3 ms·
I loved this book. Everyone has a different opinion on what the best translation is, so it’s worth briefly scanning a few different ones to see which you like b
by defen 8y ago
I loved this book. Everyone has a different opinion on what the best translation is, so it’s worth briefly scanning a few different ones to see which you like best. I had a really hard time getting into the Ginsburg translation, but really enjoyed the Pevear/Volokhonsky one.
Also, this site: http://masterandmargarita.eu/en/ http://masterandmargarita.eu/en/ is a great resource if you’re not familiar with 1930s Soviet history and the Gospels (both canonical and apocryphal). Without knowledge of those things you won’t get nearly as much out of the book as you could.
- sthielen 8y agoIf you haven't, the 2008 Hugh Aplin translation is worth checking out. I found it made for a bit easier/more casual reading than the sometimes stuffy P/V, which lets the situational humor and the playfulness of the language come through a lot more naturally.
- hprotagonist 8y agoI like the Burgin and O'Connor translation, personally. They have a postscript per chapter about "all the references you probably missed", but don't add distracting markup to the text itself to call them out. It's a nice balance, and the language is pretty good.