On March 26 of this year, a literary salon dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the publication of Mikhail Bulgakov’s famous novel The Master and Margarita took place. It is impossible to discuss the novel without mentioning the author’s life and creative journey.

Although all participants were well prepared for the event, the “main lecturer” was Natalia. Her article is presented below.

On the 60th anniversary of the publication of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita

The novel was first published twenty-six years after the author’s death in the magazine Moskva, issue No. 11 (1966), where the first part appeared with a foreword by Konstantin Simonov.

For its time, the novel was a true revelation — unexpected and unique for that era. Most authors were oriented toward realistic works, while here something transcendent appeared for the first time, allowing a different perspective on the human being.

Bulgakov wrote a profoundly honest book. He wrote about how he perceived the time in which he lived.

This final work of the writer seems to have as its main characters not only Woland and his retinue, not only the Master and Margarita, not only Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. In my view, the true main character — rarely mentioned anywhere — is the Novel written by the Master himself. All events revolve around this Novel; everything turns around it, and it is this Novel, in my opinion, that brings Woland to Moscow. The metaphysics of this novel-within-the-novel enters the real fabric of the main text, becoming for Bulgakov an independent force influencing destinies and even the structure of reality.

The writer worked on the novel for twelve years until his death. Nearly blind, he continued making corrections with the help of his wife.

In the pages of his final notebook he left a note: “Finish the novel before dying.” But he did not manage to complete it.

Perhaps this is why the novel contains so many questions and mysteries that continue to captivate us more than half a century after its publication. New discoveries still surprise literary scholars and readers today.

One such discovery, which I am especially pleased to share with readers and admirers of the book, is Gleb Butuzov’s notes titled The Sixth Arcana, or the Price of Eternity, where the author makes the first attempt at a full examination of the theological foundations of what he considers the most esoteric work of Russian literature — a fascinating and comprehensive study.

During our meeting, we discussed how, before his death, the writer asked his wife to publish his final work — his controversial novel — so that, as he said, “THEY WOULD KNOW.” And now, seventy years later, Gleb Butuzov, the author of these modest notes, together with readers, would like to respond: “WE KNOW.”

Natalia Zakshevskaya

Dear friends, the next literary salon meeting will take place in the format of Literary Readings.
Theme: World War II and Victory Day. Follow the link and register:

If you would like to participate as a speaker, please fill in the form included in the announcement. The number of participants and speaking time are limited!
You are also invited to take part in the Victory Dictation! Book prizes await the winners!

See you soon!