dhgwilliam's review against another edition
5.0
absolutely compelling narrative, worthwhile read for anyone interested in Russia, revolution, or how to build a movement
tumblehawk's review against another edition
3.0
Really wavered between 3 and 4 stars—yet another instance when I wish Goodreads let you do half-stars.
It's impossible to separate my thoughts about this book from my origin story—I am the son of Soviet dissidents, emigres, refugees who fled the USSR for America. Generations of my family (especially on my mother's side) were brutalized by the Soviet state, and I carry all that in me. Despite this background to my life, my knowledge about the particulars of 1917 in Russia has (until now) been pretty scant. As I dig into a new writing project, I felt it would behoove me to gain deeper knowledge of how the revolution unfolded.
There's many texts about 1917, but I wanted something not too dry, so when I saw that celebrated SF/F writer China Mieville* (the author of some great books I've really enjoyed) had written a history of 1917 for leftist press Verso Books I decided to check it out. I came in cautiously—Mieville is an avowed socialist, writing for a leftist press, and I worried that this book would fall in the category of those that lionize/romanticize the Revolution and especially Lenin, eliding his role in some of the early terrors and abuses of the nascent Soviet regime.
The book is a fun one, written with a novelist's flair but (as the intro notes) drawing all of its information from primary and highly regarded secondary sources. Mieville paints the cast of characters well, and he does a great job portraying the labyrinthine jockeying of various leftist factions during a year that stretches into an epochal moment. (The structure of the book is great—a sort of table-setting followed by chapters for each month of 1917 leading up to that fateful October.)
Finally in the last chapter, Mieville grapples with the question that has to be asked: can October 1917 be held blameless for what came after October? He wrestles with this line of questioning admirably, and is not shy about holding the regime's feet (even the youngest days of it) to the fire. But he seems reticent to undercut the romantic portrait of Lenin that he's painted by then. In what seems to me a totally irresponsible act, considering some of his readers might not know this, he doesn't explain that it was Lenin who instituted the Gulag system long before Stalin cranked it to 11, so to speak.
Nor does he give the Tsar (a fascinating, puzzling character for the first half of the book) a coda. Which seems like his way of avoiding a simple fact: Lenin ordered the execution of the Tsar and his entire family. Including young children. Their bodies mutilated and thrown in unmarked graves.
Still, I'm glad I read it. It was full of rich detail which I will plunder for my own writing, and really gave me a sense of what it was like in tumultuous, wild Leningrad (the city of my family for many generations) in that most interesting and fateful year.
*about halfway through this book I learned about abuse allegations against Mieville. very disappointing to say the least. just as the person who passed me this info felt they were doing due diligence in letting me know, so I am in including that info here.
It's impossible to separate my thoughts about this book from my origin story—I am the son of Soviet dissidents, emigres, refugees who fled the USSR for America. Generations of my family (especially on my mother's side) were brutalized by the Soviet state, and I carry all that in me. Despite this background to my life, my knowledge about the particulars of 1917 in Russia has (until now) been pretty scant. As I dig into a new writing project, I felt it would behoove me to gain deeper knowledge of how the revolution unfolded.
There's many texts about 1917, but I wanted something not too dry, so when I saw that celebrated SF/F writer China Mieville* (the author of some great books I've really enjoyed) had written a history of 1917 for leftist press Verso Books I decided to check it out. I came in cautiously—Mieville is an avowed socialist, writing for a leftist press, and I worried that this book would fall in the category of those that lionize/romanticize the Revolution and especially Lenin, eliding his role in some of the early terrors and abuses of the nascent Soviet regime.
The book is a fun one, written with a novelist's flair but (as the intro notes) drawing all of its information from primary and highly regarded secondary sources. Mieville paints the cast of characters well, and he does a great job portraying the labyrinthine jockeying of various leftist factions during a year that stretches into an epochal moment. (The structure of the book is great—a sort of table-setting followed by chapters for each month of 1917 leading up to that fateful October.)
Finally in the last chapter, Mieville grapples with the question that has to be asked: can October 1917 be held blameless for what came after October? He wrestles with this line of questioning admirably, and is not shy about holding the regime's feet (even the youngest days of it) to the fire. But he seems reticent to undercut the romantic portrait of Lenin that he's painted by then. In what seems to me a totally irresponsible act, considering some of his readers might not know this, he doesn't explain that it was Lenin who instituted the Gulag system long before Stalin cranked it to 11, so to speak.
Nor does he give the Tsar (a fascinating, puzzling character for the first half of the book) a coda. Which seems like his way of avoiding a simple fact: Lenin ordered the execution of the Tsar and his entire family. Including young children. Their bodies mutilated and thrown in unmarked graves.
Still, I'm glad I read it. It was full of rich detail which I will plunder for my own writing, and really gave me a sense of what it was like in tumultuous, wild Leningrad (the city of my family for many generations) in that most interesting and fateful year.
*about halfway through this book I learned about abuse allegations against Mieville. very disappointing to say the least. just as the person who passed me this info felt they were doing due diligence in letting me know, so I am in including that info here.
vapblack's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
jpowerj's review against another edition
3.0
[Disclaimer: my attention span is terrible, which did not help in trying to keep up with the events in this book. Also I'd give it 3.5 stars if that was possible] Admittedly, I had overly-high expectations - Mieville said in an interview that he had to cut a ton of stuff out, and I feel like this is very evident in the text. I kept finding myself asking like "wait, why are they meeting now? Where? What was the purpose of this meeting? Who led the meeting? What was the press coverage of the meeting like (though this was sometimes discussed) Who wasn't able to make the meeting? Did that affect the outcome?" and so on. I was just confused throughout the book about how/why/when certain people/groups had openly switched sides or had secretly decided to side with Kerensky (for example). Basically I think it could have just had 3 long chapters - February, July, and October - with all of these details, rather than a chapter for each month. The October chapter was a big blur to me, the only part I really "got" was the battles over the different bridges.
its_kievan's review against another edition
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.0
About 30% of this book is fantastic: tense, gripping prose evoking the frantic atmosphere of revolutionary Russia, Miéville’s craft on full display as the book rushes breathlessly through freezing pre-dawn streets to cramped meetings roaring with radical power.
The other 70% is long lists of people, places, and committees, with no effort made to explain the difference between, say, a Menshevik and a Left SR, or what the hell a Soviet actually is. Miéville’s research and passion are undeniable, but writing accessible history is not the same thing as writing fiction - and however good he is at the latter, he needs some practice at the former.
The other 70% is long lists of people, places, and committees, with no effort made to explain the difference between, say, a Menshevik and a Left SR, or what the hell a Soviet actually is. Miéville’s research and passion are undeniable, but writing accessible history is not the same thing as writing fiction - and however good he is at the latter, he needs some practice at the former.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Gun violence and Rape
howard's review against another edition
3.0
This was kind of a nightmare to get through. Besides my general lack of knowledge on the topic/names of the dozens of key players, this was just horribly written. The first thing that jumped out at me was the immense vocabulary used by Miéville. I am pretty well read and there were just so many words I have NEVER seen before or have maybe seen once in an academic paper. I mostly used context clues to figure these out but there was so many to the point that it was disruptive. I don't know how this is meant to be a beginner friendly text (which it claims in the intro) with the sheer amount of extraneous vocabulary that the average person has no chance of knowing. Second, the sentence structure is just horrible. This is obviously a joke, but it felt like there wasn't a single sentence without at least 3 commas. THERE WERE SO MANY COMMAS. Miéville could not get through a single sentence without interrupting the flow to point out something minute that could have been added at the end. I imagine the audiobook would be very confusing to follow. His transitional sentences also were worded in the most confusing way possible. I often found myself pausing, saying "what?" out loud, and eventually figuring out what he meant after a second or two. Definitely not a good reading experience.
I also feel like he never explained things? He would just throw out a concept in one sentence and completely move on without explaining what it meant or why it was important. For example, I have no idea what right-wing or left-wing mean in the context of Russia in 1917, or what the Bolshevik party stands for (or any of the other parties for that matter). He would say something like "they voted to pass x measure" but not say what the measure entailed or what it would effect. Maybe that wasn't the point of the book as Miéville imagined it, but the information still felt incomplete. All in all I have a vague idea of the timeline but no concrete knowledge about the politics.
I also feel like he never explained things? He would just throw out a concept in one sentence and completely move on without explaining what it meant or why it was important. For example, I have no idea what right-wing or left-wing mean in the context of Russia in 1917, or what the Bolshevik party stands for (or any of the other parties for that matter). He would say something like "they voted to pass x measure" but not say what the measure entailed or what it would effect. Maybe that wasn't the point of the book as Miéville imagined it, but the information still felt incomplete. All in all I have a vague idea of the timeline but no concrete knowledge about the politics.
keegan_leech's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
An absolute standout work of historical writing. Miéville has the most remarkable ability to communicate both the minutiae and the milestones of history with the same thrilling enthusiasm.
The introduction to the book is a perfect example. It sweeps through the entire history of St Petersburg, and with it all of Russia. Miéville covers hundreds of years all without losing sight of small details. Characters and political factions who will remain relevant all the way to the glossary are introduced and developed with a eye to both their personal characters and motivations, and the role they'll play in the grand narrative of history. Amusing anecdotes, small milestones, digressions into historical minutiae all build together into the beginnings of a narrative that, by the time the first chapter arrives, already feels primed to explode in a dozen different directions at once. There are so many moving parts, characters and groups and political ideologies, all jostling to be heard above the din of history and Miéville does an excellent job of giving them all their moment.
The sheer number of things going on, and characters involved can sometimes make for a very dense narrative. I recommend making frequent use of the glossary of important characters and, where that doesn't suffice, using the index or outside sources to frequently remind yourself of who all the important parties are. However, the breathless emotional undercurrent which drives the book makes it infectiously readable. It is very easy to feel engrossed in even seemingly banal details of bureaucratic hair-splitting, letter-writing, and endless committees and proclamations.
This is a (very well narrated) story of one of the most interesting moments in political history, and any writer would be hard-pressed to explore it with the nuance and infectious vitality that Miéville brings to its events. October is a must-read for anyone even vaguely interested not just in the October revolution, but in the chaotic and lively workings of history and politics in general.
The introduction to the book is a perfect example. It sweeps through the entire history of St Petersburg, and with it all of Russia. Miéville covers hundreds of years all without losing sight of small details. Characters and political factions who will remain relevant all the way to the glossary are introduced and developed with a eye to both their personal characters and motivations, and the role they'll play in the grand narrative of history. Amusing anecdotes, small milestones, digressions into historical minutiae all build together into the beginnings of a narrative that, by the time the first chapter arrives, already feels primed to explode in a dozen different directions at once. There are so many moving parts, characters and groups and political ideologies, all jostling to be heard above the din of history and Miéville does an excellent job of giving them all their moment.
The sheer number of things going on, and characters involved can sometimes make for a very dense narrative. I recommend making frequent use of the glossary of important characters and, where that doesn't suffice, using the index or outside sources to frequently remind yourself of who all the important parties are. However, the breathless emotional undercurrent which drives the book makes it infectiously readable. It is very easy to feel engrossed in even seemingly banal details of bureaucratic hair-splitting, letter-writing, and endless committees and proclamations.
This is a (very well narrated) story of one of the most interesting moments in political history, and any writer would be hard-pressed to explore it with the nuance and infectious vitality that Miéville brings to its events. October is a must-read for anyone even vaguely interested not just in the October revolution, but in the chaotic and lively workings of history and politics in general.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Murder, Classism, Antisemitism, Suicide, and War
It feels wrong to tag this with "classism" but I guess it's accurate? It's a revolution that took place in the midst of war and famine. There are no gory details, but plenty of the expected violence, suffering, and death is mentioned.exarchic's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
An exceptional read about the failed 1905 Russian Revolution and the 1917 Russian Revolution. I genuinely cannot recommend this book enough if you want the history written in a captivating way. All I can say is that this book, upon flipping back to the beginning and seeing the two rows of dots led me to tears.
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, and Violence
bryson_handy's review against another edition
4.0
Great overview from start to finish of the Russian Revolution. Almost no dull spots, written almost like a fantasy epic. Great book!