What is the best translation of The Master and Margarita?

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For most readers, the Burgin & O'Connor translation (1995) of The Master and Margarita is the best place to start: Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor's 1995 translation is the one I'd start with — it reads beautifully in English while staying close to Bulgakov, with excellent notes drawing on decades of scholarship. (The unabridged audiobook uses it too.) Some rank P&V higher for fidelity; for a first read, this is the most enjoyable. This is where I'd start. For most faithful, consider Pevear & Volokhonsky (1997). For the smooth older one, consider Michael Glenny (1967).

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