Fiddler on the Roof

 

Fiddler on the Roof

(Based on Sholem Aleichem's Stories)

by Joseph Stein

★★★★

 

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of one of the most beloved musicals of all time, a new edition of the original play has been released. Tevye is a kind man, but also one who's used to the world running in a very specific way. He is a Jew living in Russia in the early 1900s with his wife and five daughters. They live a simple life together and he holds the traditions of his people in high regard.

 

Each of his daughters is trying to find their way in the world and to begin to make decisions about their life and fall in love. Tevye's decisions and beliefs are put to the test when he must decide which is more dear to him, his family's happiness or his traditions.

 

I believe the reason this play is still so relevant today is because of the message of the story at its core. Despite the humor and the setting, the real story is about one man trying to understand the world as he watches it change around him. Whether it's Jewish people in 1905 Russia or hippies in the 1970s or millennials and their intrusive technology, children will always challenge and question the world in which they are raised. The author created relatable characters, full of humor and warmth. They all just want to be loved in their own way, despite the world changing around them.

 

BOTTOM LINE: See the musical if you get the chance so you can enjoy the full experience of the songs that have become so famous (Tradition, If I Were a Rich Man, Matchmaker, Matchmaker.) But regardless of whether you have a chance to see the show, the story told in the original play stands on its own as a timeless tales of humanity struggle to adapt to an ever-changing world.

 

**I received a review copy for an honest review.

The Master and the Margarita

The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bulgakov
★★★★

To call The Master and the Margarita strange is the mother of all understatements. The novel covers everything from talking cats, a visit from Satan, an insane author and a disturbing magic show, but the crucial thing to remember when reading the book is context. The book was written in the midst of Russian civil war and it was banned from being released in Russia for more than 30 years. So it seems much of the book is written in code, because at the time authors could be thrown in prison for the slightest offense and writing a scathing review of the current political regime was suicide.

The novel is split into three basic stories. First we have Woland (aka the Devil) and his strange entourage. They visit Moscow in the 1930s and wreck havoc on individuals living there. Particularly affected by their visit are Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, an editor, and Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov (pen name Bezdomny) a poet. Woland’s group includes a giant gun-wielding cal named Behemoth and an oddball named Azazello. The vodka-swigging cat is both terrifying and mesmerizing.

The second plot is about the title pair, the Master and the Margarita. The Master is an author who is thrown in prison for his writing. Margarita is his lover and is heartbroken when he disappears. She is soon caught-up with Woland and drawn into his bizarre world of balls and madness.

The final plot is a re-telling on Christ’s conviction and crucifixion by Pontius Pilate. Jesus is called Yeshua in this section we find out that this plot is actually the book that was written by the Master.

I would highly recommend the translation I read (first cover shown above.) It was translated by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor and not only does it provide an accessible text, there’s also a detailed chapter-by-chapter commentary in the back, which explains a lot of what is being said just under the surface. There are jokes that make sense once you have a bit more knowledge of the author’s life and context of the political situation in Russia at that time.

BOTTOM LINE: Honestly, I thought I would hate this book, but there’s something about it that just sticks with you. My translation was really good and I ended up taking a lot away from it. I still don’t think I “got” everything, but the weird world Bulgakov created is sort of intoxicating. If you’re willing to just accept the absurd and go with it, I think you’ll find it an interesting read.
 
“My remarks are far from drivel, they are a series of neatly packaged syllogisms which would win the respect and admiration of such connoisseurs of the genre as Sextus Empiricus, Martianus Capella, or, who knows, even Aristotle himself.” – Behemoth the Cat

“What would your good do if evil didn’t exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?”

"I consider it my duty to warn you that a cat is an ancient and inviolable creature." -Behemoth

The Madonnas of Leningrad

The Madonnas of Leningrad

by Debra Dean

★★★☆

Marina works at the Hermitage in Leningrad during World War II. Her fiancé Dmitri leaves to fight at the front in the war, while Marina is trapped in the Russian city during the Siege of Leningrad. She and her aunt and uncle must move into the Hermitage (the art museum seen above) with dozens of others. They are all staving to death, trying only to survive.

The secondary plot deals with Dmitri and Marina’s adult daughter Helen and her struggle with her parents’ declining health. Marina has Alzheimer’s and as she looses her recent memories, those long buried memories from the war come to the surface. The combination of the war story and modern day disconnect between children and their parents works well. Immigrants who survived horrific events during the war don’t often want to rehash their heartbreak, but their children may not understand how their current actions have been formed by their past experiences if they never share them.

I felt like the book was a bit short. There are so many more details that could have been included. I loved learning about the real events that happened during the siege. It’s a fictional story, but the author did some excellent research. I had no idea about this whole part of WWII and I’m still curious about it.

BOTTOM LINE: A short but powerful story of the Siege of Leningrad. Read it if you are interested in learning more about WWII in Russia.

"Hunger has eaten away the veneer of civilization, and people are not themselves."

"Over the years, they have grown together, their flesh and their thoughts twining so closely that he cannot imagine the person he might be apart from her."