Apparently, like 1984 and Animal Farm, Darkness at Noon is a powerful work of 20th-Century literature that explores the moral danger inherent in a system that is willing to enforce its beliefs by any means necessary.
Nikolai Rubashov is forced through a series of interrogations by the system he helped create. Each interrogation becomes more and more ludicrous and the accusations become more preposterous until the inevitable and Rubashov can no longer take the mental anguish. I’m sure the show trials and the interrogations that preceded them in the 1930s in Stalin’s Soviet Union were as described in this book. Rubashov relives his career in the time between his interrogations when he’s alone in his cell with just a throbbing tooth for company and his friend in cell 402 tapping out messages on the wall.
What is it about the book I don’t like? Well, in 1984 and Animal Farm I found myself pausing to reflect on what was happening in the book and how it had relevance for the people of today, what we could learn from the book and apply lessons to our own times. There was also a sense of humour in those books and I was never quite sure how the story would end.
I’m sure that Darkness at Noon is accurate but for me it’s stuck in a certain time and a certain place, it’s a piece of historical fiction without any lightness or humour, where the ending is predicted and predictable. The funniest thing about the book is the quote on the back of the book from the New York Herald Tribune, who said “A rare and beautifully executed novel.” I hope there’s some irony there, but I’m not holding out much hope. A bit like the book, I suppose.
Julian Worker Fiction 