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Max'sKansasCity

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treaclefingers

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Max'sKansasCity
Without a lot of extra commentary and/or chiding...
Can anyone give a synopsis of why/how this particular story inspired the song Sympathy for the Devil?

I had read that Mick's inspiration from the book was that the devil, or evil has been present at all points in history, and Sympathy was simply a synopsis of some key points, updating it to the killing of Kennedy (updated to the Kennedy's after Robert was assassinated).

Thank you


Do you know.... Does Mick claims to have read this book?

I believe he read it...I think I got that from Spanish Tony's book, so unless he made that up as well as so many other things.

The book was one of my bedtime reading,fave book, as "The Prince " was .
For different reasons ;
" Le Maître et Marguerite " because I would ,if I could,sell my soul for immortality .

Niccolò gave me an 19 .5 on 20 when I graduated .

A Russian movie version was released in 1994. I watched a couple minutes of it (below) just to get a taste of it, but no more since I don't speak Russian.

It is amazingly descriptive which has been enjoyable. And while I have been confused at times I just keep plowing ahead. Like I said, it is definitely a bit of work to read at times but I am enjoying it. Just starting Book 2.

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Come On
Funny Book. this one and Catch 22 and Soldier Svejk is books that I really apreciate...

I wish Mick had said Heart of Stone was inspired by Heart of a Dog. More people would have gotten around to enjoying Bulgakov.

Kenneth Anger claims to have inspired Mick to write this song. He turned him, and Anita, onto black magick and Crowley. She was really into it for awhile there.

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GravityBoy
OK I just read some reviews of the book.

I'm convinced.

I've just ordered it.

The Michael Glenny translation seems to be popular. Someone on Amazon kindly posted the same passage by two different translators and the Glenny one was much more likeable.

It's always the case with Russian novels. Some translations are hard going.

I finished reading it last night.

I found most of it hard work and really lost interest at the end and was relieved to put it down.

The parts with Pontius Pilate were interesting and some other bits but overall it didn't do anything to me. One random madcap event after another (someone said it's like The Mighty Boosh but not funny).

Maybe you have to be Russian.

Apparantly Andrew Lloyd Weber was working on making this a musical.. I can't imagine how that would have turned out.

Well, GB, it's one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature, and your intellectual experience is enlarged to have read it.

I don't think I'm entitely alone in thinking it's hard work.

I've been reading reviews.

I think there may be a touch of "the king's clothes" about it.

Still it wasn't all bad... I'd like to have seen the Andrew Lloyd Weber take on the naked witches.

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Max'sKansasCity
Without a lot of extra commentary and/or chiding...
Can anyone give a synopsis of why/how this particular story inspired the song Sympathy for the Devil?

I think the main link is that the book depicts the devil as this very suave and cultured person -

Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste

I liked Master and Margarita when I read it, but that's a long time ago. Read it again 2 years ago and it was disappointing. The 1st half of the book is a much better read than the second, when it all gets a bit lost, unlike books by the better writers in history who can build up something without it ever going down again. All in all, it's a good book, but meant for 20 years old people, as a plot like that should go deeper as the book progresses, instead of turning into more of a fairy tale without connection to religious, human ethics or trancendents in a relevant or interesting way. It had the possibility of going deeper, but it didn't. Still: it's worth reading, and so is "Heart of a Dog", also by Bulgakov



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-09 12:48 by Erik_Snow.

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Child Of Clay
Bulgakov is great, this is is probably the best book I've ever read. If you're not a reader it's not a good one to start with, but it's not a difficult read like James Joyce's Ulysses (not to mention Finnegan's Wake).
That Russian tv-series (at least 10 one hour episodes long) is a great, faithful version of it, and features a very beautiful, and generously topless Margarita...

All the episodes of the fantastic Russian TV series are on YouTube, with subtitles. Here is the first episode :

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walkingthedog

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Child Of Clay
Bulgakov is great, this is is probably the best book I've ever read. If you're not a reader it's not a good one to start with, but it's not a difficult read like James Joyce's Ulysses (not to mention Finnegan's Wake).
That Russian tv-series (at least 10 one hour episodes long) is a great, faithful version of it, and features a very beautiful, and generously topless Margarita...

All the episodes of the fantastic Russian TV series are on YouTube, with subtitles. Here is the first episode :

I'm guessing episode 7 is really good.

:-)