Master and Margarita Introduction | Resources | Posts Archive
Hi everyone! Happy New Year! It’s the first day of 2026, and I’m excited to be starting the year with this wonderful novel.
If you’re receiving this in your email or Substack inbox, you’re already subscribed to the weekly posts. You’ll find the full schedule in the introduction post, along with a review of four English translations to help you choose one. This time, I’ll be reading the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. It isn’t my favourite, but it is my preferred edition and I’m curious to see whether my bias against this translation duo is justified.
Introduction
Today’s post includes a brief introduction from me and a chance for you to meet fellow readers who’ll be joining us next year.
In the comments, tell us where you’re from and why you decided to take part. Let us know whether this is your first time reading the novel and which translation you’ve chosen.
Who am I?
I am Cams Campbell. I was born in 1971 and grew up on the west coast of Scotland. I now live on the Isle of Arran, having moved here from Luxembourg in 2008.
I studied Russian in the Royal Corps of Signals and was discharged after a climbing accident during an exercise in the Lake District. I later studied Russian language and literature at the University of St Andrews. You can read about the literature I covered there in this series of posts.
I got a Master’s in Russian translation and interpreting from the University of Bradford and then worked as a translator in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg for eight years. I gave that up to buy a post office on the Isle of Arran, where we now live.
I’ve been a reader all my life and started my Substack and BookTube channels in 2024. I find solace, entertainment, community and friendship in the online book space. It wasn’t long before I found other bookish creators doing amazing things, which inspired me to start running my own read-alongs. That’s exactly what I did.
My goal here is to help readers who have always wanted to read classics but have felt intimidated. I came to literature from a working-class background and received a poor education through mainstream schooling. I have ADHD and autism, which led me to fail badly at school and turn to alcohol and drugs. The army saved me. It was as a junior soldier at the Army Apprentices’ College in Harrogate that my journey towards self-belief and a love of Russian literature began.
When I arrived at St Andrews, my literature essays were only just passable. That changed when I read Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov. I recognised myself in the character, wrote a strong essay and found myself hooked on classic Russian literature.
Don’t get me wrong, I still read plenty of epic fantasy, sci-fi and horror. I do love a good Stephen King novel! But classic literature has a certain universality, or it would not still be popular today. Prince Andrei’s lofty sky from War and Peace has stayed with me as a meaningful way of seeing the world. Levin saw the same sky in Anna Karenina. It doesn’t really get any more universal.
I’m not an academic. I don’t publish papers on literature or follow PhD syllabuses. I don’t read literary journals. I’m just a guy who finds himself through books and enjoys making connections with his own life experiences. A funny example of this is that I recently made a connection between Anna Karenina and the grimdark fantasy novel Sons of Darkness in a recent video I made. You’ll find your own way of relating too.
As a lover of fantasy and grimdark, there’s no better Russian novel than The Master and Margarita. I hope you’ll join me and have a great time with it!
See you in 1930s Moscow!
Cams
I read the book in the late 1980s, and I remember the opening scene very vividly, when they .... well .... drink warm apricot juices.
I don’t remember the plot, and I expect that as I read, it will feel familiar again.
I am looking forward to understanding more of it with Cam’s guidance.
I read The White Guard with Cam’s help, and I especially liked when he wrote, “now pay attention, this will be important later.”
My english is not the best, my first language is Hungarian. I am reading a Hungarian translation published in 1981.
Hello Cams and anyone else reading along. Matthew here. I am a retired sailor living in very rural western Tennessee in the U.S. I spend my days reading, writing, walking my dog, and listening to jazz. I rarely join read-alongs because I have so many of my own reading projects but this book has been on my TBR for a few years now. I have enjoyed other Russian lit I have read and am looking forward to this one. I made the decision to join a bit late so my copy doesn't arrive until Saturday but I will catch up quick. Looking forward to the discussions. All the best.