This goes in my bucket of 'great' books that I know meant more than what I gleaned from reading it, but I didn't quite get. How to describe this one? It's a story that bounces back and forth in time from the crucifixion of Christ to Soviet Russia during the 1930's. It has elements of Dante's inferno and making a deal with the devil. Pieces of this story were amazingly descriptive and beautifully written, but I am embarrassed to say that much of this book was way over my head. If I had to draw a simple outline of what happened in this book, I'm not sure I could write something that was even slightly coherent. Definitely in the pile of books to read again.