What do you think?
Rate this book
Testament
This huge novel is set in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution. A prefatory note by “R.C.H.” in Testament purports to explain that his book is based on a faithful adaptation, although with names changed, of a memoir given him in Paris by Captain Alexei Otraveskov. The vision in Testament is personal, from the ground up; there is no panorama, no sweep of history, and it gives a vivid sense of the sheer chaotic muddle of the revolution, and its dislocating and destructive terror. This is not a comfortable or indeed a comforting novel. However, its range and passionate vivacity are such that it should promote Hutchinson to the pantheon of British novelists of the twentieth century.
- Emily Temple
- Emily Temple
740 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
44 people want to read
About the author
R.C. Hutchinson
16 books5 followersRay Coryton Hutchinson was a best-selling British novelist. His 1975 novel Rising was short-listed for the Booker Prize.
He was born in Finchley, Middlesex and educated at Monkton Combe School, near Bath. He received his BA at Oriel College, Oxford in 1927 and joined the advertising department at Colman's in Norwich. He married Margaret Owen Jones in April 1929.
His first novel, Thou Hast a Devil, was published in 1930. It was followed by The Answering Glory (1932), and The Unforgotten Prisoner (1933), which sold 150,000 copies in the first month. Subsequent novels also sold very well and in 1935 he left Colman's to begin writing full-time.
In March 1940 he joined the army, and in July was posted as captain in the 8th Battalion of the Buffs Regiment. He travelled widely during the war, while continuing to write. In October 1945, after preparing the official history of the Paiforce campaign, he was demobilized with the rank of Major.
After the war he wrote many more successful novels, often recommended by book clubs. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in June 1962.
He died before completing the last chapter of his novel, Rising (1975). It was published in September of the same year and short-listed for the Booker Prize in November.
His published work comprises 17 novels and 28 short stories, as well as one play, Last Train South (1938).
He was born in Finchley, Middlesex and educated at Monkton Combe School, near Bath. He received his BA at Oriel College, Oxford in 1927 and joined the advertising department at Colman's in Norwich. He married Margaret Owen Jones in April 1929.
His first novel, Thou Hast a Devil, was published in 1930. It was followed by The Answering Glory (1932), and The Unforgotten Prisoner (1933), which sold 150,000 copies in the first month. Subsequent novels also sold very well and in 1935 he left Colman's to begin writing full-time.
In March 1940 he joined the army, and in July was posted as captain in the 8th Battalion of the Buffs Regiment. He travelled widely during the war, while continuing to write. In October 1945, after preparing the official history of the Paiforce campaign, he was demobilized with the rank of Major.
After the war he wrote many more successful novels, often recommended by book clubs. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in June 1962.
He died before completing the last chapter of his novel, Rising (1975). It was published in September of the same year and short-listed for the Booker Prize in November.
His published work comprises 17 novels and 28 short stories, as well as one play, Last Train South (1938).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 1, 2019
War, dread, suffering, farce, friendship, idealism, justice, tragedy, longing, love, daring, courage, self-denial, beauty, kindness, betrayal, evil, revolution, order, chaos, terror, horror and hope!
R. C. Hutchinson is an author I had not heard of before. It is a tragedy that I am writing the first Goodreads review of Testament – because it is one of the finest books I have read, beautifully written and deeply moving.
The most convincing and continuously real descriptions of mental and physical suffering come from the opening chapters of Testament. Our protagonist Alexei, career soldier, is shot and taken prisoner. From there he begins a remarkable journey, driven by the love of his wife and son.
Hutchinson is a master of English, and he tugs at the imagination with all the depth of language I could hope for in a serious novel. His storytelling is exemplary, from the forever challenged hopes of Alexei to the cataclysm of revolution.
Testament is a ‘proper novel’ of just over 700 pages. It is worth every one. It and its protagonists trudge from one catastrophe to the next throughout – but always with a human warmth, rugged hope and a sense of morals which transcend their situation. It is a novel of survival, but one in which the author is firmly on the side of the protagonist, rather than arrayed cynically against him!
Full of goodness in the midst of change and terror, Testament steels the heart with bold bravery.
R. C. Hutchinson is an author I had not heard of before. It is a tragedy that I am writing the first Goodreads review of Testament – because it is one of the finest books I have read, beautifully written and deeply moving.
The most convincing and continuously real descriptions of mental and physical suffering come from the opening chapters of Testament. Our protagonist Alexei, career soldier, is shot and taken prisoner. From there he begins a remarkable journey, driven by the love of his wife and son.
Hutchinson is a master of English, and he tugs at the imagination with all the depth of language I could hope for in a serious novel. His storytelling is exemplary, from the forever challenged hopes of Alexei to the cataclysm of revolution.
Testament is a ‘proper novel’ of just over 700 pages. It is worth every one. It and its protagonists trudge from one catastrophe to the next throughout – but always with a human warmth, rugged hope and a sense of morals which transcend their situation. It is a novel of survival, but one in which the author is firmly on the side of the protagonist, rather than arrayed cynically against him!
Full of goodness in the midst of change and terror, Testament steels the heart with bold bravery.
December 27, 2017
I have had a liking for R C Hutchinson for many years, partly because we went to the same college, and partly because I feel he has been unjustly neglected. This is a magnificent novel, on the same epic scale and with the same depth and richness of texture as Solzhenitsyn or Bulgakov (it reminded me of Bulgakov's "White Guard", which I enjoyed a lot more than "The Master and Margarita"). It helps to have a fascination for la Russe profonde and a close interest in the events of the Russian Revolution. Those who don't share these interests (nay, obsessions) might find this a little too rich and indigestible - it is, after all, very long.
One of Hutchinson's neat touches is to make the two main characters both sympathetic to democracy and social justice and with an aversion to the tsarist regime. This makes it all the more effective when they become the tyrannised victims of the unutterable vileness of Bolshevism. Revolutions always destroy their children. If the main characters were reactionary aristocrats some people might feel they got what they deserve (not me, obviously). But by making them initially sympathetic to "progress" (dread word!), their betrayal by the revolution shows the innate corruption of Bolshevism in a yet more lurid light.
One of Hutchinson's neat touches is to make the two main characters both sympathetic to democracy and social justice and with an aversion to the tsarist regime. This makes it all the more effective when they become the tyrannised victims of the unutterable vileness of Bolshevism. Revolutions always destroy their children. If the main characters were reactionary aristocrats some people might feel they got what they deserve (not me, obviously). But by making them initially sympathetic to "progress" (dread word!), their betrayal by the revolution shows the innate corruption of Bolshevism in a yet more lurid light.
December 26, 2019
I never thought I would read a story set in Russia written by a native English speaker instead of a translation, but Testament is such a novel, and it manages to capture the essence of, say, Tolstoy, while at the same time being easier to read for a modern audience.
"Our difference is not a matter of mere politics, it is a difference in our attitude towards truth, towards the purpose of man's existence." A novel dealing with such profound questions could stumble, but this one rarely does. Essentially the story manages to balance between the bromance between the narrator and the rarely seen but often mentioned Scheffler (and the narrator's love for his family) and the ongoing World War as well as the revolution.
Epic book, highly recommended.
"Our difference is not a matter of mere politics, it is a difference in our attitude towards truth, towards the purpose of man's existence." A novel dealing with such profound questions could stumble, but this one rarely does. Essentially the story manages to balance between the bromance between the narrator and the rarely seen but often mentioned Scheffler (and the narrator's love for his family) and the ongoing World War as well as the revolution.
Epic book, highly recommended.
July 18, 2019
I don't normally do a review of the books I've read, too lazy. However, this book does deserve special mention. Picked up in a 2nd hand bookshop for £1.75. Never heard of this British author before but what a fantastic book. Heart-rending and jaw-dropping moments with some fast-paced action dotted throughout, an appreciation of the state of Russia in WWI prior to and during the revolution. Great characters abound, particularly old Yevski. One of the best books I've read
August 8, 2015
Though written by a non-Russian this splendid novel gives a quite uncanny feeling of time and place. It is a quite superb historical novel. Surprisingly, when I read other books by the same author I was disappointed - but "Testament" is magnificent. Don't miss it!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews