Hits the spot, Mephistopheles rocks and the tragedy will now be highly recommended by me to anyone going through an existential crises =)
Never thought one of my 2 favourite books is so close to being a fanfiction to Faust. Maybe because I practically know Master and Margarita by heart that all the parallels between Mephistopheles and the "court" of Woland, Auerbach's cellar and Woland's offering cigarettes and wine in the novel, Walpurgisnacht - and the Satan's Ball, Emperor's carnival and Woland's performance at Varieté ....
Just like playing a jazz improvisation piece for weeks and then hearing the original :)
Nevertheless, I do not love Master and Margarita any less now, and admire Pasternak even more (not that I ever doubted his genius), and some time - probably when I retire - I should improve my German to the point when I can read the original. In a few years though it will be interesting to come back to it, but to a different version of translation.
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