I will die on the hill that this is one of the best books of all time (though no one is making me, and there is no hill)!! On the surface this is a dark comedy about Satan and a band of vampires, a demon cat, and other ghouls coming to wreak havoc on Moscow A closer read will reveal elements of political satire and philosophical exploration pointed what it means to live and create art under Stalin’s authoritarian regime (the historical context in which the book was written). There’s also a love story in there, for good measure.

Comments (0)

Make an account to reply.

No comments yet

Related Recs

📖
A surrealistic satire with the Devil cheekily raising hell around 1930s Moscow with a talking cat while *also* telling a story of Jesus and Pontius Pilate in ancient Jerusalem. Considered a classic for a reason.
Feb 21, 2024
recommendation image
🐈
by Mikhail Bulgakov I read it on Baby’s recommendation and it was phenomenal and y’all should read it too
Sep 10, 2024
sooo good. really funny but i recommend an edition with footnotes as a lot of the plot and humor is driven by satire of mid-20th century soviet life. i recommend pevear and volokhonsky's translation
Feb 25, 2025

Top Recs from @isthefruitstillgood

recommendation image
🐎
Lately the only things I feel compelled to draw for tattoo practice are horses (and greyhounds—the horse of dogs)
recommendation image
🪡
They really managed to capture a look of abject horror or disgust in each of their little faces