Bulgakov, Mikhail – The Bell Bookshop

A dog’s heart

Emma — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

What would happen if a doctor implanted the pituitary gland and testicles of a man into the body of a stray dog? In Mikhail Bulgakov’s topsy-turvy world, the dog starts to walk on two legs, drink, smoke, thieve, chase women and recite every swear word in Russian. The perfect candidate for a government official, in other words. This rude, riotous send-up of the Soviet Union, banned immediately on publication, is satire red in tooth and claw.

The master and Margarita

Emma — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Mikhail Bulgakov’s devilish salute to artistic freedom, now in a beautiful clothbound edition

‘Bulgakov is one of the greatest Russian writers, perhaps the greatest’ Independent

Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign, The Master and Margarita became an overnight literary phenomenon when it was finally published it, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere. Bulgakov’s carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow one Spring afternoon. Brimming with magic and incident, it is full of imaginary, historical, terrifying and wonderful characters, from witches, poets and Biblical tyrants to the beautiful, courageous Margarita, who will do anything to save the imprisoned writer she loves.

Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky with an Introduction by Richard Pevear

Master & Margarita

Emma — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

With an introduction by the writer and critic Viv Groskop.

In this imaginative extravaganza the devil, disguised as a magician, descends upon Moscow, along with a talking cat and an expert assassin. This riotous band succeed in fooling an entire population of people who persistently deny the devil’s existence, even as they are confronted with the diabolic results of a magic act gone wrong. The devil’s project soon becomes involved with The Master, a man who has turned his back on his former life and sought sanctuary in a lunatic asylum, and his former lover, Margarita.

A literary sensation from its first publication, The Master and Margarita has been translated into more than twenty
languages. Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel is now considered one of the seminal works of twentieth-century Russian literature. By turns acidly satiric, fantastic and ironically philosophical, this story constantly surprises and entertains.

The Master and Margarita

Emma — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Russia’s literary world is shaken to its foundations when a mysterious gentleman – a professor of black magic – arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a bizarre retinue of servants. It soon becomes clear that he is the Devil himself, come to wreak havoc among the cultural elite of a disbelieving capital. But the Devil’s mission quickly becomes entangled with the fate of the Master – a man who has turned his back on his former life and taken refuge in a lunatic asylum – and his past lover, Margarita. Both a satirical romp and a daring analysis of the nature of good and evil, innocence and guilt, The Master and Margarita is the crowning achievement of one of the greatest Russian writers of the twentieth century.

Master & Margarita

Emma — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

in Bulgakov’s allegorical masterpiece of Stalin’s regime the devil is making a personal appearance in Moscow.

He is accompanied by various demons, including a naked girl and a huge black cat. When he leaves, the asylums are full and the forces of law and order are in disarray. Only the Master, a writer and a man devoted to truth, and Margarita, the woman he loves, can resist the devil’s onslaught.

‘Stunning, superb…Bulgakov is one of the greatest Russian writers, perhaps the greatest’ Independent

‘A masterpiece – a classic of twentieth-century fiction’ New York Times

TRANSLATED BY MICHAEL GLENNY, INTRODUCED BY WILL SELF