Minutes to the 12/08/07 MDS Meeting

For many, winter comes as a mixed blessing. Yes, there’s pretty snow – then again, it only turns to ugly slush soon after. Yes, no one is suffering in oppressive heat and humidity – then again, it gets really ‘effing cold, so much so that your eyeballs might nearly shatter in the bitter wind. Yes, you get to enjoy some time away from work or school and spend time with your loved ones – then again, you have to spend time with your loved ones.

But for your humble scribe, no matter how much of the above rings true, the promise of the Moby Dick Society allows him to stay somewhat sane. Every year, we re-convene and re-create the magic first kindled nigh on two years ago. And so it was with great joy and warmth that this first MDS meeting of the season commenced, everyone sitting around with a book in hand, and in front of a naked Christmas tree.

Even the angels above could not have set a nicer scene.

IN ATTENDANCE
Maggie, Dan, Erin & Ruth

RESOLUTIONS
- IT IS HEREBY RESOVLED that the next reading assignment is to finish Part I of the book ( i.e. read through page 181 of the red cover edition) and that the next meeting shall be on Sunday, December 30, 2007 at 4pm in the Charleston;
- IT IS HEREBY RESOVLED that the translators really should have Anglicized the names since they're really confusing;
- IT IS HEREBY RESOVLED that Ruth gets an extra-special Gold Star for having successfully attended both meetings of the MDS: The Master and Margarita Edition – whoopee…;
- IT IS HEREBY RESOVLED that along similar lines, Erin gets the super-special Gold Star for having read the furthest;
- IT IS HEREBY RESOVLED that the best thing about this red cover edition is that there are notes in the back!!!

In Soviet Russia, books read you!
- First of all, people like the book (phew…) , though it could stand to benefit from a little more action (imagine if Indiana Jones was in this story!);
- Second of all, the book is a little confusing;
- To wit, people seem to disappear randomly. Shouldn't this cause more alarm than what we've seen in the book? Hardly, it turns out – people disappeared all of the time during this period of political upheaval;
- Also, why does the government subsidize such a big, nice house for these writers? Why to better control them! Well-fed and well-entertained literati are less likely to talk smack about the government;
- These all illustrate Bulgakov's blatant satire. In addition, the exchange or promise of money proves to be a driving force of change – very interesting considering this is set in Communist city where money should not have any meaning;
- Faust is a huge source of inspiration for Bulgakov, in case the quote attributed to him at the very beginning didn't spell it out clearly enough;
- To wit, the Devil's name "Woland" is interesting since there is no "W" in the Cyrillic alphabet, and so it can be assumed that the use of the "W" is on account of the Faustian character Mephistopheles, an alias for Satan, and a name that begins with an upside-down "W";
- AND! AND!!! Faust is traditionally thought of as an alchemist or magician – just like Woland!;
- On the other hand, the story of Pontius Pilate as told in the book doesn't quite match up with the version found in the Bible. No, I don't know why/how they're different – while others may have mentioned this, the Secretary was probably busy stirring the chili at that point;
- Speaking of unreliable narrators, the story's narrator is a bit dodgy. The story is largely told by a third-person narrator, yet he or she sometimes inserts himself into the story ("I even seem to recall that Griboyedov did not have an aunt who owned property…", page 45), a dicey situation to be sure. Narrators such as these should be reported to the local committee;
- And for the record, while most of these ideas are touched upon in the Notes section, the assembled MDS members totally caught these anyway. Because we're all smart like that.