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UPDATE: A second reading of this book, to me, has been detrimental. When the powers in this book can do ANYTHING (there are no rules, apparently), then one sort of loses interest. This is a wild, original ride. But then again, did the naked witch HAVE to fly on a dancing broomstick? Couldn't she just fly?
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I started this in bed last night (10pm or so) and suddenly it was 5am and I was still reading. I don't much like trying to get to sleep after sunrise (my party days ended some years ago, and I regret not a single lost night of sleep). So I closed the book and slept a few hours then finished it this morning, still in bed. So, five stars, absolutely, for a brilliant, imaginative, beautiful work. And praise to his widow who worked for a quarter of a century after Bulgakov's death to ensure publication. But for me there is a flaw: a totally unnecessary 14-page epilogue in which we are given certain explanations (which add nothing to the story, as brilliant, imaginative works are so because they are often intentionally inexplicable.) I'm reminded so much of another deeply flawed masterpiece: Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". At the end, there is a laughably ridiculous "explanation" scene in a police station in which such topics as transvestites are discussed. We know Norman Bates is insane, the murders are resolved, everything is tied up (as is Bates in the films very final shot) but what we don't need in this, or any, psychological thriller, is a rather silly lecture: we've been terrified, we're glad it's over: FIN. From the introduction of this book, we know that Bulgakov never actually finished this work, and I wonder if someone somewhere thought this epilogue was necessary and added it on. It is not necessary and adds nothing to the story. In fact, it's rather irritating. So I must add this to my list of flawed masterpieces. And I advise you don't bother with the epilogue as it might ruin the book for you.