Darkness At Noon
by Arthur Koestler
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Signed
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
E-225: Franklin Library. Very Good. 1777. Hardcover. Leather Bound. 8vo. Franklin Library, Franklin Center, PA. 1979. 238 pgs. Signed by Arthur Koestler on the FFEP. Bound in leather with gilt titles and devices. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks, binding tight and solid, boards clean with no wear present. In print continually since 1940, Darkness at Noon has been translated into over 30 languages and is both a stirring novel and a classic anti-fascist text. Set in the 1930s at the height of the purge and show trials of a Stalinist Moscow, Darkness at Noon is a haunting portrait of an aging revolutionary, Nicholas Rubashov, who is imprisoned, tortured, and forced through a series of hearings by the Party to which he has dedicated his life. As the pressure to confess preposterous crimes increases, he re-lives a career that embodies the terrible ironies and betrayals of a merciless totalitarian movement masking itself as an instrument of deliverance. Koestler’s portrayal of Stalin-era totalitarianism and fascism is as chilling and resonant today as it was in the 1940s and during the Cold War. Rubashov’s plight explores the meaning and value of moral choices, the attractions and dangers of idealism, and the corrosiveness of political corruption. Like The Trial, 1984, and Animal Farm, this is a book you should read as a citizen of the world, wherever you are and wherever you come from. EB; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .
Synopsis
Darkness at Noon, by Hungarian-born British writer Arthur Koestler, is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried for treason against the government that he had helped to create. The novel is understood as an allegory to the USSR in 1938, the Great Purge, and the Moscow Trials. However, the text never mentions the Soviet Union or Russia (just “Country of the Revolution” and “Over There”) or Joseph Stalin (only “Number One,” a menacing dictator). Perhaps the lack of specific references is Koestler’s way of making the story seem more universal, but it’s clear he has in mind actual places, people, and events. Koestler was actually a proponent of Marxism-Leninism until Stalin’s 1938 Purge and the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact. Afterwards, he edited an anti-Hitler, anti-Stalin newspaper. Koestler wrote the novel in German while living in Paris, from where he escaped in 1940 just before the Nazi troops arrived. Darkness at Noon owes its publication to the decision of sculptor Daphne Hardy, Koestler’s lover in Paris, to translate the text into English before she herself escaped. Koestler wrote Darkness at Noon as the second part of a trilogy; the first volume is The Gladiators (1939), first published in Hungarian. It is a novel about the subversion of the Spartacus revolt. The third novel is Arrival and Departure (1943), about a refugee during World War II. By then living in London, Koestler wrote the third in English. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Darkness at Noon number eight on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Sidney Kingsley adapted it for Broadway in 1951.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Last Exit Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 61277
- Title
- Darkness At Noon
- Author
- Arthur Koestler
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Publisher
- Franklin Library
- Place of Publication
- E-225
- Date Published
- 1777
Terms of Sale
Last Exit Books
All sales considered final. All items described to the best of my ability. Returns considered if sent back within 10 days of reciept with an email explanation sent to me first or if the item fails to match description. Refunds processed upon the reciept of the book.
�
About the Seller
Last Exit Books
Biblio member since 2005
Charlottesville, Virginia
About Last Exit Books
Please call ahead if you are visiting. Also, please have the title or number of the book that you before you come to visit. Sorry, but no browsing.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- FFEP
- A common abbreviation for Front Free End Paper. Generally, it is the first page of a book and is part of a single sheet that...
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
Collecting Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards
Exchanging Valentines can be an awkward process, especially when you consider “Vinegar Valentines” and other snarky sentiments - whatever your tastes, enjoy the sweet and sour cards alike in this gallery!
Collecting the Harlem Renaissance
One of the most influential - and certainly most iconic - cultural revolutions in American history, the Harlem Renaissance offers a compelling repertoire for both seasoned and novice book collectors. We’ve put together a beautiful gallery of high points to help start your collection here.
