The Master and Margarita

This Penguin cover of Mikhail Bulgakov's great satire The Master and Margarita 1966) always intrigued me. I was inspired to read when one of my college friends was toting around a copy on a recent business trip re-reading it for the third time. The cover captures one of my favorite aspects of the novel the vain, boastful, scheming vodka swilling cat Behemoth-surely one of literature's great creations, but there are other memorable characters like the dark stranger Woland (Satan), the poet Ivan the Homeless, the writer known as "The Master" among others. There are fantastical moments of black magic,  passionate speeches by half mad Russians, as well as witches and vampires. It was mostly entertaining and enthralling, my only complaints were the sections of the book devoted to the Master's novel about Pontious Pilate, which for a  recovering Catholic were a bit tedious and redundant. However, these were only a small portions of the novel, but they slowed my reading pace enough to effect my enjoyment of the book. But a classic nonetheless and required reading for any one interested in modern literature in my opinion.