The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The description on the cover of the Master and Margarita tells us more about the content of this book than the typical description might. It begins “One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka”. From reading this, I already knew that I was approaching a book that would be both unusual and magical. The devil does arrive in a Moscow that does not believe in either gods or devils, and the reader follows the exploits of his crew as they run amok. The book also contains the tale of Pontius Pilate who, although he sentences a prophet to death, still craves his companionship and redemption. The Master is a writer whose masterpiece is a novel about Pontius Pilate, and Margarita is his devoted lover. All three stories eventually intersect.

This book is absolutely surreal, which is to be expected after reading the brief description. I re-read some passages, because I thought I must have missed something. The effect is fantastic. I get the feeling that each scene melds into the next – I’m as lost as the characters. I am left wondering whether man’s only peace can be found in death. Based on what I’ve read in the Master and Margarita, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

One of the aspects of the book that I enjoy most is the way that the influence of anything foreign is portrayed. The devil as an unregistered foreign visitor in Moscow is very telling of the way that all foreigners may have been received in Soviet Russia. Characters in the novel are also fearful yet envious of foreign currency and those who possess it. I enjoy these subtle examples of the real social situation in a novel that is filled with magic and sorcery.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. It motivates me to learn more about this period in Russian history; I’m sure I missed many references that would have been obvious to someone who is familiar with the country. A book on Russian history would certainly add some diversity to my reading list.

Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat

Is there anything important that’s actually easier than it looks? Caroline Burau didn’t think becoming a police dispatcher would be easy, but she was surprised just how difficult it turned out to be. Even after a year on the job, she still considered herself—and was considered by others—someone who knew just enough to be dangerous. At first, Burau, as an ex crack addict, was just surprised to get the job at all. She applied after being disillusioned by journalism and giving up nursing school because she couldn’t stand the sight of blood.

There’s a lot of autobiography in Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat (HV7911 .B85 A3 2006), but the most riveting anecdotes concern the calls she takes. The percentage that turn out to be really bad seems even higher than on TV: we don’t get that many stories like “my neighbor’s clarinet is too loud.” I wish we did. While there are quiet times, there are also plenty of heart attacks, “domestics,” and suicides. Burau learns more than she wanted to about her neighbors’ secret lives. Worse, she and her colleagues all have stories about the mistakes they have made: a caller Burau assumed was merely drunk turned out later to have bled to death. After awhile, Burau sees a therapist and wonders if she’s cut out for the job. After two years, she quits her job to become a locksmith, but dispatching has gotten in to her blood—and it pays well, too—and she soon goes back to work for a different department.

Burau confronts myths and truisms about police work: for example, do people whose work brings them in constant contact with life-and-death situations eventually become inured? Her response seems to be “Not really,” and that’s something of a comfort.

Comics in the Classroom

I’m not an artist at all. When it comes to creating attractive pictures that resemble anything, I’m useless. I’ve played around with Bitstrips.com a bit in the past, and I’ve been happy with how easy it is to use. I’ve found that the characters, objects and backgrounds have been very easy to manipulate, but I haven’t come up with any concept for a comic strip that seems engaging enough to be produced on a regular basis.

Bitsrips for Schools has many more possibilities than the limited work that I’ve done. I have read some reviews of teachers saying that students were asked to create comic strips depicting scenes from books that they have read for class. I’m trying to imagine how wonderful and disturbing Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury comic strips could be. An assignment that involved Bitstrips.com wouldn’t only be good for gauging reading comprehension, but also for encouraging computer skills and the use of imagination.

I’m also picturing some really neat Criminal Justice assignments – students could create scenes that depict appropriate and inappropriate officer responses to situation. (Of course, this could end up being MUCH more disturbing than any Kurt Vonnegut book.) The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of using Bitstrips in papers and classroom presentations – hopefully others will agree!