Master and Margarita

Among all the books you may find in the libraries, shops and on the bookshelves in your grandparents' house there are those to enchant you or to bore you to death, to make you smile and even laugh or to drop tears. However, there is another category of books. They are those to love or to hate. Those books will endlessly provoke hot discussions, they will be forbidden by one regime and praised by another, they will be cursed and then introduced into a school programme as some kind of masterpiece. Master and Margarita is such a book. It was read by my parents' generation under the desk in the office (if found with the book you would easily have lost your job) and by me at school. There is no doubt that it is the most enigmatic book in the Russian literature. This is the book they always fail to film, simply because it is quite impossible.

The novel brings us simultaneously to Moscow of 1930-s visited by a mysterious magician named Woland and his equally mysterious companions and the Jurusalem of Pontius Pilat. The main characters of the book are the Master, whose novel describing the meeting of Pontius Pilat and Jesus was severely critisized to have resulted in his burning the manuscript and getting into a mental hospital, and Margarita, his devoted lover, who strikes a bargain with Woland (none other than Satan in the book) to rescue her Master.
The plot is highly complicated especially for a non-Russian reader as it is abundant in realia of the Soviet times and filled with a number of secondary characters. Yet a little patience may reward you enormously.
One of the most intriguing figures in the novel is definitely Woland. Since when did Satan become so sadly appealing? Is it a whim of the modern times from Marie Corelli and her "The Sorrows of Satan" to Al Pacino's Satan in "The Devil's Advocate"? Hard to say. But the fact you take Satan as a sage is evident. No matter who has created it all, what was before and what will be after, if you live from your heart and are true to yourself and those you love, there is nothing to be afraid of.
The most quoted line in The Master and Margarita is probably "Manuscripts don't burn". It can be interpreted in many ways. Sic transit gloria mundi. Everything passes but only real things stay, they can be destroyed and yet they will resurrect and we are remembered through centuries and generations only if we have managed to create them despite all the efforts and pains.

Youth by J. M. Coetzee

I possess a book called "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die". There are 12 books by J. M. Coetzee there - an absolute record. I tried to read him once before and although his writing was really powerful and the plot seemed good, - I did not feel involved, carried away, fascinated. However, I gave Coetzee another try and I was surprised.

Youth is autobiographical yet heavily fictionalised. The main character of the book is John, a South African migrant who abandons his own country and goes to London searching for more culture and more possibilities to become a writer. Not only he fails to integrate and find recognition, but his inspiration seems to have left him for good. In order to survive and to not be sent back to South Africa he works as a programmer. He drags his lonely existence feeling unfulfilled. Going through a number of meaningless affairs John waits for his true love, a beautiful woman who will manage to see a burning heart of a poet through his dull exterior.
The book is a sort of a diary written from the third person perspective. While reading I felt a strange attachment to the protagonist. I think he reminded me of myself - my struggles, my attempts, my desires. Only through creativity I can reach the harmony and fulfillment - writing is only a form. Will I be any different from John? I sincerely hope so. The moment I squander my talents on trifles the life will have no sense and I will become someone else - someone wasted, someone very sad.
Youth is a great reminder that there is no time to be lost, that relations are to be built, not expected, that self-fulfillment is an aim to be achieved.

My October 08 Bookshelf

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Once reading one of the stories by Jorge Luis Borges I came across the idea that Jesus Christ was not the son of God, in reality the son of God was Judas, as his suffering was uncomparably more terrible. Jesus went through real physical torture and was crucified but he knew he would resurrect and be loved and worshiped through centuries, while Judas chose to be damned, hated, never forgiven... For what? Ten silver coins? Whose torture was worse? Hell is inside...

Poor, poor Briony, - all I could say while reading the book. I could not hate her, I could not stay indifferent. On the contrary, with every page I turned I felt that suffocating pity for her as I realized her atonement is impossible to find. The hell was hers.
The book consists of four parts. In the first and most detailed one, we see 13-year old Briony commit her crime that will lead to terrible consequences for her sister Cecilia, Robbie Turner and Briony herself. In the second part, after three years spent in prison Robbie is in surrendering France of 1940 during Dunkirk evacuation with every horror of the war and his ruined life described. The third part is devoted to already 18-year old Briony who works as a nurse in the hospital. And finally the fourth part brings us in the year 1999 with Briony, a successful novelist in her 70s. Is the atonement found? She is to answer.
We all make mistakes. Some of us are lucky that these mistakes do not cause tradgedies. Or maybe they cause and we simply do not know about them, or we prefer not to know. At the same time, how many of us long for atonement, how often we hurt with words or deeds. Who am I to judge Briony? Or to hate her? All I can say is - poor, poor Briony...
I am amazed by the talent of Ian McEwan, his ability to detail everything and create such tension that sometimes I feel like I cannot go on reading (I am unable to not read through my heart), that is why most of his books are likely to appear in my blog one of these days.

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

The truth is I have picked up the book because of the title (which quite often happens). The topic of the Second World War has always been of a particular interest to me. Besides those never-ending stories questioning the genuineness of the Hermitage masterpieces and everything written and filmed about the 900-day Siege of Leningrad only aroused my interest.

The main character of the book is Marina, a guide at the Hermitage Museum before the War. The author offers us two plot lines: the first one takes place in the Soviet Union during the Siege of Leningrad when Marina along with the others helps to evacuate priceless paintings and goes through the starvation, horror of the bombings and loss of the family members. The second plot line brings us to contemporary America where Marina, already in her eighties, resides with her husband having emigrated there by a chance right after the War. She is suffering from Alzheimer disease but somehow forgetting the names of her children and the look of her husband the only thing she manages to remember are those paintings in the Hermitage.
It is quite hard to judge a book that brings about such a topic. Out of the two lines the first one (depicting Marina's war experience) is much stronger written. However, it seems quite understandable to me how impossible it is for the second one to compete here. What I was missing is sharing Marina's knowledge (that obviously kept her alive when most needed) with her family members so that it did not seem to disappear.
Another problem I had was the language. I could not help thinking the author was either Russian or used Russian idiomatic phrases translated into English on purpose. I am not sure though that "something for the hens to laugh at" or "the future is written with a pitchfork on the water" rings a bell to non-Russian speakers. It felt like a word-for-word translation to me and there are much more of them in the book.
I think the books is worth reading, especially for those who lack the knowledge of the heroic effort of the Soviet People to survive those horrible 900 days and yet to try and rescue the city. I admit I am normally rather sceptical about any attempt from American writers or film directors to raise the question, but I am thankful to Debra Dean for doing so (it is not that hopeless in America, after all).