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The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution

Yuri Slezkine

Start date: February 12, 2018

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House of Government

* House of Government: Book Three, Part V (28), Part VI (29-33), Epilogue
By Biblio · 5 posts · 14 views

last updated Apr 06, 2018 06:55AM

* House of Government Book Three, Part V (23-27)
By Biblio · 17 posts · 13 views

last updated Mar 27, 2018 09:12AM

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Feb 14, 2018 Hugh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2018, non-fiction

"This is a work of history. Any resemblance to fictional characters, dead or alive, is entirely coincidental"

This is a monumental, long and detailed book that is both a history of the Russian revolution, a personal reflection on the literature it produced and a collection of family stories centred on a large apartment building known as the House of Government, which was built in the early 1930s to house the elite class of the Bolshevik regime. Slezkine's other central theme is that the Bolshevi "This is a work of history. Any resemblance to fictional characters, dead or alive, is entirely coincidental"

This is a monumental, long and detailed book that is both a history of the Russian revolution, a personal reflection on the literature it produced and a collection of family stories centred on a large apartment building known as the House of Government, which was built in the early 1930s to house the elite class of the Bolshevik regime. Slezkine's other central theme is that the Bolsheviks shared all of the key attributes of a millenarian (apocalyptic) religious sect. He succeeds brilliantly in showing the all too human weaknesses that led to some of the most brutal acts of the 20th century.

I am not remotely qualified to review this with any academic rigour or to judge the soundness of Slezkine's wilder theories, so this is purely a personal reaction, and I apologise for being unable to do it justice. I must admit that this is not a book I would have chosen to read for myself - it was a Christmas present, and was then chosen for a group discussion in the Reading the Chunksters group.

The book is divided into six parts, an epilogue and various appendices. The first part is in three chapters, first an introduction to the book's Moscow location, then a review of the careers of the main players before the revolution and finally an introduction to Slezkine's millenarian sect theory consisting of a fascinating history of religious sects going back to Biblical times, whose relevance only gradually becomes apparent. In the second the story moves from the October revolution, through the civil war, the retreat from pure communism under the New Economic Policy, the death of Lenin and the gradual establishment of a strict party line, deviation from which proved fatal.

The House of Government finally appears over 300 pages in, in the third part, which describes its creation and the lives of some of its early tenants. There is a wealth of detail here, which makes it clear just how privileged the elite class was, as the contents of some of these apartments are itemised. The fourth part continues this exploration, focusing more on the people.

Slezkine builds a compelling picture through many personal family stories, and in the fifth part of the book brings home the full horror of the Great Terror by going through the cast itemising those who were killed or interned, when and what happened to their families, bringing out the relentless and inherently contradictory nature of the regime's deadly logic. The final section covers a much longer period from the end of the Terror until the fall of communism, largely explaining what happened to those who survived the purges and giving Slezkine's opinions on why Soviet Communism failed to endure once its founding generation were all dead.

Slezkine has clearly immersed himself in Soviet and later Russian literature, and summarises many of the key novels (Leonid Leonov's late novel The Pyramid sounds very interesting, but does not seem to available in English). The epilogue covers the works of Yuri Trifonov, who spent his childhood in the House and wrote many books about the house, its inhabitants and their attempts to come to terms with the past.

I won't apologise for describing this as an extraordinary book - its sheer size and scope may be daunting and some of the subject matter is harrowing, but it is clearly written and full of fascinating detail. ...more

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Sep 02, 2017 Biblio Curious rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, lit-russian-ukrainian, history-russian-ukrainian

My relationship to this book is complicated. Like a 1st date, it shows up charming as can be. After a few weeks, skeletons begin to tumble out of the closet revealing a few structural flaws.

Those first few pages were exquisite, the details are profound and resonating. The writing style reminds me of someone trying to recall strong memories of days long past in an attempt they will be preserved. These early chapters describe street scenes and scents in such detail, I'm sure folks who've actually ...more

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Jul 18, 2019 Kelsey marked it as dnf

I feel bad quitting this book 30% in. It's beautifully and immaculately researched, readable, etc ...

I am just at a point in my life - 3 months before turning 40 - where I'm accepting that my life is full and busy enough without complicating it with my leisure choices. I don't regret buying it. I think I'll pass it on to the little book sharing nook at my local shopping centre. ...more

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