The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe - Brian P. Levack

Levack's work is a overview of the legal, political, economic, religious, and epidemic circumstances which he argues enabled the great witch-hunts of early modern Europe. Although witches have been a lifelong interest for me, and I was eagerly anticipating reading this book, I found it kind of disappointing, to be honest.

The scope feels too broad - Levack seldom dives deeply into the particulars of any given hunt, preferring to treat the issue in very general terms. The book is surprisingly dry and even boring, which seems nearly impossible, treating as it does the lurid topics of torture, naked dancing, and burning at the stake, which in this book are described in the most clinical, repetitious passages. Levack also almost never includes direct quotes from contemporaries, which would have spiced it up considerably.

I did learn a few things, but the book could have been a third as long and 10 times more exciting. Especially on the heals of Erickson's riveting historical drama about Mary Tudor, this was pretty dull. Would not recommend.

Demons (formerly translated as The Possessed)

Finished reading Dostoevsky's "Demons" (1872) for my Russian lit class. I am huge fan of Dostoevsky, and although this is not my favorite of his works, it was still highly enjoyable. Set in a provincial Russian town in the late 19th century, "Demons" chronicles the banal intrigues of a band of revolutionary conspirators and the madness they incite in the townspeople. The novel is based in part on the real-life political murder of Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov and seeks to deride the various ideologies prominent at the time. Written about 50 years before the October Revolution, Dostoevsky's characterization of the revolutionaries is shockingly prophetic in some places.

Definitely recommend, particularly if you liked:
--"The Master and Margarita" (1940), by Mikhail Bulgakov, which is heavily influenced by this work
--"Petersburg" (1913, 1922), by Andrei Bely, also heavily influenced by Demons

Satan in Goray

Just finished reading Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Satan in Goray" for my Russian lit class, Literature of Destruction. The novel was written in Yiddish in 1955.

This apocalyptic novel takes place in 1648 in Goray, Poland. Goray is a small Jewish town "at the end of the world" (a deliberately ambiguous phrase, it can mean either temporally or spatially or both). Many of the Orthodox residents become convinced that the end of the world is at hand after hearing news of Sabbatai Zevi, a rabbi who has proclaimed himself the Messiah. Zeal for the end of days leads Goray into depravity and madness.

This book is fantastic, I highly recommend it! I particularly recommend it if you liked:

-- "Everything is Illuminated," (2002) by Jonathon Safran Foer, which clearly took a lot from this work.
-- "One Hundred Years of Solitude," (1967) by Gabriel García Márquez. (Jesse, don't be deterred.)

The Master and Margarita

A while ago I read Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, which is great. A wild caper in which the devil and his friends come to Moscow and wreak havoc. The protagonist, the Master, is thought by most to be largely autobiographical.

Bulgakov worked on the book from 1928 until his death in 1940. In 1930, after a campaign denouncing him as anti-Soviet, Bulgakov burnt the first manuscript. He later returned to the novel, although he did not live to see it published. The uncensored version of the novel was not published in the Soviet Union until 1973.

It is a fantastic work, and many quotes are famous in Russia even today (according to my Russian lit prof, Zhenya Bershtein). I highly recommend it!!