It was a hot summer night in July 2003 and I was admiring the Eiffel Tower from the open window of a nice penthouse at the Avenue Émile Zola in Paris. I was talking to Tatiana Poppel, a Russian friend who lived there. We were discussing literature and I told her about my favourite novel, Cien años de soledad, written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And then it was her turn. She told me a strange, but funny story about the Devil visiting Moscow. I was listening and I was amused, but without really trying to remember the name of the novel nor its author. But the story never left me. It was saved in my brains forever.
One year later the images came back, and how! Another Russian friend of mine, Irina Ternovaya, advised me to read The Master and Margarita, written by Mikhail Bulgakov. And so I did. With quite some dramatic consequences. I lost my heart in Moscow, it will stay there forever and I started learning Russian because, one day, I want to be able to read it in the original language….
So I made the ‘Master and Margarita’ website, to explain more about Mikhail Bulgakov, the story and its themes, the political and social context, the characters and the locations, and discover how this novel inspired many others to create music, movie pictures or theatre plays. Have a regular look at the newspage too, because Bulgakov is still alive…
This blog is intended to support the website, and to publish up to date information on a broad range of activities related to the novel.
Welcome to the wonderful world of The Master and Margarita….
The Master and Margarita website in English
Le site-web du Maître et Marguerite en français
De meester en Margarita website in het Nederlands
Мастер и Маргарита веб-сайт на русском
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100 Years of Solitude and The Master and Margarita are two of my absolute favourite novels, but I’m probably not going to be learning Spanish or Russian anytime soon. I’m impressed by your dedication. 🙂
I learned both languages. 🙂 Thank you for your compliments, Jan!
By the way, Jan, do you know we share the same first name? There’s one difference, though: In Belgium it’s a guy’s name. 🙂
Ah, yes, we Jan’s can’t be defined by anything as ordinary as gender, n’est-ce pas? 😉
If this was Facebook, I would have clicked the ‘Like’ button. 🙂
How much time did it require you to publish “The Master and Margarita”?
It contains a lot of fine advice. Appreciate it -Cierra
Hello Cierra, I started it in november 2006. There are now some 4.000 pages and it is still growing by some 160 pages per year. 🙂 Thanks for the compliments!
A wonderful book – I look forward to spending more time here and on your site.