From Master and Margarita, which I have revisited;
Oh, I am sorry – sighed the stranger, looking Bezdomni in the eye, and continued: - But what I am concerned the question: If there is no God, then dare I ask who manages human life and all the general things on this planet and beyond?
-- People are managers of their fate – we are the best there is on this planet, - rushed angrily Bezdomnyj answer to this, confessing to himself he does not understand things well.
-- Again an objections - softly applauded the stranger - to manage, you need to, after all, have a precise plan for a period of time, any decent period. Let me ask you, how can a person control anything, if he is not able to compile any plan except for a ridiculously short period of time, well, years, say, a thousand; but can not vouchsafe for their own evening?
And, in fact – then he turned to an Berlioz - imagine that you, for example, begin to plan ahead and have people running around you in this large office of yours, so to speak, only gaining a taste of your future successes, and suddenly you discover... hm ... hm ... that you are terminally ill with sarcoma of lungs ... -- Here foreigner smiled sweetly, as if an idea of Berlioz having sarcoma brought him pleasure - yes, cancer, cancer – stretching as cat, he repeated the sonorous call - and here is your administration ends!
-And sometimes, it can get even worse: only now you think that you will travel in Kislovodsk, - here the foreigner pierced Berlioz with his menacing gaze – an easy bit, but this you can not commit because suddenly you stumble and fall under a tram! Do you say that it is communist government declared so? Maybe it is not the government of People Republic that ordered you to die, just maybe? -- And here he laughed….
Having said so he whispered to both the poet and the writer: -- Keep in mind that Jesus existed. -- You see, Professor, - with a forced smile retorted Berlioz - we respect your great knowledge, but Soviet citizens on this issue have a different perspective. --
We do not need any points of view! -- responded strange professor - he just existed, and nothing else.
-- But we require evidence ... -- began Berlioz.
-- I do not need any evidence - and the professor responded softly with his German accent disappearing: - I was there....
The Bookroom
2 months ago
6 comments:
What was it that attracted your eye to this passage, Nazim?
Was it the idea of the impossibility of continuity without God to keep the world together? I believe this is quite an important idea in Islamic thinking, though I don't recall coming across it in Christian theology.
Or was it that the Russians needed the Devil to tell them this?
You are right about the first part. God is all things, he is the Planner. Devil is the most unusual pick to debate God with atheists, but here we go, this is the most unusual novel. Probably the best novel written in 20 century, IMHO. I first red it when i was 15, loved it.
I first read it a couple of years ago. I loved it, too, and will read it again sooner or later. The only thing I didn't like was the certainty that I was missing a lot of jokes because I didn't know the Russian personalities he was satirising. I think it's one of those novels that you could study all your life, and from many perspectives.
why don't you two stop reading these heretical publications and worry about leading righteous lives instead. Do you want to be visited by the devil too? Is that what you want? IS IT EY'????
Riri, Master and Margarita is not some publication, how dare you! It is ultimate book to be burned on the stake for.
Keep yer hair on mate! Alright, I'll read it although I will burn it immediately afterwards to absolve myself from potential blasphemy charges.
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