I heard a lot of praise for Bulgakov’s oeuvre in the past, so I decided to give it a go.
I have read Russian literature in the past by recommendation of family and friends who always showed much interest in it; be it Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov or Pushkin.
But recently I noticed that knowledge of Russian literature virtually stops at the onset of the revolution. When it comes to the Soviet era, there is a sort of intentional silence regarding the literature of that time, at least in the West and its colonized peripheries. Anecdotally, I once had a conversation with my mother during which she claimed that the Soviet period was a dark time to be living in Russia. When I asked her what’s the basis of her statement, she said this is based on the novels she read, citing Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. The awkward smile on her face after telling her that these authors died decades before the revolution was priceless; bless her heart, but I am digressing.
When a few exceptions of Soviet literature emerge out of the iron curtain, it turns out to be some anticommunist rambling, just like Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita.
Considering the critical acclaim, it feels wrong to say that I found it to be average. Was I supposed to cheer for the devil and his retinue as they terrorize Moscow? Maybe it’s my ideological orientation which prevents me from fully engaging with the novel, and I’m alright with that. Though I did enjoy the chapters narrating Pontius Pilate’s encounter with Yeshua Ha-Nozri.
Anyhow, was Soviet literature ever popular? Did it die out after the collapse of the union? Or has it always been curtailed in the West?
The political atmosphere certainly played a part. But this is true for both sides of the iron curtain, where Soviet literature was suppressed outside the Soviet area of influence, while Russian authors who did not align with the Soviet values were relentlessly suppressed (and imprisoned or killed) in the Soviet Union.
There are also some authors of whom I would say that at least some of their works were highly regarded both in and outside the Soviet Union, such as Maxim Gorki (Mother), Boris Pasternak (Doctor Zhivago), and Mikhail Sholokhov (The silent Don).