October

the story of the Russian Revolution

by China Miéville

369 pages

English language

Published March 5, 2017 by Verso.

ISBN:: 978-1-78478-277-1
OCLC Number:: 956957477

(9 reviews)

"Acclaimed fantasy author China Mieville plunges us into the year the world was turned upside down The renowned fantasy and science fiction writer China Mieville has long been inspired by the ideals of the Russian Revolution and here, on the centenary of the revolution, he provides his own distinctive take on its history. In February 1917, in the midst of bloody war, Russia was still an autocratic monarchy: nine months later, it became the first socialist state in world history. How did this unimaginable transformation take place? How was a ravaged and backward country, swept up in a desperately unpopular war, rocked by not one but two revolutions? This is the story of the extraordinary months between those upheavals, in February and October, of the forces and individuals who made 1917 so epochal a year, of their intrigues, negotiations, conflicts and catastrophes. From familiar names like Lenin and Trotsky to their opponents Kornilov and Kerensky; from the byzantine squabbles of urban activists to the remotest villages of a sprawling empire; from the revolutionary railroad Sublime to the ciphers and static of coup by telegram; from grand sweep to forgotten detail. Historians have debated the revolution for a hundred years, its portents and possibilities: the mass of literature can be daunting. But here is a book for those new to the events, told not only in their historical import but in all their passion and drama and strangeness. Because as well as a political event of profound and ongoing consequence, Mieville reveals the Russian Revolution as a breathtaking story"--

1 edition

Leaving_Marx@wyrmsign.org reviewed October by China Miéville

A whole lot about Petrograd

5 stars

I was really curious about this book more for its author than because I really needed to learn about the Russian Revolution. China Mieville is a pretty successful sci-fi and fantasy author whose works blend surrealism, fantasy, and politics. But beyond his successful fiction he also writes and edits an unconventional communist journal called Salvage from England and publishes some non-fiction like this book on the Russian Revolution.

From the introduction Mieville responds to the unasked question," why do we need another history book about the Russian revolution?" By suggesting that rather than being just another history text that he undertook an attempt to write a narrative of the revolution that follows it from its embers to insurrection.

It read confidently as a hybrid narrative/history book which prioritizes the debates, actions, and tensions of the revolution over citations and scholars opinions on it. That being said, this narrative does take the Bolsheviks as the protagonists, follows them and Lenin most closely and regularly reflects the tensions and power struggles amongst intellectuals and party members, and secondarily the tensions between the vanguard and the Russian people, whose aims and desires don't often line up. Truthfully the "leaders" are presented as perpetually trying to catch up or tamp down the insurrectionary actions of the streets.

I think there are so many interesting people in the revolution but as is the case of history, this won still disproportionately tells the story of the victors. The people in the streets, the anarchists, soldiers and their wives, factory workers, beggars, and terrorists feature as secondary characters moving the story forward but as a supporting role to the debates and discussions of the central committee, Soviets and duma in their power struggles.

All in all, well written and presented, giving me a better understanding the key Leninist texts and debates and in what context they were written, and some very cool asides about bad as women and anarchists doing while shit.

I would recommend it with a caveat, if you can't stand Communists or Lenin enough to get through a history text, then skip it, or read the critical afterword before investing in the rest of the text to make you feel better.

joachim@lire.boitam.eu reviewed October by China Miéville

A very engaging retelling of the 1917 Russian Revolution

4 stars

China Miéville is a storyteller, as he is a leftists. His month-by-month retelling of the October Revolution is deeply researched and engaging. He's also fair in his portrayal of a very partisan moment in time. And I really enjoyed the fact that he avoided delving into tedious debates about finer points of marxist theory ; there's a greay many books for that, but this book is perfect for a more general approach with rich details.

nevermore reviewed October by China Miéville

Review of 'October' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

A captivating read, Mieville illustrates the events of 1917 with vivid details and a special literary flourish, clearly an experienced novelist and now historian. It feels vividly present, and it helped me keep up with my Trotskyist reading group thanks to Mieville's appreciation for Victor Serge. Maybe the main thing that threw me out of the revolutionary trance Mieville invokes, is that he uses so many interesting and peculiar words that I have to constantly consult a dictionary!