend to dwell more on the terror and the horrific details. I was struck by the subtlety of the allusions to disappearances and the secret police - I found it made them all the more sad, although I suppose the original audience wouldn't have needed the issue explained in great depth to understand what was being referred to. Still, in some ways it is more affecting when the atmosphere of the time is not sensationalised.

[Ashley]

Bloody squirrels :) I liked the cat, and the chapter where all the ladies at the theatre changed their clothes for pretty new things and then were caught out half-naked on their way home. I'm still working out the rest of it in my head. The mini-series The Young Doctor's Notebook is airing over here, which does rather help with understanding the humour (bleak and dark, but there nonetheless)--have you seen it?

[Andrew]

Aye, they're a pain. I've been trying to trap them for about a fortnight without success. Of course they've turned up when there's food everywhere, so they're not interested in what I'm putting out in suspicious looking cages.
I haven't seen it, though I've wanted to read what it's based on for a while. I will have to see if it's airing over here. Hasn't it got Daniel Radcliffe in?
I've also read The White Guard, which was not (quite) as colourful, still with a lot of the humour, painfully sad in places. I think it's largely based on Bulgakov's own experiences around the time of the Russian revolution.

[Ashley]

Yes, Daniel Radcliffe plays the younger version of the doctor. He's quite good, no reminders of Harry Potter at all, and he and John Hamm as young and old versions of the doctor work better than I'd expected when I first heard about the show.

[Andrew]

It's been on one of the Sky channels here but I've missed it, might see if I can get it on DVD. Turns out they've also been showing a Russian TV series of The Master and Margarita but I've missed that too...

[Ashley]

If it's Russian, I doubt I'll see it over here. I think Borgen is the only foreign-language television program I've ever seen on a channel other than the Spanish-language stations--the Asian channels cost extra, and I don't think there are any European channels. Maybe they'll have it on YouTube.

[Andrew]

Does that mean you've missed out on The Killing?

[Ashley]

We have an American remake, excellent in its own right, but I have been in search of the original Forbrydelsen with English subtitles for the last three years. The only place I've seen it available is Amazon.co.uk (I may end up getting it, as the powers that be seem unwilling to rectify this lack); ordering from the American site is ridiculously expensive. I've looked on YouTube but not yet found a version with subtitles I can follow. It's pants, because Danish television is excellent. We get a couple more things via Netflix and Hulu, but the pickings are slim.

[Andrew]

We've got the first series on DVD, you're quite welcome to borrow it next time you're passing...