Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita is required reading if you want to understand the Russian psyche.

If you have ever wondered why people in Russia (and the entire ex-Soviet union) treat you with suspicion, then this story may serve to explain why.

The story is in two parts. The first half of the book - my favourite part - tells about a mysterious foreigner who can predict the future and make terrible things happen.

Unknown to the characters in the book, this mysterious foreigner is the devil - he can make anything happen, from chopping someones head off and replacing it to turning money into rubbish.

This part of the story is a taste of the xenophobic folklore of the USSR. The second half of the book is about the devils party. He holds a ball for the worlds most historic characters going back to Roman times until world war two.

It all leads up to its enigmatic finish. An exciting book.

The translation in English isn't the best with use of some words that aren't commonly spoken. It seems like they fell for the classic trap that Russians tend to fall for - they try to use the longest word they can find out of all the translations because it makes them seem more intelligent. For example, in the book, people who speak are constantly referred to as 'interlocutors'.