The master and Margarita

I first encountered Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece during three summer evenings in 1971 on a balcony in Saigon, surrounded by the heavy tropical air filled with various scents and the ambiguous horizon. Each night, I would explore the city's steamy back alleys, listening to the stories of its people, which Bulgakov helped me appreciate in a new way. This blend of the fantastic and the realistic, often referred to as "magical realism," resonated deeply with the Vietnamese mythos and the contemporary zeitgeist. It’s important to note that this style was not solely the invention of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose acclaimed work came nearly three decades later. That summer, characters like a vodka-drinking black cat, a group of beautiful witches, Pontius Pilate, and a host of writers from Stalinist Moscow became ingrained in my creative consciousness. Their influence has significantly shaped the work I cherish most. When asked for a list of favorite authors, my advice is simple: read Bulgakov. His insights will reveal essential truths about the world around you in this new century.