The Shadow-gloom and Weight of the Sacred

"For Ulyanov, capitalism was bound by its nature to hurt most people and to kill many of them. Human counter-measures were not merely ineffectual: they would do harm by slowing down the development of capitalism and therefore of the eventual further progress to socialism."

Robert Service, Lenin: A Biography

If you've graduated high school or have seen The Big Lebowski, then you have some idea of the man Vladimir Lenin. If you're interested in gaining a more-than-peripheral perspective on him and his motivations as an intellectual and revolutionary, then you will not be disapointed with Robert Service's Lenin: A Biography. At 495 pages long (longer if you count the index and endnotes), it is no small commitment, but it is a satisfying and interesting read for those intrigued by the Russian Revolution.

Service, an historian and professor at Oxford, is one of the most respected scholars focusing upon Russian history (particuarly Soviet history) writing in English. Lenin: A Biography is well-researched and well-organized in presentation. Service avoids speculation upon rumors and heresay and presents the facts in a linear narrative. His language is neither flowery nor poetic. Indeed, one would hope that he could use a simile from time to time or develop a metaphor, but aside drawing attention to the occasional moment of irony, Service has little room for such devices. It is not a boring book, though it is not a book for a person uninterested in Vladimir Lenin. If you want to read on the topic of Lenin, then this biography will not leave you with any regrets, but if you're looking for a more basic introduction to Lenin or the Russian Revolution, you should check Wikipedia.

What strikes me most about Lenin, after reading this book, is his separation from policy and the enforcement of policy. Lenin was an academic and he understood the revolution and socialism on an academic level. He never saw how his policies and philosophy impacted people or how these things were enforced. He was a cold, hard man who felt everything must be in service to the Revolution or to a communist society and if people died to make it happen, then so be it. I think these passages from Service's book concerning the 1891-92 famine in the Volga region are quite revealing (Lenin was 20 or so at the time):

"[Lenin] stood out against the rest of the intelligentsia; he would not even condone the formation of famine-relief bodies in order to use them for the spreading of revolutionary propaganda" (87).

"His emotional detachment astonished even members of his family. His sister Anna Ilinichna went around the town to help the sick, giving them medicine and advice. Vladimir Ilich refused to join her. Maria Ilinichna [another sister] was confused by all this; she could not reconcile her brother's position with his adherence to an ideology that was meant to serve the poor and the oppressed" (87).

"Peasants were dragging themselves into the towns pleading for food and for work. Corpses were found lying in the streets. Yet Ulyanov, once he had formed his intellectual analysis, would not be deflected by sentiment" (88).

This separation would continue throughout Lenin's political career. Later, as leader of the USSR (this moniker actually came from Stalin near the end of Lenin's life; Lenin preferred RSFSR--Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic--and was infuriated with Stalin making this change at a time when Lenin hardly had the health to walk across the room), Lenin was a proponent of state-sanctioned terror to enforce his policies and preserve the Revolution. Lenin himself never killed anyone and was never remotely close when someone was killed or executed as a result of his policies. He was never confronted in a face-to-face manner with the violence upon which he insisted as necessary. The dirty work was carried out by others.

This is something about which I'll be thinking for some time and hope to write a little more about it in the future. There's a lot to digest in this book and will, perhaps, write more in the future.

The relationship between Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky is of particular interest, as well. Trotsky and Stalin hated each other with healthy malevolence. Lenin used both of them to achieve his own goals by siding with one against the other whenever it was convenient. Ultimately, Lenin was disgusted with Stalin as his successor and, near the end of life, attempted to usurp Stalin's increasingly powerful position. Service has also written biographies of Stalin and Trotsky which I hope to read sometime later this year.

As for now, I am taking a break from the Russian Revolutionaries (I've had too many dreams about Lenin's bald head in the last two weeks) and am branching out for a bit.