The Origin of Russian Communism (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Nicolas Berdyaev (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1960 | Series: Ann Arbor Paperbacks

Examines the forces of national history and character that shaped Soviet communism

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (March 1, 1960)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472060341
• ISBN-13: 978-0472060344
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,705,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of detailed information, not very interesting, July 10, 2002

By 

George Stancliffe (Toppenish, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origin of Russian Communism (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) (Paperback)

The Communism that was practiced in Russia had some major differences from the way it was described by Marx and Engels.

Nicolas Berdyaev writes a very much needed analysis of where Russian Communism came from.

Although there is much to be learned about how the mindset of the average Russian was shaped over hundreds of years by Roman Law and Russian Orthodox religion, the writing style leaves much to be desired. Even though I studied Russian in college for two years and have a serious interest in Russia, I had difficulty finishing this book.

I give Berdyaev 5 stars for information and 1 star for the dry writing style. That averages out to 3 stars.

--George Stancliffe

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crucial to understanding Russian culture, December 18, 2003

By 

"mmdougherty" (Hollister, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Origin of Russian Communism (Textbook Binding)

This book, although very hard to read is very detailed and indepth. I would read Berdyaev in conjunction with other writers of Russian cultural history such as Richmond and Vassilieva. Then if you need more indepth research or understanding of a particular cultural characteristic then I would go back to Beryaev and really dissect it.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical insight, March 15, 2004

By 

W. Jamison "William S. Jamison" (Eagle River, Ak United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origin of Russian Communism (Ann Arbor Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I would suggest that R.M. French's translation is not so much dry as a close translation of the Russian. In this I keep in mind the indeterminancy of translation (Quine) and that "Understanding a sentence means understanding a language." (Wittgenstein) This is a period piece and reading it, even in translation, is entering into the mind of a person living in another cultural world. What feels dry is really a "mind-shift" -- even in the structure of the English.

Notice even the structure of the sentences feels more Russian than English: (p. 7) "Already in the fourteenth century there existed" follows precisely the word order in the Russian.

Beyond this the main issue concerns the purpose of reading Berdyaev. It seems to me that this is a history of philosophy exercise. However, I am aware that many contemporary Russians consider him to be their favorite philosopher. It certainly would take reading him to find out why and doing this should give us some insights into the hopes and dreams of many of our contemporary Russian friends.