Darkness at Noon

I liked this book for the skill with which author has pitted the soviet communist party’s ideology against that of its former member Rubashov who is in jail for ‘political divergences' with party and is facing a trial. This têtê-à-têtê of party’s logic and ideology with beliefs and thoughts that rubashov has developed while working for party since civil war is beautifully set and written with conviction. A superb tale !

Superb

Very Good

Indubitably one of the best reads this year. This book for me is by every right a serendipity: an accidental discovery and what a find! Set in Soviet Russia which was under the malevolent grip of Stalin, during infamous times of terror and purge, where hundreds of political (and apolitical) individuals were killed in the name of accused political divergences; a period of reigning terror, of thick air that reeked of death, of crushed liberty and individuality, Arthur Koestler in his masterpiece has concocted for us us a lens through which not only the aforementioned images are proffered but those distinct feelings and emotions that swept through the afflicted bodies like cold currents. The book is a meager 200+ pages but don't be fooled that you can whirl across to end in a jiffy as this short distance is not laden with maple trees and geraniums, but of a population and a nation who lived on political philosophies, on a search for the promised land by self-imposed discipline and prescribed revolutionary ideologies, a ship that surges on without ballasts of ethics or emotions, and a nation where humans are not individuals but a mere mathematical calculation: a mass of 1 million divided by 1 million- all bound to mass self-sacrifice for the grandiose generations of the future.The writing is lucid yet has a mild constricting quality. The dialogues and monologues remind you of Dostoevsky for its feverish and profound quality. There is also dark humor deeply imbued in the fabric. The harrowing and wretched state of the common people, the inner turmoil of the opposing intelligentsia, the taut discipline of the law bearers are all etched into a prose that is hauntingly beautiful and clear. I am not learned when it comes to the political events that happened during those times, but as a layman I was really struck by these uncanny and chilling events and I thank Mr. Koestler for taking me by hand and showing me around like a well-informed guide the insides of the forbidden land.5 stars on 5

Fascinating book. Reminded me a bit of Eli Wiesel's 'Night', only not as visceral. I recently read that when an American POW in Hanoi was given a chance to write home, with supervision of course, he referred to there having been darkness at noon at some point during his captivity as a clear message about the torture he and the other POW's were enduring.

Un libro senza tempo che merita di essere letto

I have read several books on the Soviet Union, but I hadn't even heard of this book until a few weeks ago. What an amazing novel it is. It is far easier reading than The Gulag Archipelago but covers many of the same issues, albeit through the fictional story of the main character, Rubashov. Rather than being an historical text, it is the tale of a man forced to face his own demons when he is arrested on charges of treason in an unnamed Communist country (which is quite obviously the USSR under Stalin, who is only ever referred to as Number 1).Rubashov is arrested, imprisoned and tried for crimes he never committed by the revolutionary Marxist government he helped create. His disillusionment with the system he helped build is mirrored by the fabricated accusations levelled against him. Rubashov realises during interrogation that the party has become an end in itself, and the "comrades" of the revolution are in fact just the unwitting, and often unwilling, servants of an idea whose meaning has been forgotten. The apparatus of state has no place for the individual, and the populace lack the integrity or understanding required to make the lofty aims of the revolution achievable. Power, paranoia and ambition have in fact made the revolution into a caricature of itself.Anyone wondering where social engineering can lead should read this book. Although published in 1940, it is just as pertinent today. The ongoing fashionable capitulation to gender and identity politics, coupled with totalitarian government interventions, look set to define early 21st Century Western civilisation. This book is a warning of where this might very well lead.

Very nice.

Un livre qui ne se démode pas, malheureusement les systèmes de répression se ressemblent d'une dictature à l'autre. C'est un témoignage extraordinaire sur l'URSS à une époque où beaucoup de gens en France, des intellectuels d'envergure parmi eux, voulaient encore croire au lendemain qui chante. Koestler, par son admirable écriture, sa façon de rendre les personnages réels et attachants ou odieux, nous mène d'un bout à l'autre du livre sans qu'on puisse s'en décrocher. Il a la justesse et la qualité d'observation du journaliste. C'est aussi un homme honnête qui contrairement à beaucoup de ses contemporains est capable de remettre ses idées en question après les avoir mises à l'épreuve du feu.