I saw this book on sale at my local public library branch for $2 Canadian, but did not buy it, as I am trying to cut down on my book buying. But within seconds of looking at it, I knew that I must read it. The reason that I knew that I must read it is that I, like many people, have for years been encountering academic accounts of the life of Lenin, and of the history of the Russian Revolution in general.
I borrowed a copy from a university library and spent the next week reading it.
As a devoted novel reader, I benefitted by cutting away from a scope covering the wide nation of czarist Russia, and focussing instead on a single individual.
I had always known of the story of Lenin's older brother losing his life in a czarist prison, but had no idea whatsoever of all the other details regarding Lenin's father, mother, older sister, other siblings, or of the scene in the novel where Lenin is able to read the transcript of his brother's last, closed trial appearance.
Alan Brien is a new author to me, and I would like to read some of his other work, which I have discovered includes journalism and non-fiction. At the moment though, I would prefer simply to find another novel on any topic by him.
One scene that I found very intriguing was one of the visits to Lenin on his sickbed by Stalin during his ascendancy to his later position of ultimate power. When the topic of the novels about Stalin comes up, it made me curious and I have noted down the titles and authors in case I can find them and read them in order to see what kind of books about himself would really make Stalin angry. I assume that some of them may only be available in Russian, and I am trying to learn that language right now. I have only made rudimentary progress and hope to be able to be up to a level of reading proficiency high enough to tackle such books within a year or so.
I am a new member of the LibraryThing, and am looking forward to discussing this and other books with other members.