October

I've wanted for a while to read more about the Russian revolution, but the task of research and reading one or more history books whose leanings I'd have to scrutinize without much historical knowledge myself (seeing how doggedly anything that has to do with the USSR is reviled in western discourse), was daunting.

Enter China Miéville, himself a socialist, and perhaps my favourite author, who seems to have done the research and retold the whole thing in his style, with as much historical accuracy as possible.

Exactly what I needed.

And the book delivered on its promise beautifully: I now feel I have an understanding of the Russian revolution(s), what they were about, how it all went, and how it was to live through them as a revolutionary.

What I loved, which is very in style for China Miéville, was how he managed to vividly bring to life moments that were tense, intense, but also entertaining. For example, when Lenin was hiding, disguised, in Finland, and a soldier from a unit looking for him in secret, was forced to seek refuge in his isolated cabin, told him that he was looking for Lenin, without recognizing him.

I generally never rate non-fiction books, but this one straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction, and ends up being both, and very well written on top of that. So it gets a rating.

Maybe the key to writing a great history book, is to be a successful novelist first? Mieville's talent is on full display in this brilliantly written account of the Russian Revolution. John Banks's performance on the audiobook is tense and riveting. The story is action packed, but unlike the plot of a thriller novel, real life is stranger than fiction... and much more detailed. The number of people and parties involved, the decisions that are made and unmade, the chaos... the revolution barrels on like a train in the night, seemingly unstoppable but undeniably dangerous.

I do not have any background in studying the Revolution, so I got lost in the details. I could only see the outline of the train in the moonlight, and held on for dear life. But still, I learned a lot — mostly about the confusion of the time and the outsized personality of Lenin. The story of the Revolution is certainly not what I thought it was based on my mere "common knowledge".

Multiple times I thought this narrative could be turned into a screenplay. It is really engaging. Now I need to go read one of China Mieville's other books!