The novel by Mikhail Alexandrovich Bulgakov (1891 - 1940) The Master and Margarita was first published a quarter of a century after the author's death, in 1966. The work almost instantly gained immense popularity - a little later it was called the “Bible of the Sixties”. The schoolgirls read the love story of the Master and Margarita. People with a philosophical mindset followed the discussions between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. Fans of entertaining literature laughed at the unlucky Muscovites, spoiled by the housing issue, whom Woland and his retinue repeatedly put in the stupidest position.
The Master and Margarita is a timeless book, although literary scholars have tied the action to 1929. Just as Moscow scenes can be moved half a century back or forward with only minor changes, so the discussions between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua could have taken place half a millennium earlier or later. That is why the novel is close to people of almost all ages and social statuses.
Bulgakov suffered through his novel. He worked on it for more than 10 years, and did not manage to finish the plot after finishing the text. This had to be done by his wife Elena Sergeevna, who was more fortunate than her husband - she lived to see the publication of The Master and Margarita. E. Bulgakova fulfilled her promise to her husband and published a novel. But the psychological burden was too heavy even for such a persistent woman - less than 3 years after the first edition of the novel, Elena Sergeevna, who served as the prototype for Margarita, died of a heart attack.
1. Although the work on the novel began in 1928 or 1929, for the first time Mikhail Bulgakov read “The Master and Margarita” to his friends in the version that is closest to those published on April 27, May 2 and 14, 1939. 10 people were present: the writer's wife Elena and her son Yevgeny, the head of the literary section of the Moscow Art Theater Pavel Markov and his employee Vitaly Vilenkin, artist Peter Williams with his wife, Olga Bokshanskaya (sister of Elena Bulgakova) and her husband, actor Yevgeny Kaluzhsky, as well as playwright Alexey Faiko and his wife. It is characteristic that in their memories only the reading of the final part, which took place in mid-May, remained. The audience unanimously said that it is impossible not to count on the publication of the novel - it is dangerous even to simply submit it to censorship. However, the well-known critic and publisher N. Angarsky spoke about the same in 1938, having heard only three chapters of the future work.
2. The writer Dmitry Bykov noticed that Moscow in 1938-1939 became the scene of three outstanding literary works at once. Moreover, in all three books, Moscow is not just a static landscape against which the action unfolds. The city practically becomes an additional character in the book. And in all three works, representatives of otherworldly forces arrive in the capital of the Soviet Union. This is Woland in The Master and Margarita. Mikhail Bulgakov, the genie Hasan Abdurakhman ibn-Khatab in the tale of Lazar Lagin “The Old Man Hottabych”, and the angel Dymkov from the monumental work of Leonid Leonov “The Pyramid”. All three visitors achieved good success in the show business of that time: Woland performed solo, Hottabych and Dymkov worked in the circus. It is symbolic that both the devil and the angel left Moscow, but the genie has taken root in the Soviet capital.
3. Literary critics count up to eight different editions of The Master and Margarita. They changed the name, the names of the characters, parts of the plot, the time of the action and even the style of the narration - in the first edition it is conducted in the first person. Work on the eighth edition continued almost until the writer's death in 1940 - Mikhail Bulgakov made the last edits on February 13. There are also three editions of the finished novel. They are distinguished by the names of the women compilers: “Edited by E. Bulgakova”, “Edited by Lydia Yanovskaya”, “Edited by Anna Sahakyants”. The editorial board of the writer's wife will be able to isolate separately only those who have paper editions of the 1960s in their hands; it is very difficult to find them on the Internet. Yes, and the text of the journal publication is incomplete - Elena Sergeevna admitted that during the discussion in the editorial office of “Moscow” she agreed to any corrections, if only the novel went to print. Anna Sahakyants, who was preparing the first complete edition of the novel in 1973, repeatedly said that Elena Sergeevna made many of her edits to the text, which the editors had to clean up (E. Bulgakova died in 1970). And the editorial staff of Sahakyants herself and Lydia Yanovskaya can be distinguished by the very first phrase of the novel. Sahakyants got “two citizens” at Patriarch's Ponds, and Yanovskaya got “two citizens”.
4. The novel “The Master and Margarita” was first published in two issues of the literary magazine “Moscow”, and these issues were not consecutive. The first part was published in No. 11 for 1966, and the second - in No. 1 for 1967. The gap was explained simply - literary magazines in the USSR were distributed by subscription, and it was issued in December. The first part of "The Master and Margarita", published in November with the announcement of the second part in January, was a great ad that attracted thousands of new subscribers. The author's version of the novel in the magazine has undergone serious editing - about 12% of the text has been reduced. Woland's monologue about Muscovites (“the housing issue spoiled them ...”), Natasha's admiration for his mistress and all the “nudity” from the description of Woland's ball were removed. In 1967, the novel was published in full twice: in Estonian in the Eesti Raamat publishing house and in Russian in Paris in YMKA-Press.
5. The title "The Master and Margarita" first appeared only shortly before the completion of work on the novel, in October 1937. It was not just the selection of a beautiful name, such a change meant a rethinking of the very concept of the work. According to the previous titles - "Engineer's Hoof", "Black Magician", "Black Theologian", "Satan", "Great Magician", "Horseshoe of a Foreigner" - it is clear that the novel was supposed to be a story about Woland's adventures in Moscow. However, in the course of his work, M. Bulgakov changed the semantic perspective and brought to the fore the works of the Master and his beloved.
6. Back in the early 1970s, a rumor that was stupid in nature appeared, which, however, continues to live today. According to this fable, Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, after listening to The Master and Margarita, promised Bulgakov to publish the novel if he removed the “ancient” chapters, leaving only the Moscow adventures. The authors (or authors) of the hearing were absolutely inadequate in their assessment of the weight of the authors of “12 chairs” and “Golden Calf” in the literary world. Ilf and Petrov worked on a permanent basis as mere feuilletonists of Pravda, and for their satire they often received cuffs rather than gingerbread. Sometimes they even failed to publish their feuilleton without cuts and smoothing.
7.On April 24, 1935, a reception was held at the American Embassy in Moscow, which had no equal in the history of American diplomacy in Russia and the Soviet Union. The new US ambassador, William Bullitt, managed to impress Moscow. The halls of the embassy were decorated with living trees, flowers and animals. The cuisine and music were beyond praise. The reception was attended by the entire Soviet elite, except for I. Stalin. With the light hand of E. Bulgakova, who described the technique in detail, it is considered almost a key event in the history of The Master and Margarita. The Bulgakovs were invited - Mikhail Alexandrovich was familiar with Bullitt. I had to buy a black suit and shoes in the same Torgsin, which would be destroyed later in the novel. The artistic nature of Elena Sergeevna was shocked by the design of the reception, and she did not regret the colors in its description. It turned out that Bulgakov didn't even have to fantasize to tell about the entourage of the ball at Satan's - he described the interior of the embassy and guests, giving them different names. Other researchers of Bulgakov went even further - the odious Boris Sokolov tore the covers from all, even fleetingly described participants of the ball, finding them prototypes in the Soviet elite. Of course, creating the picture of the ball, Bulgakov used the interiors of the Spaso-House (as the building of the embassy is called). However, it is simply stupid to think that one of the world's largest artists of the word could not write about meat sizzling on coals or about the interiors of a palace without attending the notorious reception. Bulgakov's talent allowed him to see the events that took place thousands of years ago, let alone some kind of evening party.
8. Choosing a name for the writers' organization, Bulgakov spared the Moscow writers. The then ability to create, for the sake of brevity of speech, unimaginable abbreviations both amused and angered the writer. In his Notes on the Cuffs, he writes about the slogan he saw at the station, "Duvlam!" - “Twentieth anniversary of Vladimir Mayakovsky”. He was going to call the organization of writers “Vsedrupis” (General Friendship of Writers), “Vsemiopis” (World Society of Writers) and even “Vsemiopil” (World Association of Writers and Writers). So the final name Massolit (either “Mass Literature” or “Moscow Association of Writers”) looks very neutral. Similarly, the writer's dacha settlement Peredelkino Bulgakov wanted to call "Peredrakino" or "Dudkino", but limited himself to the name "Perelygino", although it also comes from the word "Liar"
9. Many Muscovites who read “The Master and Margarita” already in the 1970s recalled that there were no tram lines in the place where Berlioz was beheaded during the years of the novel. It is unlikely that Bulgakov did not know about this. Most likely, he deliberately killed Berlioz with a tram because of his hatred of this type of transport. For a long time Mikhail Aleksandrovich lived at a busy tram stop, listening to all the sound details of movement and passenger traffic. In addition, in those years the tram network was constantly expanding, the routes were changing, rails were laid somewhere, interchanges were arranged, and still the trams were overcrowded, and every trip turned into torment.
10. Analyzing the text of the novel and M. Bulgakov's preliminary notes, one can come to the conclusion that Margarita was the great-great-granddaughter of the very Queen Margot, to whom Alexander Dumas dedicated his novel of the same name. Koroviev first calls Margarita “the bright queen Margot”, and then alludes to his great-great-grandmother and some bloody wedding. Marguerite de Valois, the prototype of Queen Margot, in her long and eventful life with men, was married only once - to Henry of Navarse. Their solemn wedding in Paris in 1572, which brought together all the French nobility, ended in the massacre, nicknamed St. Bartholomew's Night and the "bloody wedding." Confirms the words of Koroviev and the demon of death Abadon, who was in Paris on St. Bartholomew's night. But this is where the tale ends - Marguerite de Valois was childless.
11. The chess game of Woland and Behemoth, which was almost interrupted by Margarita's arrival, was, as you know, played with live pieces. Bulgakov was a passionate chess fan. He not only played himself, but was also interested in sports and creative novelties of chess. The description of the chess game between Mikhail Botvinnik and Nikolai Ryumin could not pass by him (and perhaps he personally witnessed). Then the chess players played a game with live pieces within the framework of the Moscow championship. Botvinnik, who played black, won on the 36th move.
12. The heroes of the novel “The Master and Margarita” are leaving Moscow on Vorobyovy Gory not just because one of the highest points of the city is located there. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was designed to be built on the Vorobyovy Hills. Already in 1815, the project of a temple in honor of Christ the Savior and the victory of the Russian army in the Patriotic War was approved by Alexander I. The young architect Karl Vitberg planned to build a temple 170 meters high from the ground, with a main staircase 160 meters wide and a dome with a diameter of 90 meters. Vitberg chose the ideal place - on the slope of the mountains a little closer to the river than the main building of Moscow State University now stands. Then it was a suburb of Moscow, located between the Smolensk road, along which Napoleon came to Moscow, and Kaluga, along which he ingloriously retreated. On October 24, 1817, the foundation stone of the temple took place. The ceremony was attended by 400 thousand people. Alas, Karl, who crossed himself into Alexander during the construction process, did not take into account the weakness of the local soils. He was accused of embezzlement, the construction was stopped, and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built on Volkhonka. In the absence of the temple and its patron, Satan took the place on the Sparrow Hills in the novel “The Master and Margarita”.
13. The flat platform on the top of the mountain, on which Pontius Pilate sits in an armchair near an undying puddle in the finale of the novel, is located in Switzerland. Not far from Lucerne, there is a flat-topped mountain called Pilate. She can be seen in one of the James Bond films - there is a round restaurant on the top of a snow-covered mountain. The grave of Pontius Pilate is located somewhere nearby. Although, perhaps, M. Bulgakov was attracted simply by the consonance - “pilleatus” in Latin “felt hat”, and Mount Pilate, surrounded by clouds, often looks like a hat.
14. Bulgakov quite accurately described the places in which the action of The Master and Margarita takes place. Therefore, the researchers were able to identify many buildings, houses, institutions and apartments. For example, the Griboyedov House, which was burnt down by Bulgakov in the end, is the so-called. House of Herzen (a fiery London revolutionary was indeed born in it). Since 1934, it is better known as the Central House of Writers.
15. Three houses fit and do not fit simultaneously under Margarita's house. The mansion at 17 Spiridonovka fits the description, but does not fit the location. House number 12 in Vlasyevsky lane is ideally located exactly in place, but according to the description it is not at all Margarita's dwelling. Finally, not far, at 21 Ostozhenka, there is a mansion that houses the embassy of one of the Arab countries. It is similar in description, and not so far in place, but there is not, and never was, the garden described by Bulgakov.
16. On the contrary, at least two apartments are suitable for the Master's dwelling. The owner of the first (9 Mansurovsky lane), actor Sergei Topleninov, barely hearing the description, recognized his two rooms in the basement. Pavel Popov and his wife Anna, the granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy, friends of the Bulgakovs, also lived in the house at number 9 and also in a two-room semi-basement, but in Plotnikovsky lane.
17. Apartment No. 50 in the novel is known to be located in house No. 302-bis. In real life, the Bulgakovs lived in apartment number 50 at 10 Bolshaya Sadovaya Street. According to the description of the house, they coincide exactly, only Mikhail Alexandrovich ascribed a nonexistent sixth floor to the book building. Apartment No. 50 now houses the Bulgakov House Museum.
18. Torgsin (“Trade with Foreigners”) was the predecessor of the famous “Smolensk” deli or Gastronome # 2 (Gastronome # 1 was “Eliseevsky”). Torgsin existed for only a few years - gold and jewelry, for which Soviet citizens could buy through the system of coupons-bons in Torgsin, ended, and other shops were opened for foreigners. Nevertheless, “Smolenskiy” kept its brand for a long time both in the range of products and in the level of service.
19. The publication of the full text of the novel "The Master and Margarita" in the Soviet Union and abroad was greatly facilitated by Konstantin Simonov. For Bulgakov's wife, Simonov was the personification of the Union of Writers who hounded Mikhail Alexandrovich - a young, quickly made a career, a secretary of the Union of Writers of the USSR who entered the corridors of power. Elena Sergeevna simply hated him. However, Simonov acted with such energy that later Elena Sergeevna admitted that she now treats him with the same love with which she used to hate him.
20.The release of The Master and Margarita was followed by literally a flurry of foreign publications. Traditionally, the emigre publishing houses were the first to hustle. After just a few months, local publishers began to publish translations of the novel into various languages. The copyright of Soviet writers in the late 1960s and early 1970s met with the coolest attitude in Europe. Therefore, three Italian translations or two Turkish ones could come out of print at the same time. Even in the stronghold of the US copyright struggle, two translations were published almost simultaneously. In general, four translations of the novel were published in German, and one of the versions was published in Bucharest. True, the Romanian language did not remain at a loss - he also got his Bucharest edition. In addition, the novel has been translated into Dutch, Spanish, Danish Swedish, Finnish, Serbo-Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish and dozens of other languages.
21. At first glance, The Master and Margarita is a filmmaker's dream. Colorful heroes, two storylines at once, love, slander and betrayal, humor and outright satire. However, in order to count the film adaptations of the novel, fingers are enough. The first pancake, as usual, came out lumpy. In 1972 Andrzej Wajda directed the film Pilate and Others. The name is already clear - the Pole took one storyline. Moreover, he moved the development of the opposition between Pilate and Yeshua to the present day. All other directors did not invent original names. Yugoslav Alexander Petrovich also did not draw two plots at once - in his film the line of Pilate and Yeshua is a play in the theater. The epochal film was shot in 1994 by Yuri Kara, who managed to attract all the then elite of Russian cinema to the shooting. The film turned out to be good, but because of disagreements between the director and the producers, the picture was released only in 2011 - 17 years after filming. In 1989, a good television series was filmed in Poland. The Russian team under the direction of director Vladimir Bortko (2005) also did a good job. The famous director tried to make the television series as close as possible to the text of the novel, and he and the crew succeeded. And in 2021, the director of the films "Legend No. 17" and "The Crew" Nikolai Lebedev is going to shoot his own version of events in Yershalaim and Moscow.
