How It All Began: The Prison Novel

by Nikolai Bukharin, Stephen Cohen (Introduction), George Shriver (Translator)

Here at last in English is Nikolai Bukharin's autobiographical novel and final work. Many dissident texts of the Stalin era were saved by chance, by bravery, or by cunning; others were systematically destroyed. Bukharin's work, however, was simultaneously preserved and suppressed within Stalin's personal archives.

At once novel, memoir, political apology, and historical document, How It All Began , known in Russia as "the prison novel," adds deeply to our understanding of this vital intellectual and maligned historical figure. The panoramic story, composed under the worst of circumstances, traces the transformation of a sensitive young man into a fiery agitator, and presents a revealing new perspective on the background and causes of the revolution that transformed the face of the twentieth century.

Among the millions of victims of the reign of terror in the Soviet Union of the 1930's, Bukharin stands out as a special case. Not yet 30 when the Bolsheviks took power, he was one of the youngest, most popular, and most intellectual members of the Communist Party. In the 1920's and 30's, he defended Lenin's liberal New Economic Policy, claiming that Stalin's policies of forced industrialization constituted a "military-feudal exploitation" of the masses. He also warned of the approaching tide of European fascism and its threat to the new Bolshevik revolution. For his opposition, Bukharin paid with his freedom and his life. He was arrested and spent a year in prison. In what was one of the most infamous "show trials" of the time, Bukharin confessed to being a "counterrevolutionary" while denying any particular crime and was executed in his prison cell on March 15, 1938.

While in prison, Bukharin wrote four books, of which this unfinished novel was the last. It traces the development of Nikolai "Kolya" Petrov (closely modeled on Nikolai "Kolya" Bukharin) from his early childhood though to age fifteen. In lyrical and poetic terms it paints a picture of Nikolai's growing political consciousness and ends with his activism on the eve of the failed 1905 revolution. The novel is presented here along with the only surviving letter from Bukharin to his wife during his time in prison, an epistle filled with fear, longing, and hope for his family and his nation. The introduction by Stephen F. Cohen articulates Bukharin's significance in Soviet history and reveals the troubled journey of this novel from Stalin's archives into the light of day.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Russian Literature, Russian History, Politics, Russia

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician, advocated gradual agricultural collectivization; after the last "show trial" of Moscow of the 1930s for treason, people executed him.

Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, a Russian prolific author, wrote on theory.

As a young man, he spent six years in exile, worked closely with Vladimir Ilich Lenin and Leon Trotsky. After February 1917, he returned, his credentials earned him a high rank in the party, and after the October, he served as editor of Pravda, the newspaper.

Within the bitterly divide, his move to the right as a defender of the new economy, positioned him favorably as chief ally of Joseph Stalin, and from the party leadership, they together ousted Trotsky, Grigori Evseyevich Zinoviev, and Lev Borisovich Kamenev. From 1926, Bukharin enjoyed great power as general secretary of committee of Comintern to 1929. Nevertheless, decision of Stalin to proceed drove the two men apart, and the Politburo expelled Bukharin.

When the purges began in 1936, Joseph Stalin for pretext liquidated his former allies and rivals for power, and some letters, conversations, and tapped phone calls of Bukharin indicated disloyalty. People arrested him in February 1937, and charged conspiracy to overthrow the state. Proceedings alienated many western Communist sympathizers.

Reviews

[César Carranza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tengo mucho que decir de este libro, voy a empezar por la trama y la historia. El libro no está concluido, Bujarin no pudo terminarlo, es una pena, pero la historia está genial, va de un niño Kolia Petrov, que no es otro que el mismo Nikolai, uno lee su infancia y todo su contexto familiar, desde su migrasión a Besarabia como su regreso a Rusia, las cosas por las que pasaron, condiciones muy precarias, esto por las circunstancias históricas y, si es que se puede decir que es algo diferente, el sistema de valores familiar.

Leer esto es muy interesante, es sorprendente como uno de los fundadores de la unión soviética, era taaan sensible a todo, es la versión de él mismo de lo que fue su juventud, pero aún con esto, es increíble la sensibilidad poética que, al parecer, siempre tuvo, me parece un poco aplica para si mismo una frase que viene en el libro, "el camino al infierno está tapizado de buenas intensiones", digo essto porque también sorprende la sensibilidad a la mejora social que también siempre tuvo.

Por otro lado, la editorial, que siempre se ha caracterizado por hacer buenas cosa, además de que es bien cara, por lo menos en México, pero está bien, uno paga ediciones muy revisadas y traducciones sobresalientes, además del cuidado editorial, este caso es la excepción, tiene muchísimos errores, como si lo hubieran sacado al vapor, errores ortográficos, de redacción, inconsistencia en las transliteraciones del ruso, etc., en más de una ocasión regresé a una versión en ruso para comprobar si de verdad el escritor había cometido ese error (vg. confundir a Juan con Jonás en la biblia, etc.) y siempre fue el caso de la edición de pre textos. Es una pena porque es la única edición disponible de este libro interesantísimo, me parece no hace justicia al autor.

Lo recomiendo mucho, pero si hay que hacer un poco la vista a otro lado cuando uno se topa con tantos errores.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best "Prison Novels" I've ever read. What I find most interesting about this book are his vivid recollections of childhood. I think anyone interested in the way a writer can "dig deep" into his/her memory would enjoy this book - Russian politics aside. It's beautifully written.

[Revan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is very well written, but it was not quite what I was expecting. I hoped to learn more about one of the founding fathers of the USSR and his early life as a revolutionary. I ended up reading about Bukharin as a boy in Moscow and Moldova. Like I said, well written, but not set in the time period between 1917-1930.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bukharin was a communist leader from the beginning of the USSR. He was imprisoned and killed by Stalin in his Great Purge of competitors for power (Bukharin, ironically, helped purge Trotsky previously). This book was written while in prison. The title isn't so much about how the revolution began (which was what I had hoped for) but how his life began. It's a well written portrait of his childhood and life in late 19th century Russia, with only references to the political aspects leading to revolution. It ends in mid-thought and for some reason Stalin didn't burn his ex-friend's book.

[Artjom Aroutounjan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had the pleasure to read Bukharin and the honor to have met him in my living lifetime. Here is a man bound to his ideology, a great idealist, with a visionary character and firm and strong hearted personality.

This book is an original diving into a revolutionary’s mind set and many experiences that he has gone through to form him for what he was. He was just and loving… The unfortunate regime was his worst enemy. Russia was his worst enemy as well as the West, but not the butterflies and his family.

I recommend any one reading this book without expectations. This book provides me a great deal of knowledge and understanding of what Russia once wanted to be, but end up being corrupted.

A.

[Denny Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should wait to write this and let things settle, but I have a lot more reading to do. This book is a warm look at growing up in early 20th Century Russia. He set the stage and was never allowed to finish the play. This was written by a brilliant man who learned the world in a maelstrom of events and could have easily become a sage if only he was not shot by Stalin's men in that Soviet machine of depravity and fear. He joins a legion of remarkable humans wasted for no good reason in the Stalinist era.

[Ruben Florez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Señor Carranza, su párrafo o parrafada, se encuentra en difícil situación: " migrasión" " la historia....va de un niño" "tapizado de buenas intensiones" .Revise con franqueza su conocimiento ortográfico y de redacción en idioma español. Así evitará las confusiones mentales propias de quien exhibe tal confusión idiomática. Por eso decía parrafada al referirme al galimatías de su nivel idiomático. Le deseo suerte en el aprendizaje del idioma español.

[Sosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the great lost novel of 20th-century Russia; perhaps Russia's best coming-of-age novel. It captures a forgotten era, when Russia was gradually taken over by the nation's children. The doomed author's masterfully-written reflections are full of history, nature, life, death; all of the insight you expect from Russian literature. It's remarkable that somebody who helped extinguish his own country's traditions could (or would) write a novel that stands with the greats of the 19th century.

[Dawn Wells]

Well written and very informative of the Soviet Union at the time. Captivating at times. Great history.