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As far as the Master and Margarita itself goes, it is one of the most important books to come out of Soviet Russia. It is a biting & humorous political commentary shrouded in a complex and fantastic story filled with ridiculous and fascinating characters. However, out of all the translations of this book to be chosen for a staff pick, the Mirra Ginsburg translation is the worst. It was translated from the censored Soviet edition of the novel and is therefore incomplete. DO NOT let the cool cover or somewhat lower price fool you, unless you want to read the censored edition and miss out on everything that made this book important in the first place.
I personally recommend the translation by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor. Wikipedia agrees.
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The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
kenna7, February 17, 2009
Beware! This is the censored translation!As far as the Master and Margarita itself goes, it is one of the most important books to come out of Soviet Russia. It is a biting & humorous political commentary shrouded in a complex and fantastic story filled with ridiculous and fascinating characters. However, out of all the translations of this book to be chosen for a staff pick, the Mirra Ginsburg translation is the worst. It was translated from the censored Soviet edition of the novel and is therefore incomplete. DO NOT let the cool cover or somewhat lower price fool you, unless you want to read the censored edition and miss out on everything that made this book important in the first place.
I personally recommend the translation by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor. Wikipedia agrees.
(26 of 28 readers found this comment helpful)