Reading «Мастер и Маргарита» Summer of 2010: The Schedule! Posted by josefina on Jun 6, 2010 in Culture, History, language, Russian for beginners
With our blog’s new project you can do BOTH «одновременно» [at one and the same time]!
During the summer of 2010 we’re all going to really apply ourselves. We’re going to read one and the same book together and share our experiences with each other. We’re going to expand our horizons and strike up conversations with new friends on the beach when they see that we’re holding «книга на русском языке» [a book in Russian language] in one hand and an ice-cold «Северное сияние» [“Northern Light”] (a great Russian cocktail also known as «Московские огни» [“Moscow Lights”] made with equal parts «водка» [vodka] and «шампанское» [champagne]) in the other. By the end of July we’ll all be quoting «Булгаков» [Bulgakov] whenever opportunity presents itself (or we will present this opportunity ourselves). Well, some of us might just read the posts concerning interesting vocabulary, funny word plays or notable historic details in «Мастер и Маргарита» [“The Master & Margarita”] which is «роман в двух частях с эпилогом» [a novel in two parts with an epilogue]. You don’t have to read the book, you can just read the posts and then make interesting conversation anyway (that’s the plan anyway!). In yesterday’s post Yelena told us that she’s already made it all the way to “the tragic «третья глава первой части» [chapter 3 of part 1]”. It is not a competition, I know, but I can inform you that yesterday I finished «пятая глава первой части» [chapter 5 of part 1].
Today’s post will be about the first chapter: «Никогда не разговаривайте с неизвестными» [“Never talk to strangers”]. Today’s post also contains the reading schedule for exactly how to do this – how to read a whole novel in Russian during two months – and the schedule I’ve made makes the great assumption that everyone will be able to read about 10 pages a day in the book. I know that this might not be realistic for everyone, and that’s why you shouldn’t feel any pressure to keep up with the schedule. You should take your time and read the book in your own pace, of course. Yelena and I will write two posts – one each – every week in which we’ll sum up between two or three chapters. The first part of the novel consists of mostly shorter chapters, that’s why you’ll be able to finish five of those a week if you stick to this schedule! I would recommend you to save this schedule on your computer or why not print it out and place it neatly in your own copy of «Мастер и Маргарита» and in that way you can check every chapter that you finish.
In the first chapter we make our first acquaintance with three important characters in the book:
«Михаил Александрович Берлиоз» [Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz] who is «редактор толстого художественного журнала» [the editor of a thick artistic magazine (‘artistic’ in this context means ‘literary’)] as well as «председатель Массолит» [chairman of Massolit]. Behind the abbreviation ‘Massolit’ we can easily see that Bulgakov is hinting at the Soviet Union’s «Союз писателей» [Writer’s Union] – the single most powerful literary institution of the time (which is sometime during the 1930’s) in the country. Berlioz is, in other words, a very powerful and influential person in literary circles.
Not surprisingly we find him in the first chapter trying to give literary advice to the poet «Иван Николаевич Понырев» [Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev (not sure where to put the stress in his last name?)], «пишущий под псевдонимом Бездомный» [who is writing under the pseudonym of (yes, literally!) Homeless]. Back in the 1920’s and 1930’s it was very popular among poets and writers in the Soviet Union to use ‘socially marked’ pseudonyms, and I’m sure that had the people of the time had the chance to read Bulgakov’s novel then the last name ‘Homeless’ would surely have pointed to how the writer himself felt about this ‘literary’ practice.
Berlioz and Homeless is discussing a poem that the latter wrote recently about Jesus. Berlioz is not content with the poem for he thinks that «Иисус у него получился совершенно живой» [Jesus turned out in his (poem) completely alive], whereas they’re living in an atheistic country and the point of the poem in the first place was to deny that Jesus had existed AT ALL. At the height of this conversation a stranger arrives to whom no name is given, he is simply called…
….«иностранец» [the foreigner]. This foreigner speaks very good Russian and starts talking with the two men of letters about Jesus and God and even gets as far as the devil, until they start to get suspicious and want to find out who he is. He presents himself first as a «профессор» [professor], then it is revealed that he’s a «консультант» [consultant] and has been invited to Moscow as a «специалист по чёрной магии» [specialist in black magic]. Now here’s when things start to get interesting! Their conversation about whether or not Jesus actually existed leads the foreigner to start talking and his monologue develops into the next chapter «Понтий Пилат» [Pontius Pilatus]…
Reading «Мастер и Маргарита» Summer of 2010: The Schedule:
Часть первая [part one]:
Глава 1: Никогда не разговаривайте с неизвестными (стр. 5-18) [Chapter 1: Never talk to strangers]. 6-7 июня [June 6-7].
Глава 2: Понтий Пилат (стр. 18-43) [Chapter 2: Pontius Pilatus]. 8-9 июня [June 8-9].
Глава 3: Седьмое доказательство (стр. 43-48) [Chapter 3: The seventh proof]. 10 июня [June 10].
Глава 4: Погоня (стр. 48-55) [Chapter 4: The chase]. 11 июня [June 11].
Глава 5: Дело было в Грибоедове (стр. 55-68) [Chapter 5: It happened at Griboyedov]. 12-13 июня [June 12-13].
Глава 6: Шизофрения, как было сказано (стр. 68-76) [Chapter 6: Zchizofrenia, as had been said]. 14 июня [June 14].
Глава 7: Нехорошая квартира (стр. 76-87) [Chapter 7: Not a good apartment]. 15-16 июня [June 15-16].
Глава 8: Поединок между профессором и поэтом (стр. 87-96) [Chapter 8: The duel between the professor and the poet]. 17 июня [June 17].
Глава 9: Коровьёвские штуки (стр. 97-106) [Chapter 9: Korovyov’s things]. 18 июня [June 18].
Глава 10: Вести из Ялты (стр. 106-118) [Chapter 10: News from Yalta]. 19-20 июня [June 19-20].
Глава 11: Раздвоение Ивана (стр. 118-121) [Chapter 11: The split of Ivana]. 21 июня [June 21].
Глава 12: Чёрная магия и её разоблачение (стр. 121-136) [Chapter 12: Black magic and its expposure]. 22-23 июня [June 22-23].
Глава 13: Явление героя (стр. 136-155) [Chapter 13: Appearance of the hero]. 24-25 июня [June 24-25].
Глава 14: Слава Петуху! (стр. 155-164) [Chapter 14: Glory to the rooster!] 26 июня [June 26].
Глава 15: Сон Никанора Ивановича (стр. 164-177) [Chapter 15: Nikanor Ivanovich’s dream]. 27-28 июня [June 27-28].
Глава 16: Казнь (стр. 177-189) [Chapter 16: The Execution]. 29-30 июня [June 29-30].
Глава 17: Беспокойный день (стр. 189-201) [Chapter 17: A restless day]. 1-2 июля [July 1-2].
Глава 18: Неудачливые визитёры (стр. 201-222) [Chapter 18: Unlucky visitors]. 3-4 июля [July 3-4].
Часть вторая [part two]:
Глава 19: Маргарита (стр. 223-236) [Chapter 19: Margarita]. 5-6 июля [July 5-6].
Глава 20: Крем Азазелло (стр. 236-242) [Chapter 20: Azazello Cream]. 7 июля [July 7].
Глава 21: Полёт (стр. 242-256) [Chapter 21: The flight]. 8-9 июля [July 8-9].
Глава 22: При свечах (стр. 256-270) [Chapter 22: By candle light]. 10-11 июля [July 10-11].
Глава 23: Великий бал у Сатаны (стр. 270-285) [Chapter 23: Satan’s great ball]. 12-13 июля [July 12-13].
Глава 24: Извлечение Мастера (стр. 285-310) [Chapter 24: Extraction of the Master]. 14-15 июля [July 14-15].
Глава 25: Как прокуратор пытался спасти Иуду из Кириафа (стр. 310-321) [Chapter 25: How the prosecutor tried to save Judas from Kiriafa]. 16 июля [July 16].
Глава 26: Погребение (стр. 321-344) [Chapter 26: The burial]. 17-18 июля [July 17-18].
Глава 27: Конец квартиры № 50 (стр. 344-360) [Chapter 27: The end of apartment number 50]. 19-20 июля [July 19-20].
Глава 28: Последние похождения Коровьёва и Бегемота (стр. 360-373) [Chapter 28: The last adventures of Korovyov and Begemot]. 21-22 июля [July 21-22].
Глава 29: Судьба Мастера и Маргариты определена (стр. 373-378) [Chapter 29: The fate of the Master and Margarita is decided]. 23 июля [July 23].
Глава 30: Пора! Пора! (стр. 378-391) [Chapter 30: It’s time! It’s time!]. 24 июля [July 24].
Глава 31: На Воробьёвых горах (стр. 391-394) [Chapter 31: On the Vorobyevie Hills]. 25 июля [July 25].
Глава 32: Прощение и вечный приют (стр. 394-400) [Chapter: Forgiveness and an eternal refuge]. 26 июля [July 26].
Эпилог (стр. 401-413) [Epilogue]. 27-28 июля [July 27-28].
P.S. the «стр.» is short for «страницы» [pages] and mark on what pages in the cheapest paperback copy sold in Russia of the novel that you can find these chapters. I understand if your pages in your own copy may not correspond to these pages, but I’ve given them as a way to show how big each chapter is.
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Comments:
Minority:
I think it’s good idea to read one book together. But I think Мастер и Маргарита is too hard to understand for most of people… Even russian can’t say they understood it good.
Well, may be I think so because I don’t like this book at all. 🙂 Never agreed to official interpretation of its meaning and classical attitude to Margarita (I do not think she’s the symbol of sacrificial love :)).
But anyway, it’s interesting to see how this project will go 🙂
Natalie:
Josefina, I’m so excited for this. But I’ve already run into a problem: my copy of the book does not match the text of an online version that’s at the Браво, Бегемот blog (http://bravo-begemot.blogspot.com/2010/06/chapter-1-never-talk-to-strangers.html). Which one is right?
josefina:
Natalie, I understand why you’re confused. Because “Master & Margarita” was never published during Bulgakov’s lifetime, the novel exists in several different variations and editions. None of these are, however, entirely wrong – or right, for that matter. They are all versions of the novel as Bulgakov wrote it, though they differ. You shouldn’t worry too much about your copy being wrong, because it might even more “right” then the version that’s on “Браво, Бегемот”. If you want to find the “true” version of the novel, you should look for a copy of it where it says it is the most full text or that it was the last edition made by Bulgakov. For example, when I bought my paperbook copy of the novel in Russia I made sure it said so on the back. Might not be entirely a true statement either, but hey, at least I’m trying!
Minority: I don’t agree with the “official” reading of any kind of literature! I believe only in individual readings of all books. And as I’m now well into this novel, I see mainly irony from Bulgakov toward the “world of writers” in the Soviet Union, but also strikingly many references to the terror of the 1930’s in that same country… Am I the only one making this connection?
Natalie:
Спасибо 🙂
Andreea:
Dear Josefina, this project is really exciting. I’ve already reached chapter 14 Слава петуху and I can’t stop. I think I’m developing an addiction. I probably wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t for your inspiring initiative. Большое Вам спасибо!