Darkness at Noon: A Novel
by Arthur Koestler
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Book Summary Information
Author: Arthur KoestlerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-17
ISBN: 1416540261
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of Darkness at Noon: A Novel
Book Review: Novel of Ideas
Summary: 5 Stars
"Darkness at Noon" is one of those books that stays in your mind long after you put it down. I first read it more than 30 years ago when I was a high school student reading "serious" books for the first time. It just knocked me over. It raised questions about personal morality and the ends of politics that made other authors I was reading (such as Ayn Rand) seem incredibly shallow by comparison.
Recently I read the book again to see if it was as good as I remembered. I'm happy to say it's even better. "Darkness at Noon" is the story of an Old Bolshevik who is forced to re-examine his life's work in the communist party when he is caught up in the purge trials of the 1930s. As such, the book is a great analysis of the pathology and twisted logic that corrupted mid-20th century communism. But it is also a broader exploration of ends-justify-means morality, exposing the traps and contradictions we fall into whenever truth and common decency are thrown overboard in the name of social utility. "Darkness at Noon" easily transcends old controversies about communism. Indeed, in an age when the U.S. government has secret torture camps to fight terror, its message has lost none of its power or relevance.
The story is gripping. The writing is superb. The characters are vivid. Dialogues of near-Dostoyevskian intensity alternate with passages of sad introspection and guilty memory. Read it. It may even make you feel 17 again -- and wide open to the impact of great literature. Six stars.
Heck, seven stars....
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