Finished: Darkness at Noon (Koestler). A book I felt to the bone. A very intense book, and very introspective as well. The story of a revolutionary, Nicholas Rubashov, of the Stalin era who is past his prime, Darkness at Noon is a chilling tale of how the very regime Rubashov helped to put in place turned on its own people in a heartbeat. At times like this, I so wish I had been a history buff all my life, but alas I was not! The best way I can explain it....Rubashov was actually part of the Russian revolution that put Lenin in power. Those "Party" comrades who were integral to the revolution were rewarded with responsibility and committee type rule during Lenin's rule. However, once Lenin died and Stalin came to power, Stalin invoked a much harsher dictatorship over his own peers. Many old revolutionists were imprisoned, put to "trial", made to confess to crimes they didn't commit, and executed without question. Rubashov is one of those old revolutionists.

However, this book is much more than the tale of his imprisonment, trial, confession, etc. It is so much more. Rubashov reflects back on his life and career during the book and delves into very philosophical discussions with himself about how the "Party" lives by the ideal of the good of mankind and never the individual. Speaking of yourself as an individual, as a matter of fact, could label you a counter-revolutionary and land you in prison. Rubashov thinks deeply about how he believed so passionately in the revolution and the idea that the general population needed to be ruled by the "Party" for their own good...for the progress of the entire country...yet, that it would come at the expense of most of those people's individual freedoms, and many of their lives. He has moments of guilt about his former secretary who never committed a crime, but was assigned a job at a library. Because certain books that didn't promote the "Party" and Stalin's ideals were not displayed more prominently than others, she was imprisoned and tried. She looked to Rubashov to speak up for her, but his mindset of doing what was best for the "Party" was so ingrained, that he had to look the other way and not defend her. She was executed.

Rubashov is interrogated three times while he's in prison...twice by an old revolutionary who used to be his comrade, and once by one of the young, more heartless, more dangerous officers...officers that were youngsters when the revolution happened, and therefore do not understand the underlying reasons behind it. They only understand the "Party" line and how there must be no wavering from it. They believe that torture will yield their confession results more than reasonable discussion. The older interrogator, Ivanov, encourages Rubashov to actually confess to some of the actions he's accused of, and then plead to defend himself and ask for leniency. He indicates that at least this way he will get a trial instead of just being summarily executed. When Ivanov appears to be slightly sympathetic to Rubashov, he is no longer the interrogator and the younger, Gletkin takes over. It comes to light that Ivanov has been executed. Over many hours and days of sleep deprivation, Gletkin gets Rubashov to confess to more than he intended, so the "trial" outcome is not at all in Rubashov's favor. He is executed...but not until he has again delved into heartbreaking last minute thoughts about large, universal questions he's never had answers to and now never will.

Some of the most poignant moments are when Rubashov and the prisoner in the next cell tap messages to each other on the walls. The other prisoner is actually totally against the old revolutionaries, but they are all each other has to talk to. When the other prisoner, just known as "No. 402" finds out that Rubashov intends to make a confession instead of maintain his honor by denying all the accusations to his death, he becomes very upset with him. This was their conversation, all done by taps, as represented by the capital letters. It was mesmerizing to me:

    I AM CAPITULATING.
    He waited curiously for the effect.
    For a long while nothing came; No. 402 was silenced. 
His answer came a whole minute later:
    I'D RATHER HANG....
    Rubashov smiled. He tapped:
    EACH ACCORDING TO HIS OWN KIND.
    He had expected an outbreak of anger from No. 402. 
Instead, the tapping sign sounded subdued, as it were, resigned:
    I WAS INCLINED TO CONSIDER YOU AN EXCEPTION. HAVE YOU NO SPARK OF HONOUR LEFT?
    Rubashov lay on his back, his pince-nez in his hand. 
He felt contented and peaceful. He tapped:
    OUR IDEAS OF HONOUR DIFFER.
    No. 402 tapped quickly and precisely:
    HONOUR IS TO LIVE AND DIE FOR ONE'S BELIEF.
    Rubashov answered just as quickly:
    HONOUR IS TO BE USEFUL WITHOUT VANITY.
    No. 402 answered this time louder and more sharply:
    HONOUR IS DECENCY---NOT USEFULNESS.
    WHAT IS DECENCY? asked Rubashov, comfortably 
spacing his letters. The more calmly he tapped, the more furious
became the knocking in the wall.
    SOMETHING YOUR KIND WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND,
answered No. 402 to Rubashov's question. Rubashov shrugged his shoulders:
    WE HAVE REPLACED DECENCY BY REASON, he tapped back.
    No. 402 did not answer any more. 

And, sadly, No. 402 wouldn't speak to Rubashov again, even when he desperately wanted him to...until only moments before they came to get Rubashov for his execution. :-(  Rubashov's line, "Honour is to be useful without vanity" is the "Party" line in a nutshell....showing vanity would should the selfishness of the individual. At the time that Rubashov had decided to confess, he thought he would be able to control what exactly he confessed to, therefore actually receiving a sentence of leniency. He had no idea what he was in store for.

When Rubashov is initially talking to Ivanov, when he is still denying he would ever make a confession, Ivanov has claimed that at least the masses are still behind the "Party" as they were in the days of the revolution. Rubashov begs to differ:

    "Forgive my pompousness," he went on, "but do you really believe the people are still behind you? It bears you, dumb and resigned, as it bears others in other countries, but there is no response in its depths. The masses have become deaf and dumb again, the great silent x of history, indifferent as the sea carrying the ships. Every passing light is reflected on its surface, but underneath is darkness and silence. A long time ago we stirred up the depths, but that is over. In other words"---he paused and put on his pince-nez---"in those days we made history; now you make politics. That's the whole difference."

There are many more passages that were so thought-provoking, but it would be better to just read the book again than to type them all out. :-) So glad I finally read this book!

Oh...one more line I liked! "History had a slow pulse; man counted in years, history in generations."