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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
There's an ongoing debate I am interested in whether or not Marxism-Leninism inevitably led to Stalinism and Mieville is firmly on the side of, "No." This is a thrilling, fascinating narrative that gives the reader the barest understanding of what it was like to be among the revolutionaries in Petrograd in 1917 -- the anxiety, boundless hope, impatience, absurdity, and sense that history was being irrevocably made. Also, it gives a sense of how parliamentary they were. So. Many. Committee. Meetings. It's difficult to remember all the different civic, party, and government institutions vying, bickering, deciding, reneging, debating, voting, minuting, calling points of order, proclaiming, condemning, celebrating.
Above all, October is Mieville's jeremiad. On every page, he seems to be lamenting, "It could have been different."
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Later Note: One thing that Mieville does explain well is why so many people idolize Lenin, which is, ironically, the reason I have a difficult time taking the man seriously -- He was a zealot. Arguably, Leninism did not inevitably lead to Stalinism, but Lenin's uncompromising dogmatism and fanatical devotion to his social engineering "science" certainly seems to be a main ingredient of the totalitarian meat grinder that emerged under his successor.
Above all, October is Mieville's jeremiad. On every page, he seems to be lamenting, "It could have been different."
#
Later Note: One thing that Mieville does explain well is why so many people idolize Lenin, which is, ironically, the reason I have a difficult time taking the man seriously -- He was a zealot. Arguably, Leninism did not inevitably lead to Stalinism, but Lenin's uncompromising dogmatism and fanatical devotion to his social engineering "science" certainly seems to be a main ingredient of the totalitarian meat grinder that emerged under his successor.
slow-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
A good introduction to the Russian Revolution but not a perfect one. If this was intended to be the first book someone read about revolution, communism and the like then this is a failure in accessibility. This book is just over 300 pages long and took me quite some time to read because of the overly clunky style of writing and the use of words most people will not find in their vocabulary. There were many times I had to stop and scrutinise the exact meaning of something that could have more simply been explained or described. This book is overwrought with unnecessary complexity when simplicity would have served it better.
When there were literary descriptions they were had to understand and difficult to imagine, for someone who writes science fiction, you would have thought the author could describe a place well, but alas I hardly saw action in my mind. If his fiction is written in the same manner, then I would find it a chore to read and difficult to feel an attachment to.
Overall this book succeeds in keeping the chain of events and all the players in line and easily remembered, which is no small feat. It's worth reading if you're willing to struggle with it.
When there were literary descriptions they were had to understand and difficult to imagine, for someone who writes science fiction, you would have thought the author could describe a place well, but alas I hardly saw action in my mind. If his fiction is written in the same manner, then I would find it a chore to read and difficult to feel an attachment to.
Overall this book succeeds in keeping the chain of events and all the players in line and easily remembered, which is no small feat. It's worth reading if you're willing to struggle with it.
Excellent, highly readable narrative summary of the Russian Revolution for dummies (like me). Follows the events of 1917 in reasonable detail, dedicating a chapter to each month from February to October. An epilogue briefly considers the ultimate failure of the new Soviet Republic in terms of the horror to come. I'm sure I wouldn't have had the attention span for this more than two years ago, before I started following U.S. politics in detail; now, this story of factions of men shouting, politicking, and manipulating one another in the service of what each of them believes to be a better Russia is gripping, illuminatory, and instructive.
I just couldn't get into this: it didn't engage me at all, and right up to the end I found my mind wandering and confused over details. I might have coped better if I'd read it on paper, at my own pace, rather than being forced to the pace of an audiobook (with many rewindings), but I think the book needs to do more to introduce the huge number of characters. I've often noticed that fiction writers switching to academic writing tend to try a little too hard, and I think that's the case here.
More novelists should write history books. This narrative is always a huge jumble of names, bridges and speeches, but Miéville brought a strong narrative sense to it without dumbing it down. I would have liked a bit more about the women, beyond just single word descriptors (usually "brilliant" rather than a comment on appearances, at least) but I've found other resources for those...
An accessible narrative history of the Russian Revolution. Miéville begins by setting the scene of Russia on the eve of the 1917 February revolution: the Romanov dynasty and its paltry concessionary reforms, the failed 1905 revolution, and the early machinations of various relevant political groups. This short introduction is followed by a month by month account of events from February to October, with an epilogue briefly covering future events and a reflection on their inevitability or not.
With each chapter dedicated to a month's events, primarily centring on Petrograd, the pacing is inevitably somewhat juddery to start. Yet Miéville knows how to tell a story and grapples well with a huge cast of characters and the labyrinthine political developments of the various relevant groupings. This is aided my an appended glossary of personal names (though not exhaustive), though would have benefited from a similar glossary detailing the various groupings, committees and organisations that are peppered throughout the story.
I am by no means an expert, but this work reads as meticulously researched (though not an academic text, Miéville presents a selection of further reading with a short description of each relevant text). With the caveat that my personal political views are probably quite similar to Miéville's, it also feels fairly even handed. Miéville's sympathy clearly lies with the revolution, yet this support is far from uncritical. There are no real heroes and villains. Lenin the hero of the revolution is nowhere to be seen, instead we see an ill-tempered writer and orator, much more swept along by the chaotic churn of events than leading them. The epilogue laments the rapid descent from hopeful optimism to authoritarianism, statism, and the crushing of dissent.
With each chapter dedicated to a month's events, primarily centring on Petrograd, the pacing is inevitably somewhat juddery to start. Yet Miéville knows how to tell a story and grapples well with a huge cast of characters and the labyrinthine political developments of the various relevant groupings. This is aided my an appended glossary of personal names (though not exhaustive), though would have benefited from a similar glossary detailing the various groupings, committees and organisations that are peppered throughout the story.
I am by no means an expert, but this work reads as meticulously researched (though not an academic text, Miéville presents a selection of further reading with a short description of each relevant text). With the caveat that my personal political views are probably quite similar to Miéville's, it also feels fairly even handed. Miéville's sympathy clearly lies with the revolution, yet this support is far from uncritical. There are no real heroes and villains. Lenin the hero of the revolution is nowhere to be seen, instead we see an ill-tempered writer and orator, much more swept along by the chaotic churn of events than leading them. The epilogue laments the rapid descent from hopeful optimism to authoritarianism, statism, and the crushing of dissent.
informative
slow-paced