Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Mieville's foray into popular history writing gives the reader a sense of the momentum and excitement generated by the Russian Revolution. Histories are rarely page-turners, but "October" is the rare exception. I also appreciated how, in contrast to other older popular histories of the Russian Revolution (looking at you Edmund Wilson), Mieville incorporate's perspectives from across the Russian empire and across age, gender, and class demographics.
"October" is a fast, exciting read, but it does have two serious flaws. While the book is written in an accessible style, it's portrayal of such a wide-ranging and diverse movement makes it difficult to follow at times. There are so many characters introduced that it is a challenge to keep track of them all. Paradoxically, though Mieville does bring in outside voices, "October" often feels insular. It was not always clear to me why the Russian Revolution was important. More context for how the Russian Revolution was perceived by those outside of Russia would have ameliorated this problem.
A worthwhile read overall and one I would highly recommend to those sympathetic to the political left, but unfamiliar with the Russian Revolution's history. For those looking for a sober synthesis of that history I would recommend Sheila Fitzpatrick's "The Russian Revolution" as an alternative.
"October" is a fast, exciting read, but it does have two serious flaws. While the book is written in an accessible style, it's portrayal of such a wide-ranging and diverse movement makes it difficult to follow at times. There are so many characters introduced that it is a challenge to keep track of them all. Paradoxically, though Mieville does bring in outside voices, "October" often feels insular. It was not always clear to me why the Russian Revolution was important. More context for how the Russian Revolution was perceived by those outside of Russia would have ameliorated this problem.
A worthwhile read overall and one I would highly recommend to those sympathetic to the political left, but unfamiliar with the Russian Revolution's history. For those looking for a sober synthesis of that history I would recommend Sheila Fitzpatrick's "The Russian Revolution" as an alternative.
Ein gut recherchiertes Werk zum Thema, das ich jedoch eher Studenten und/oder Einwohnern Russlands empfehlen kann. Mieville geht sehr in die Tiefe. Beschreibt Sitzungen, Diskussionen und erwähnt Namen, die man in unseren Breitengraden wohl noch nie gehört hat.
Ich konnte ein paar neue interessante Fakten erfahren, aber wie gesagt, grundsätzlich war es mir etwas zu viel des Guten. Zwar interessiere ich mich sehr für das Thema, aber wer was an welcher Sitzung gesagt, ist für mich persönlich dann doch eher weniger relevant.
Aber wer eben dieses vertiefte Wissen sucht, sollte unbedingt zu diesem Buch greifen.
Ich konnte ein paar neue interessante Fakten erfahren, aber wie gesagt, grundsätzlich war es mir etwas zu viel des Guten. Zwar interessiere ich mich sehr für das Thema, aber wer was an welcher Sitzung gesagt, ist für mich persönlich dann doch eher weniger relevant.
Aber wer eben dieses vertiefte Wissen sucht, sollte unbedingt zu diesem Buch greifen.
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
I have been a frequent reader of Miéville for decades now, but never knew he wrote nonfiction. When I saw this on the new book shelf of my local library, the subject matter made sense to me --- Miéville has always shown interest in revolution. The first novel of his I read ([b:Perdido Street Station|68494|Perdido Street Station (Bas-Lag, #1)|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1393537963s/68494.jpg|3221410]) had obvious nods to the revolutionary press, and one of my favorite works of his ([b:Embassytown|9265453|Embassytown|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320470326s/9265453.jpg|14146240]) takes place during a popular uprising. Since I hadn't read anything about the Russian Revolution in over 30 years, I thought I would give this a try.
This is much more of a story of the Russian Revolution than a history. You won't see footnotes and citations (although Miéville does list his sources at the back), and the narrative flow and sense of progression is much more important to Miéville than exposition. So, at least at the beginning of the book, I was regularly running to Wikipedia to fill in what I did not understand. There's a loss and gain with Miéville's approach; I felt a great deal of tension throughout the work and was struck by the many reversals (of fate, philosophy, and political character). But at the same time, I was left confused at times how those reversals came to be. In particular, at times I found it hard to understand how Bolshevikism maintained such an attraction to the Russian people. I wish there had been a greater emphasis on the "why"s.
What Miéville excels at, however, are the descriptions of chaos, of political movement, of parties and individuals struggling (and often failing) to keep track of the zeitgeist. There's a beautiful chapter where Lenin and the other emigres return to Russia and immediately galvanize a process that was headed towards liberal moderation, and I got the strong sense of how quickly a country (adrift from its historical system of governance and engaged in a continental war) could change moods.
Miéville is very clearly pro-revolution (or, at least, in favor of the theoretical ideal of revolution), and his epilogue touches on the post-1918 events without dwelling on them. (For example, there is no mention of the killing of Nicholas II and his family.) Miéville wants to honor those who carried out the work of revolution and not see the horrible aftereffects as necessarily connected to the early work. That doesn't quite work for me, but I have to admit that with my limited historical knowledge I don't have any developed counterarguments.
(I will also mention that Miéville's love of trains --- most recently seen in [b:Railsea|12392681|Railsea|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1321409808s/12392681.jpg|17373771] --- is frequently on display here.)
I would definitely recommend this to lovers of history or Miéville and would really appreciate suggestions on different perspectives.
This is much more of a story of the Russian Revolution than a history. You won't see footnotes and citations (although Miéville does list his sources at the back), and the narrative flow and sense of progression is much more important to Miéville than exposition. So, at least at the beginning of the book, I was regularly running to Wikipedia to fill in what I did not understand. There's a loss and gain with Miéville's approach; I felt a great deal of tension throughout the work and was struck by the many reversals (of fate, philosophy, and political character). But at the same time, I was left confused at times how those reversals came to be. In particular, at times I found it hard to understand how Bolshevikism maintained such an attraction to the Russian people. I wish there had been a greater emphasis on the "why"s.
What Miéville excels at, however, are the descriptions of chaos, of political movement, of parties and individuals struggling (and often failing) to keep track of the zeitgeist. There's a beautiful chapter where Lenin and the other emigres return to Russia and immediately galvanize a process that was headed towards liberal moderation, and I got the strong sense of how quickly a country (adrift from its historical system of governance and engaged in a continental war) could change moods.
Miéville is very clearly pro-revolution (or, at least, in favor of the theoretical ideal of revolution), and his epilogue touches on the post-1918 events without dwelling on them. (For example, there is no mention of the killing of Nicholas II and his family.) Miéville wants to honor those who carried out the work of revolution and not see the horrible aftereffects as necessarily connected to the early work. That doesn't quite work for me, but I have to admit that with my limited historical knowledge I don't have any developed counterarguments.
(I will also mention that Miéville's love of trains --- most recently seen in [b:Railsea|12392681|Railsea|China Miéville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1321409808s/12392681.jpg|17373771] --- is frequently on display here.)
I would definitely recommend this to lovers of history or Miéville and would really appreciate suggestions on different perspectives.
A narrative of breathtaking scope and complexity told with Mieville’s limpid prose. At this point, I’d read anything that he writes. China Mieville has written as copy for fast-food chains? I’m there. China Mieville has written a treatise of geological formations of South America? I’m getting my preorder in now.
Εξαιρετικό ιστορικό βιβλίο που διαβάζεται πολύ εύκολα, σαν μυθιστόρημα. Πολύ κατατοπιστικό στο τι προηγήθηκε της σταλινικής Ρωσίας. Σίγουρα η βιβλιογραφία είναι πολύ μεγάλη, αλλά είναι μια καλή αρχή.
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
The story of the Russian revolution, told in a pretty exciting way. Getting me interested in history again, thanks Miéville!
This is a highly partisan account of the Russian Revolution. As Miéville is honest about his views, that is not necessarily a problem in itself. But I missed the human element. It seems to me that the benefit of a novelist writing a work of history is a deeper insight into human motivation. Yet that was missing. I didn’t gain a greater understanding of why the Russian Revolution happened when and in the way that it did. I wish Miéville had written a novel instead. If you want to understand the Russian Revolution, read Orlando Figes.
