I’m used to fiction where one character is always at the focus.
PDFs and audio would help. I not good at finding them.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is precisely what you’re asking for. It’s an important read but also just a fantastic read…like it’s genuinely very entertaining. It’s written verbatim from recording made by the transcriber within like a month of his death and it’s a full life story and although it’s a direct transcript, it’s very novelist anyway
Edit: strictly speaking though, no. There are biographical works that will involve theory and teach some. But strictly speaking, you’re not reading theory, you’re reading a biography. A text of political theory is the kind of text that doesn’t really have any characters. It’s kinda like asking for a math textbook with a main character.
That said, I struggled to understand Marx at first because I didn’t know who anyone was. It was all words and concepts. Then I read the first book in Isaac Deutscher’s trilogy on Trotsky and the first Fear of Mirrors novel by Tariq Ali. After that, I could picture a young Hegelian not as an abstract theoretician but as someone who thought a certain way and lived at a certain time. Made it all much easier and things flowed from there.
Is Deutscher’s trilogy on Trotsky still a good read for non-trot?
I always figured it was very trotty.
Hmmm… it’s been a long time since I read it. I wasn’t a Marxist at the time. Only interested. I knew very little truth about anything Marxism or Soviet Revolution/USSR. By the time I finished, I came away thinking that Trotsky was praiseworthy.
I confess to only reading the first book. The other two could paint a different picture.
Then again, it really was enough to get me to question everything I thought I knew about communism, the Soviets, and Marx/Marxism. So it didn’t leave me so enthralled to Trotsky that I couldn’t easily accept Marxism-Leninism once I read a broader range of texts.
Read as part of a balanced diet, I could still recommend it. If you’re already opposed to Trotskyism, try it out and put it down if it’s too sycophantic?
I’d still recommend it for those who need the characters to come alive to make the theoretical works more accessible. I guess it depends on the other influences on a person’s development. Left to think for themselves after sampling enough texts, it could work out well. Pushed into reading this or that by one of the myriad Trotsky orgs, they might be more easily led down some problematic paths.
and it’s performed by laurence fishburne no less; i just prioritized this to the top my “reading” list and thank you for making me aware!
Damn! That’s a great choice
It’s not exactly what you’re asking for, since it doesn’t have a main character and it’s not theory, but Mieville’s October reads like a novel and it tells the story of the Russian revolution. Worth a read since it’s educational and a fun read. Aside from some lame anti-Stalinism at the end it’s solid imo.
Ten Days That Shook The World covers it too, as a personal account.
Grapes of wrath has interlude chapters which describes marxist concepts. I think the archive of marxist texts online has a few excerpts saved there.
Here’s a PDF
I want to read Grapes of Wrath but worry how deeply it would wrench my heart. Not sure how I’d cope after reading an expert.
It’s gut wrenching but also uplifting. Well worth your time and famous for good reason.
Does “The Motorcycle Diaries” count?
Ever heard the one about the coat maker and the ten yards of linen?
No. What’s it about? What’s it called?
the first that comes to mind is chernyshevsky’s “what is to be done”
Though I haven’t read it yet, the fact that Lenin, Plekhanov, Kropotkin, Kollontay, Luxemburg, and Emma Goldman have read and were influenced by it speaks volumes to its value as literature.
Bullshit Jobs by Graeber has a very distinct voice, with it either being Graebers reflections on his own life, or him responding to letters people have sent him about their experiences.
The Michael Parenti lectures are great too. All free on YouTube. Usually he’s speaking at a lecture and reading some excerpts from his new book. His signature is that he always has a problem with the mic and complains about it in very Italian American fashion. Very witty and spirited. I find Parenti endlessly charming. I kind of love that man. Just pick a lecture you like the sound of, and have a watch/listen. They’re reposted unofficially on Spotify under ‘Not Michael Parenti’. I’d recommend the ones where he talks about movies and media to start with - they’re the most joke filled, and pop-cultureish, which makes for easier listening.
Youtube channel “Chemical Mind” has taken a few of the lectures and ran them through audio software to improve audio quality
The Jungle
In Dubious Battle by Steinbeck is a novel about someone becoming radicalized by the cruelty of the owners to become a communist organizer.
Kropotkin’s “the conquest of bread” reads super easily, it’s super inflammatory, and has some very good points of theory. It’s on YouTube on audio format
Quite dry but a lot of Engels early work is done sort of like an account, where he visits a place and reports the facts and how he felt:
You could title this ‘Engels goes to England!’
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/ch08.htm
‘Ten Days That Shook The World’ is good too - an account of the Russian Revolution from an American socialist who watched it all happen.
‘Ten Days That Shook The World’ is good too
I got the BBC dramatisation of that here on TankieTube if you really want to make it feel like a story
Nice, got a big train journey coming up, excited to listen. Cheers.
There’s a comic called Red Rosa which is a pretty good summary of Rosa Luxemburg’s life, it’s not particularly theory dense, but it is Marxist and goes into some stuff lightly.
It’s a good one. The images really help to picture some essential concepts, too.
Read the manifesto comrade. The characters are the different classes in the progress of history.
how has no one mentioned “10 days that shook the world” by john reed??? Absolute page turner
Unironically, Trotsky’s autobiography “My Life” is heavy on personal details and relatively light in theory while also going over the entire Russian Revolution. Obviously he comes from a unique perspective which you might not agree with, but his overall depiction of events leading up to the creation of the USSR is pretty accurate. And Trotsky 100% writes like he is the main character, so it will probably fit your needs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v3YxJpw8KI
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
