The master and margarita

To my regulars sorry this has been a while coming! The master and margarita is a classic of russian literature. It is one of the most popular books in Russia which is not too shabby considering it was written back in 1928. So if you meet a russian and you've read this book you're halfway to a conversation (obviously this only works if you both can speak the same language). It was written by Mikhail Bulgakov who fact fans stalin convinced not to leave the country back when he was miserable. The book is set in 1920s russia and there's three stories to it really although they are all intertwined. The main part of it is about Woland, a magician and his entourage, Behemouth (a large vodka drinking, train riding black cat) and korokev. Woland is basically the devil, well literally the devil is a more precise description and him and his two pals wreak havoc on the city especially within the literary elite but it is funny and they are likeable characters, you actually side with the baddies in this story, which was Bulgakovs intention as this represents people standing up against the strict russian bureaucracies and government of the time, and how silly it all is. These parts are set in moscow, there's an analogous story running alongside set in Jerusalem about pontius pilate and the trial of yeshua who is a jesus like character which ties together with the story of the master (who wrote a novel about pontius pilate and yeshua) and his lost love margarita, one of the better female characters i've read in fiction, who makes a deal with the devil (Woland), becoming a broomstick riding, hostess of satans ball in order to be reunited with her love. It's an incredible novel which my synopsis doesn't do the slightest bit of justice. It's very funny, honestly really really funny, it's got layers and layers and layers to it, you do need to concentrate reading it though you can miss alot of the best bits without even realising (I know this cause I did, it was only after I went to a class about it that I really appreciated it). The last thing I have to say is a little word of warning, there's several different translations of this, if you fancy reading it the Picador version is the best, I promise and you'll get a lot more out of it if you read the notes at the back alongside reading the actual story, it is a bit of a pain, but there's a fair amount of things in it that get funnier with a little bit extra explanation. Absolutely worth the effort it takes to read.

Steve Jobs

First a little note, i've the review of two books coming in about three weeks or so, i've a class on them so i'm holding off my initial thoughts until in all honesty I understand what they're about a bit better. Enough about that though we have more important matters at hand namely Steve Jobs biography by Walter Issacson. Steve Jobs, as the majority of people know was the founder of Apple and died of cancer in 2011. I bought this book for my brother a couple of christmases ago and I borrowed it off him last week as i'm considering getting a Mac and I was a bit curious about the man who started the company. Biographies aren't my usual reading fodder so i'm not too sure how to go about rating it but i'll have a crack at it anyway. First off Steve Jobs really is terribly interesting if not altogether likeable. The book takes us from his childhood right through to his death. It's an easy book to read and covers everything that happened in Jobs life fluently although there is a bit of repetition here and there. It also seems pretty honest, not overtly biased towards Jobs although I did get a creeping feeling that the author was in the Steve Jobs camp unless microsoft is actually evil. We learn (or perhaps this was already known, I only had rudimentary knowledge of Jobs prior to reading this) that Jobs was kind of a hippie. He was also a genius. He was also temperamental, moody and also nearly always got his way. He'd steal employees ideas proclaiming them as shit and then a week later passing them off as his own. He was manipulative and mean and I got the impression he never really grew up. But he was charismatic and he stuck by his convictions (which worked well as he was rarely wrong) and without him I doubt the world would be as it is today. He also was the CEO of pixar, and my love for pixar films will forever forgive any wrongs. Basically although a flawed man he had one trump card and that was that he'd stand behind what he believed in, he wouldn't be bullied or compromise and if he said something seemingly impossible could be done people would get it done. The book is full of interesting little facts, he and his buddy steve wozniak (who is some kind of computer genius) started Apple pretty much in his Dads garage. And it's named Apple because at the time Jobs was eating only Apples (he was for periods of time a fruitarian, or would eat only one food for weeks at a time). The slate in Apple stores is all from Italy. The staircases in them was his idea too. Rounded corner rectangles are his favourite shape (look at your iphone). He was kicked out of Apple in the late 90s. When he returned to the helm it's was in a lot of trouble and he pretty much resurrected it, turning it into the most successful company in the world. Macs are named after macintosh reds (the greatest apple known to man). The i in iphone etc stands for internet. And if you want anymore facts you should read this biography. A quick search on the internet would probably give you all the information you could need on the man though. It's not a necessary, essential must read but its inspiring and interesting all the same. 3 stars.