Darkness at Noon

Finished Darkness at Noon yesterday. I had never heard of this book, but it ranked #8 on my list. Loved it! I guess I am a sucker for Russian revolutionary stories and tales of challenging big brother.

Darkness is the story of a man named Rubashov, who was, years before the time of the story, a major part in the revolution that overthrew the czars and lead to communism. He is accused acts of revolution against the revolution, and thrown in jail. A lot of the story is focused on how he is interrogated by two different officials who try and make him sign a confession of his treason. I am not going to go into it too much as to not ruin the book for anyone else.

This book helped me to understand the ideals of the communists and why, eventually, it did not work. It seems they only succeeded in replacing one totalitarian government with a worse and more ferocious totalitarian party that would kill, torture, and do pretty much anything else in the name of the people. Rubashov realizes this fact after years of loyal service, which leads him to his actions.

This book was apparently a major influence for Orwell's 1984 (still my favorite). You can see close similarities between the interrogations of Winston and Rubashov. A lot of the book is philosophical and centers around the formation of governments such as how a monarchy needs to be overthrown by a group with a number one guy (Joseph Stalin), but should eventually be handed to the people. I guess the problem was no one ever wants to give up the power. I wish I had the book on me so I could throw down some quotes but I lent it to a patient.

I started Tropic of Cancer... is it wrong to read pornography in public?