The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Okay, I have made a decision. I am not reading any more Russian novels in translation.
I'm sure this book is AMAZING if you are actually Russian, and get all the references.

But even with the annotations, it felt like when you go meet your new boyfriend's best friends, and he's all "oh, right, we always say that when someone drops a fork" or "that's the name of Jeff's old band" or something, and you kind of laugh but it just doesn't have the resonance.

It is worth it for Chapter 21, "Flight", though. Just read that bit.