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The Master and Margarita  By  cover art

The Master and Margarita

By: Mikhail Bulgakov
Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
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Publisher's summary

The Devil comes to Moscow, but he isn't all bad; Pontius Pilate sentences a charismatic leader to his death, but yearns for redemption; and a writer tries to destroy his greatest tale, but discovers that manuscripts don't burn. Multi-layered and entrancing, blending sharp satire with glorious fantasy, The Master and Margarita is ceaselessly inventive and profoundly moving. In its imaginative freedom and raising of eternal human concerns, it is one of the world's great novels.

Public Domain (P)2009 Naxos Audiobooks

Featured Article: Essential Russian Authors to Know in Audio


Don’t be daunted by the towering reputations of Russia’s literary giants. Listening is the perfect way to appreciate the masters. Russia is a sprawling country with a rich and complex history, which is reflected in its literature. Whether you’re keen on brushing up on classic Russian literature or you want to find a new author to explore, we’ve rounded up 13 of the best Russian authors, classic and contemporary, whose work you should know.

Editor's Pick

From Russia with love
I recently deep-dived on Russian classics for our editors’ podcast, Audicted, focusing on Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. But guess what? Those heavy-hitters aren’t nearly as beloved back home as Bulgakov, and this book is widely considered the country’s favorite novel. I didn’t know anything could make me love Russian literature more, but that did it. This hallucinatory satire of 1930s Stalinist Moscow, in which the devil and his entourage come to town to raise hell, includes a gun-toting cat, a fascinating imagining of Pontius Pilate, and exquisite narration by Julian Rhind-Tutt. If you’re looking for what one reviewer calls 'a complete acid trip of a novel', your search ends here. —Kat J., Audible Editor

What listeners say about The Master and Margarita

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    4 out of 5 stars

Funny

some chapters where genuinely great, while others were alright. Overall, it was highly enjoyable and a great performance by the narrarator.

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great listen.

narrator was superb, story was exciting and easy to absorb while handling complex ideas of life and death and the devil!

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Marvelous story

An amazing novel. one of the best ever written and sadly forgotten. A must for anyone who loves reading. Julian Rhind-Tutt's reading is flawless and makes us live the situations.

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  • TF
  • 06-04-19

Perfect

One of my all-time favorite novels expertly read...this audiobook brought new insights and joy to a story I’ve read several times before.

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Excellent narration

The story itself was not what I expected, but the narrator did an excellent job.

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Worth it just for the masterful performance

What made the experience of listening to The Master and Margarita the most enjoyable?

The jury is still out on the story - at the moment, I don't like the fact that Satan is benevolent in the tale, because he is definitely NOT like that in reality - but I felt compelled to review this book for the superlative performance. It is a sublime to experience the reader getting on the inside of each character, and giving the voice, intonation, accent, etc. that suits the character to perfection. His rendering of Woland is the absolute tops. I just finished - and feel like starting over just to hear again this genius of a reader.

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Not your typical Russian Book but....

What made the experience of listening to The Master and Margarita the most enjoyable?

It was a nice glimpse into this time in Russia, but mostly it was a fun and funny story with a satirical bent. Good read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

SATAN!

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Maybe the best reader of all time.

I am not a fantasy fan, but this fantastic book comes alive in an extraordinary performance. And the book well deserves it fame as a major work of Russian literature. In fact, the translation is also a great achievement—crisp, vivid, and clever. It was a pleasure to listen to.

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Diestoevsky Like

After finishing The Idiot which was the first Doestoevsky book I hadn't enjoyed, a friend had suggested this book. This was overall a very good read. Very similar writing style with some interesting characters. It was a bit difficult to keep bouncing between the novel within and the actual story. Narrator did a good job. Some moments were eloquent but there was still a lot of wordings.

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So creative

I can’t begin to explain how wonderful this book is. When I start reading it paperback i was so engrossed that I knew that I needed to download the audiobook because I wasn’t able to get anything else done with this book.

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