What is the Name of this Post?

Sometimes I think that many literary authors must have had terrible experiences with filing out paperwork or applying for state ID cards or something. Seriously.

Spoiler alert!

So, this first books is about a guy who doesn't cry at his mother's funeral and then gets executed. Again I say, seriously. That's really the plot. It's either called The Stranger or The Outsider depending on your translation, and it's the first book by Albert Camus. Now, I loved The Plague, but The Outsider didn't do all that much for me. It was rather Kafka-esque, and I have low patience for these sort of things.

Anyway, it was an interesting read in some ways. It really picked up with the second half after he had been arrested. Though actually the trial was a bit maddening as well. But his outburst at the absurdity of it all was excellent. Again, I recommend The Plague, but this one was fine. And actually quite short.

Now, the next one I really did love. I've noted here before that I have a thing for Russian writers, and The Master and Margarita did not disappoint. It's a retelling of Faust wrapped up with a retelling of the Pontius Pilate story.

This was such a forceful, complex novel. The set-up in the first chapter is amazing, and the tonal change from that chapter to the second leaves you reeling but also shows the author's mastery. While the story builds and continues to raise the stakes in many ways, that second chapter may be my favorite part of the novel. There is so much to unpack here, and I'm sure this is one that would benefit from a few re-reads, as well as some conversations with people who have more expert knowledge and background.

I did love it, but I'm not sure to whom I could recommend it. I'm definitely glad that I've read as much Gogol, Tolstoy, Turgenev, and Dostoevsky as I have, and that I've read Faust (and I guess that being familiar with the Passion helps, too, of course). In some ways it also reminded me of The Satanic Verses. It would be interesting to do a comparative piece with those two. Many, many differences obviously, and written in very different historical moments and cultural contexts (and really literary styles, though they have a similar feel in some ways), but they speak to each other in fascinating ways.