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October
- The Story of the Russian Revolution
- Narrated by: John Banks
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
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Publisher's Summary
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 100 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.
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- Darwin8u
- 08-12-17
The 20th Century's New Weird History
A nice narrative history of the Russian Revolution in 1917. This isn't an academic book. This, by design, is meant to be a nonintimidating book of history for the curious. As we look back on the last 100 years, the Communist Revolution still has much to teach us. Hell, Steve Bannon is a self-described Leninist. We might want to pay CLOSE attention to the trains of the past.
I'm still trying to sort out exactly what I thought of this book. On one level it was well-written and paced (Miéville is a gifted story teller, obviously). He even makes the bureaucratic, committee-heavy, infighting of 1917 seem exciting. But while his approach is similar to others who have approached history or biography from a novelistic approach, it doesn't quite hit the level of literature (not quite Mailer or Capote) I was hoping for. Next to Miéville's own books, it doesn't rise to the top.
China Miéville is well-versed in political philosophy. Dude has a PhD in it (technically in Marxism and International Law). His own leftist politics is felt from the first to the last pages. That is where the book gets a bit messy for me. This is Red October told by a New Weird SF/Fantasy writer who also happens to be strongly involved in International Socialist causes. This is a bit like having Orson Scott Card write about Mormonism or having Ayn Rand write about Adam Smith. Sometimes gifted people who are "true believers" aren't going to be the best/fairest critics of things they love. To be fair, Miéville spends a bit of the last few pages discussing how the 'revolution' went off the rails. But, he does't dwell too much on it. It is uncomfortable to dwell too long on purges, gulags, and Stalin.
He also doesn't have enough room here to properly examine most of the characters that appear. I would have loved to read more about Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, (plus the women), etc. Instead, this novel (constrained by an already large topic) passes over some crazy characters like eyes over an active chess board.
Anyway, I liked it (probably 3.5 tsars). Enjoyed it even. Like Red October, however, it was boring in parts and seemed constrianed by a leftist genius who at times seemed blind to the dangers of his own ideology.
64 people found this helpful
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- Laura Adams
- 12-06-17
Read by someone who can't pronounce Russian words
How did the narrator detract from the book?
As someone who speaks Russian, I was unable to listen to the reader mispronounce the many, many Russian words in this book. The audiobook will likely be very difficult for anyone who knows how these words, names and places are supposed to be pronounced.
28 people found this helpful
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- Paul Robison
- 05-19-17
"Insurrection has strange triggers..."
...and so do the reasons for listening/reading this book. If you're looking for a book about what happens AFTER the revolution of October 1917, look elsewhere.
Great narration, but dense content for my mind. I listen while driving and at points had to either not pay as much attention to the book as I wanted to, or pull over to absorb the words and speeches more deeply; many times requiring the need to go back a chapter or two to find and re-listen to important paragraphs that, later on, take on contrary, ironic, and/or more powerful meanings.
China writes nonfiction in a similar voice to his fiction to great effect. The Bolshevik party plays the main-ish protagonist, as they (spoiler) eventually gain power. But, every party and player has a seat at the table, there is even some in-depth explanation and context of pre-soviet Jewish and Muslim law and order. (pretty much new information to me.)
The book, I feel, doesn't follow a traditional dramatic structure; alternating through build-up, conflict, resolution, conflict, build-up, conflict, resolution, conflict, build-up, and resolution. Needless to say, the events previous to and following 1917 are filled with conflict, much of it springing from little provocation.
If you're interested in Russian history, even world history, you're in good hands. I found myself making connections with present political, social, and military strife more times than I was comfortable with. Still, as any student of history knows, anyone who is capable of getting themselves into power (All power to the soviet!) should on no account be allowed to stay in power, and "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
So, listen and share your copy with your friends... you might surprise yourself how often you can relate to Lenin, Trotsky, and Kerensky. John Banks will at least have you calling out "All power to the soviet!" by the end.
8 people found this helpful
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- B
- 11-20-19
Great (audio)book
A superb month-by-month retelling of the Bolshevik rise to power. Certainly a sufficient introductory text on the subject.
2 people found this helpful
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- Viktor V. Choban
- 05-30-19
A shameless propaganda for socialism
Until the very end you cannot tell the author's perspective. It is An apology for socialism...
5 people found this helpful
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- kwdayboise (Kim Day)
- 05-15-17
Comprehensive chronicles of people and events
The study of revolutions could be a lifelong interest. Every revolution will have similarities to all other revolutions, and each will have unique differences caused by a multitude of other factors including culture, history, key individuals, assumptions of the age, and just plain luck.
Novelist China Miéville confesses a long interest in the Russian revolution and in what is a fairly short book manages to cover considerable territory. While the book has a few glimpses of earlier Russian history, including Peter the Great's creation of St. Petersburg and the emancipation of serfs in 1861, nearly the entire book focuses on a 10-month period ending in October 1917 when the Bolsheviks succeeded in taking over Russia during what John Reed called the 10 days that shook the world.
The Russian revolution was spurred by many of the same forces that had spurred other revolutions. There was tremendous poverty with a wide gap between the wealthiest and poorest in society. At the same time there was a solid layer of well-educated professional and commercial middle class, almost always the group which is in a position to perceive the economic and moral flaws of a country: Close enough to the poor to have a strong sympathy with the poor but also in a position to understand the difficulty of rising out of the middle class due to financial or cultural barriers. There was also an intransigent or simply blinkered head of state that could not or would not conceive the need for change.
Nicholas II and Aleksandra were, in their way, similar to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Both leaders were more interested in their hobbies and lavish lifestyles than they were with governing. Both had foreign-born wives. Aleksandra was suspected of being insane by some, particularly because of her closeness to Rasputin, and was suspect for her German heritage at the outbreak of WWI.
The war was a disaster for the country, with some estimates of as many as 3-million Russian soldiers dying on the battlefields and the military and groups of cadets played an extensive role in the revolution. While much of what happened in 1917 was kindled in the 1905 revolution (Bloody Sunday, the mutiny on the battleship Potemkin, the exile of Lenin, the creation of the constitution and Duma governing body) the human and financial cost of the war, as well as the arming of millions, may have been the major factors in the final overthrow of the Tsar.
Miéville manages to thread his way through the dozens of intrigues and hundreds of characters driving the revolution, including the political battles among the communists, liberals, conservatives, and bourgeoisie to attempt to lead the country while maintaining Nicholas II in power. Much of the final outcome had much to do with the power of personalities and the failure of liberals to create and lead a moderate coalition. And then there's just dumb luck, such as the many close escapes of Lenin who was wanted for arrest from the moment he made his way into the country through Finland, or the discovery of a boot helping to expose Rasputin's killers.
Miéville takes the events month by month and sometimes hour by hour to create as clear a narrative as possible. Because of his skills as a novelist I had hoped for more in-depth material on living through the events of 1917. Still he manages to briefly dramatize many of the events and helps open up much of the mystery of how some things happened the way they did.
In the epilogue of the book the author focuses on what could have been in a change of government that began with so much hope and freedom. He doesn't shirk from their eventual collapse or from the horror of life in the country after Lenin died. But he does remind the reader of the positive hopes that inspire revolutions with a wistful sense of what might have been.
8 people found this helpful
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- adrienne yancey
- 06-11-20
Good Until It Isn’t
This book is well-written. The renditions of real-life political figures, political mood swings, etc of 1917 seem to be alive as you’re listening. The whole of it has a distinct feeling of being thoroughly researched. Everything is detailed down to the descriptions of meetings of ineffectual interim governments.
However, after many chapters filled to the brim with the particulars of slow and seemingly unimportant events, readers will be surprised to watch an entire civil war between the white army and the reds come and go in a few paragraphs. The achievements of the Soviet Union in electrifying the entire country, rapid industrialization, expanding literacy, diminishing poverty, and defeating the nazis (to name a few) are mentioned in passing and quickly dismissed. Mieville brings these successes up and then hand waves them away by saying that they were “quickly reversed” by the likes of Joseph Stalin. This is laughable considering that some of these achievements are not possible to reverse.
Seeing this quick shift from thoroughness and nuance to sloppiness toward the end of the book is disheartening to witness. It also calls into question the accuracy of the rest of the work. If Mieville isn’t willing to treat post-revolution history with the same diligence and nuance as revolutionary history, he should have just left those events out altogether. Overall, October is good but could have done with a great deal more care for the portrayal of events after the revolution.
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- Nicholas
- 05-25-19
great for someone who wants an introduction
great for someone who wants an introduction to the history of the Russian revolution in a fun and accessible manner. while this book is nonfiction its narrative and storytelling make it engaging. it is not dry or overly academic but is rigorously researched. narrator is good and I had no complaints about his voice. lastly the authors view of the events of 1917 are not clouded by the long shadow of stalinism which would later come to define socialism in the USSR, this is nice as gives the story its proper sense of hope and emancipation which would not exist if looked at through the lens of Stalinism
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- Vickie Stover
- 08-03-17
Toward a new October
In China Mieville's gifted hands he writes a story of October 1917 that places the reader within the story, and forces the reader to reconcile with the objective conditions of revolutionary Russia. Ultimately, the bankruptcy of Russian liberalism, the fragility of dual power, and the democratic vision and organization of the Bolsheviks led the masses towards the October Revolution. Mieville helps any revolutionary see how imperative it is to study the Bolsheviks, and how a revolutionary can learn from their successes and failures.
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- Caveat Emptor
- 07-19-17
Not great storytelling
I've read/listened to all of CM's major books, some a few times. I'm a fan. However, this is not a good audiobook. It is dense, and hard to follow and digest in this format. Maybe the print version has section breaks or graphics that indicate different sections, I don't know. But in audio, there is no sense of this; the chapters are long and, as read, often feel like unending paragraphs. As a fan, I'm reluctant to say that it might be a structural problem with the narrative. I appreciate the author's reluctance to dumb things down, and erudition is part of CM's appeal, but I think you need a prior course or primer on the Revolution. I thought this book was going to be that introduction.
On the upside, I did learn very relevant things about Russia and Russian "democracy" (or lack thereof) today, not just the Revolution, and the book got me wanting to learn more.
6 people found this helpful
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- DLC
- 12-11-17
not a book for audio - good to read only,
I really like this auther & have heard all his other audio books but this one's not good for audio. U have to just concentrate, shut ur eyes & empty ur mind of all but the audio book. good story, well narrated, but best read it.
28 people found this helpful
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- mr a l atkinson
- 12-13-17
dry and boring
I got this book after reading the author saying it wasn't a dry academic treatment of the subject.
How wrong I was. The majority of the book us just reading out the minutes from meetings.
Very little wider context , motivation or character development. I'm sure it will suit someone who wants to know the specific breakdown of votes to every meeting.
36 people found this helpful
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- stuart
- 06-27-18
Informative but unsatisfying
A good account of the October revolution and the year leading up to it, full of interesting detail and engagingly presented. Readers unfamiliar with the specifics will learn a lot, but the book is ultimately unsatisfying. Every incident and character is slanted in favour of Lenin and revolution. Every action of Kerensky and the provisional government presented in the worst light. Mieville says he is careful to avoid hagiography and I am sure he has tried, but I find it difficult to believe an impartial reader will believe he has succeeded.
6 people found this helpful
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- Stylo
- 03-02-18
A well written account of the Russian revolution
A fascinating account of the Russian revolution that China Miéville has written in a way that makes it feel like a book of fiction. The characters are interesting and the every day details that Miéville includes brings to life a period of history that could be as dry as dust!
6 people found this helpful
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- R. Maines
- 03-03-18
Interesting
Although I was well aware of the major events of the revolution in Russia this book fills out the details
Narration was good.
4 people found this helpful
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- Brian
- 10-09-19
Like Lenin's corpse - accurate but waxy
“The one guaranteed outcome from a committee of Trotskyists is 2 committees of Trotskyists who both think the others are traitors” and so we have the story of the most argumentative people in history. To some extent, that’s where this book falls down – what happened in the Russian revolution was amazing but the actually telling of it is essentially just endless bickering and hissy-fits. Pick any 10 minutes of this book at random and it will be “…and the Mensheviks demanded that the committee of the Dumas approved x so the Bolsheviks walked out” etc etc. Surprisingly for a (good) fiction writer, Mieville provides a step by step reportage which is accurate, but lacks the “Beginning, Middle and End” that all good stories need. A few juicy details and speculation would have livened it up.
3 people found this helpful
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- Ben
- 04-07-18
October makes political meetings interesting.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Definitely, to both friends on the left and right. In its own right its a fascinating story, with endearing characters and a tempo that really builds up pace. But more, you get a real feel for the decisions and debates of the revolution. A must read for anyone interested in revolutionary struggle.
Who was your favorite character and why?
When it finished, I felt immensely sad not to be around the characters any more. They are personally and politically all very interesting. Lenin is obviously fascinating. I also liked Martov's continual interjections. But I think, as a character rather as a historical figure, Alexander Kerensky is my favourite.
What about John Banks’s performance did you like?
Great performance. His voice makes everything sound deeply profound and important. Its fun to imitate when doing menial tasks.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, I think its a little deep for one sitting.
3 people found this helpful
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- llwyd
- 12-05-17
Excellent
An excellent analysis of the Russian revolution. The author tackles this huge historic event magnificently, you feel like a witness to the Russian people's desire to topple the tsar and greedy monarchical hold over the empire.
More info on what other key people were up to would have been greatly appreciated, for instance Stalin pops in and out throughout and we don't get a thorough understanding of what his role or importance was. Or we dont really understand the tsars personal reaction to the end of his reign.
Overall, a very worthwhile listen, great voicework by the speaker. A follow up book on bolshevik consolidation of power and civil war events would be great, the author certainly knows this bloody history well.
7 people found this helpful
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- Patrick Kelly-Goss
- 04-17-20
Good, if limited heroic retelling
Mieville takes an optimistic and narrow view of the Russian Revolution, properly beginning with the February and ending with the October Revolution. He does an excellent job of depicting the conflicts, struggles and hopes of 1917, but as the title implies the book carries on no further than that first triumph of Bolsheviks. Reconciling the sunny unified optimism of October with the bitter story we know follows is mostly an exercise left to the reader.
2 people found this helpful
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- Alan Myers
- 04-05-20
An analysis from a different viewpoint for once..
I’m well versed on the Russian revolution and subsequent history, but this brought a whole new point of view to the table. I don’t know about his current politics, but China, as a member of the far left, interested in grass roots working class action and revolutionary consciousness. His sympathy with this issue gives us a much clearer understanding of the relative class dynamics in this startling period. Not being a “historian” yet keeping to established historical methodologies gives us a second layer of clarity in understanding. The book tears along at pace, and the twists and turns of revolutionary politics is laid out in a clear, understandable and consequently exciting manner. Yes, exciting. I listened to this virtually in one sitting. I had a much better sense of place than you get from the “proper” historians and with a few changes in approach this could almost be a novel. That is NOT to undermine this books importance as a historical narrative. Bourgeoise historians, knowing what followed and never really grasping the emotion and aims of revolutionaries can never really get to grips with what actually makes this period interesting: At what point and for what reason does class consciousness spill over into a world turned upside down: at what point does the struggles of ordinary life become global history.
Google tells me that China was a member of the SWP, and if this correct then it is all the more to his credit that there is virtually nothing here of the abstruse Marxian theories and language that could so easily mar this topic: it’s not “for” Marxists in that sense (though the ideas are there if you know what you’re looking for).
The narration is great, and you don’t get that annoying focus on the speech of the narrator that you sometimes get when it goes wrong.
Overall: If you want a look at the revolution from the point of view of the revolutionaries, the ebbs and flows of consciousness that make history astonishing at certain conjunctions in time, and if you want that book delivered by someone with fiction writer skills (loved “the city and the city”), dive in!
1 person found this helpful
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- Marcus
- 04-28-18
Comprehensive, Objective yet Self-Aware
Mieville provides not only a fairly comprehensive account, but does so from the perspective of a contemporary revolutionary, which allows him to provide insight your general historian might miss. This perspective is not inherently more bias than any other, indeed perhaps less so than some (Robert Service comes to mind). There is a clear desire in this work to find 'truth'. While this means being 'objective', it also means attempting (through analysis and the structure of the book itself) to really understand the forces at play and how agents responded and attempted to shape these forces. There are no dry and empty words or phrases here. No balancing of variables that explain outcome X and Y, or recourse to a democracy of determinants. With help of Banks excellent narration, we are transitioned as invisible specters, watching the days of October unfold.
3 people found this helpful
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- Mark
- 12-12-18
October may be better read than heard?
October definitely communicates the complexity of the Russian Revolution as a process evolving through the months leading up to the big events of History. Mieville uses the voices of thousands - beyond the big names - all struggling, opposing, arguing, voting and killing each other in the name of hordes of political factions and splitter groups championing their 'right way'. I was really intrigued and interested in the theatre of it all
However, I unfortunstely found this audiobook hard to listen to, hard to follow all the characters, who was who, and who they were exactly with or against, I ended up just listening , letting it wash over me- zoning in and out - getting a sense of the revolution but drowning in all the details and names. This narrator tries to do a great job to bring it all alive but I struggled to listen all the way to the end. Maybe this book would be better to read rather then listen to?
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 04-21-22
Absolutely must listen.
First time I felt like I wasn't being mislead in a recount of the revolution. Every question I would have would be addressed at some point in the book. China Meiville is also a wonderful writer in general, and he succeeds in his goal described in the prologue, of turning this history into a digestible narrative. Does a great job of describing the agitation and failures of the right wing, which is sometimes ignored in other historic accounts, while not exculpating the left wing actors either. The narrator for the audio is perfect, does justice to the intense issues in the book, great performance. Highly recommend for your next read.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-24-20
Torture to listen to.
I think this would be perhaps better to read rather than listen to. It felt like there was no real charm in any of the narrative, just this happened followed by that happened. Over and over and at a speed where I had to keep rewinding. I managed an hour of this & I really needed a break. 11 hours would be torture. Very easy to to lose track of the characters. It felt like a test of how well I could concentrate and take textbook-like information in at speed. The sample I listened to was the start of a chapter and felt interesting but I think this was carefully selected as it was in no way representative of what followed it. I listen to a lot of narrative non-fiction and this was a total waste of a months credit. Awful. I'd have to be paid to listen to 11 hours of this.
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- Comrade17
- 05-27-20
History made poetic & accessible
This the best history of the events of 1917 in Russia if ever read (and that’s a few). The performance of John Banks is fantastic and wonderfully compliments Mieville’s beautiful writing.
Mieville makes the history pop from the pages and judiciously deals with all the key controversies and key events in a way that is accessible to people that may no nothing about the subject.
It was a joy to listen to after reading have read the book some time. Wonderful to have a this fantastic contribution to history that doesn’t deal in fairy tails and finger paintings of the Cold War fraud historians of both “sides”. Can’t recommend enough.