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Title: Darkness at Noon by ARTHUR KOESTLER ISBN: 0-553-26595-4 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1984 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (72 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fictional account of moscow trials
Comment: Nicholas Salmanovich Rubashov is a member of the revolutionary old guard and a leader in bringing the revolution to the masses abroad. Each morning as Rubashov awakes he recalls his arrest and imprisonment many years ago for his revolutionary activity in the days before the revolution succeeded. It is thus with a sense of irony and detachment that Rubashov faces his arrest one morning at the hands of his own party.
In prison, Rubashov waits his turn at interrogation and makes the acquaintance of the unseen prisoner in the cell next to him. This unseen acquaintance is a army officer who has been arrested for his anti-revolutionary views and displays unrestrained glee that the revolutionaries are now turning on themselves. Rubashov waits for his interrogation and reflects on his years of Party activity recalling the members of the Party whom he personally deposed.
Little Lowry was devoted to the Party and assured Rubashov that his local union would not unload shipments for fascist nations. However, when the leader of the nation decided to trade with fascist countries, it became Rubashov's job to remove intransigent elements like Lowry. Arlova served as Rubashov's secretary and lover but when she was wrongly denounced for factionalism, he did not speak to save her and in then end denounced her himself. These actions were justified in his mind as being for the good of the Party and necessary to advance the revolution.
His first interrogation is conducted by an old party comrade, Ivanov, who treats him with firmness but also kindness. Ivanov attempts to coerce a confession out of Rubashov but is unable to do so at their first meeting. Later when Ivanov visits Rubashov in his cell, they have a long talk through the evening. Here Rubashov continues to admit that he was not guilty of the crimes stated but admits that he had begun to have doubts about the revolution. His interrogator then points out that he is guilty of being a counter-revolutionary if his thoughts were not with the Party at all times. Ivanov reminds Rubashov about Arlova and suggests that if Rubashov had doubted her guilt he should not have allowed her to be shot. Rubashov begins to accept that he is guilty of crimes against the revolution simply by his doubts and that he must offer some form of confession.
When he is next interrogated, Rubashov discovers that Ivanov has been himself purged and in his stead is Gletkin. A product of the revolution Gletkin knows nothing of the older order and shows no compassion. Rubashov is subjected to a series of interrogations at all hours of the day and night; he is deprived of sleep and unable to gather his thoughts. It is with amazement that Rubashov notes the robotic stamina of Gletkin who being solely in charge of the interrogation must also be going for days without sleep. While Rubashov is willing to write a confession and to stand trial for some counter-revolutionary thoughts, the Party has decided in advance the crimes for which he must plead guilty and written the confession for him. For days, the old revolutionary and the product of the revolution battle over the semantics of the confession. Eventually worn down by fatigue and confusion as to what the truth is, Rubashov gives in and signs the confession proffered to him. This is his interrogator tells him, "will be the last service you can do for the Party." Rubashov is then tried, convicted and shot.
Reflecting Koestler's own disenchantment with the Russian Revolution and the regime of Stalin, the novel attempts to show how the flawed ideals of the revolution have warped the basis of society. In a society where the ends always justifies the means there are no ethical boundaries and truth exists only in relative terms. This is exactly the kind of society that Rubashov helped to create and he is now the victim of the same ruthlessness that he himself practiced on so many others to advance the cause. Over and over Rubashov tries to justify his own actions and to understand how these actions have brought his country and his revolution to the totalitarian state it is.
The chief source conflict is not between the authorities and the prisoner but rather in the mind of Rubashov as he attempts to reconcile the socialist society he helped to usher into existence. While a prisoner, the protagonist has time to reflect on the suffering he caused in a relentless pursuit towards his ideals. The people discarded along the way are simply part of a mathematical calculation that is designed to bring the most happiness
Rubashov, throughout the novel, has the nervous habit of removing his pince-nez eyeglasses and rubbing them on his sleeve. Repeatedly during his interrogations or when he is lost in thought he attempts to clean the lens of the eyeglasses. When Rubashov drops his glasses on the way to his execution, they fall to the floor and the lenses shatter. This leaves Rubashov now "nearly blind, but he has solid ground under his feet again." (214) In this sustained metaphor Koestler shows the futility of Rubashov's attempts to justify and explain away the errors and excesses of the revolution and the leaders of the Party. For all the protagonists efforts to clean his pince-nez he is still unable to see clearly. For all his efforts to justify the inhumanity of the revolution he is unable to reconcile his doubts. His vision like his party was flawed from the beginning and no amount of cleaning could put it right. Only at the end of his life is he able to regain his footing with solid ground under his feet when he casts away the flawed vision of the Party.
Rating: 5
Summary: An intriguing anti-totalitarian manifesto
Comment: Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" is a manifesto decrying the totalitarian tactics of the Soviet Union during the 1930's. A political prisoner himself, Koestler had a lot to say about the treatment of those who were considered threats to the Communist ideal. Although Koestler does not name the Party or the associated countries, the implications are obvious, including the identity of the Party's leader, who is known simply by the name "No. 1."
The novel concerns a fifty-ish man named Rubashov, a high-ranking Party official, who is imprisoned for suspected acts of dissension against the Party. Placed in a lonely cell, he communicates with the occupant of the neighboring cell by tapping on the interposing wall. He finds that his anonymous neighbor holds a grudge against him for reasons he refuses to reveal. The prison is filled with people considered "enemies" of the Party, victims of snitching and backstabbing from various levels of bureaucracy.
An old friend and battalion commander of Rubashov's, named Ivanov, turns out to be his primary inquisitor. Rubashov and Ivanov have long discussions about the ideals of the Party and how Rubashov is losing faith in a system he once fought so vehemently to establish. The Party's ideals were noble in the beginning, but it gradually became inefficient and underhanded. During his imprisonment, Rubashov recalls Arlova, a secretary with whom he had an affair, who was fired from her job and sentenced to death for suspected political dissension. Rubashov had the chance to save her by testifying in her defense, but doing so could have damaged his own career.
When Ivanov shows some sympathy for Rubashov, he is "removed" and replaced with a stricter interrogator named Gletkin, who uses draconian tactics to wear Rubashov down to the point of confession. Rubashov is accused of various attempted acts of governmental sabotage, including a planned assassination of No. 1. The reader sees that it is not relevant to his "trial" whether or not he actually committed these crimes; they are merely trying to get rid of those who threaten the stability of the Party.
Koestler demonstrates how the creation of the Soviet Union formed a nation of political prisoners. These are the problems of a government that is concerned more with theory than with practice; that is concerned more with ideals than with individuals.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fantastic
Comment: Darkness at Noon is ranked 8 on the top-100 list of books (past century) by the New York Library and I can now see why. This novel has a very simple story line about the imprisonment of a political figure in 1930's Soviet Union. The perspective with which the protagonist approaches his situation and the personal philosophies he employs to deal with his situation are impressive. Koestler dials into the character's mind and paints a picture that is at once complex and yet understandable. His ability to put you into this persons shoes (so to speak) make you feel as though you are there. You understand the reasoning behind his actions and comments. The way that he interacts with the world around him becomes understandable if not almost familiar and you end up feeling as though you have known Nicholas Salmonavitch. This story does not demonize the Soviet Union, it's government or its people in the tumultuous political climate of the 1930's, but rather portrays it simply as it was. Koestler's command and grasp of writing are similar to Hemingway in that he creates a powerful and meaningful story without a lot of flowery prose or a vocabulary that has you running to the dictionary every five minutes. I found this novel to be as impressive and well-written as anything by Joyce, Faulkner, Huxley, etc. if not more (for me) more fun to read. I found the style to be similar to Nabokov and Konrad, both of whom I also enjoy reading.
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