I gotta give it to Stalin for saying everything nice and simple and tossing in a few jokes here and there. His Anarchism or Socialism was one of the best written books of theory I’d ever read. Stalin brings up Point A, then explains what it is, he explains the Anarchist positions/opinions on Point A, then Stalin shits on the anarchists and says “get a load of this jackass, he thinks blah blah blah about Point A! Have you ever heard of anyone so ignorant?” And on top of that, he never writes books that are especially long, most are able to be read over the course of 1-3 days. I genuinely haven’t read enough Lenin yet, I only read his Development of Capitalism in Russia which was very dry, Marx and Engels are great but I prefer Engels writing style to Marx
I’m very partial to Lenin myself. I think that The State and Revolution, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, and “Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder are three of the most important works written on the subject of why capitalist system cannot be reformed and how to take meaningful action to combat it. Lenin also writes in extremely lucid and accessible style in my opinion. His writing is short and to the point.
Gotta agree. He has that rare ability to teach, inspire, uplift, and entertain, all without condescension, and in an easy to understand way. Him and Engels are probably the clearest, most “no nonsense” writers in Marxism.
I will add three more to that list of Lenin classics: “What Is To Be Done”, “The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky” and “The Tax in Kind”
I also have What Is To Be Done but haven’t read it
Great suggestions as well!
Lol I actually have all three of those works but haven’t gotten to them yet😢
Of Stalin, I’ve read Dialectical and historical materialism, which I should probably re-read, and I’ve read economic problems of the USSR and foundations of Leninism, which were not the most engaging works. I haven’t read much Mao or Marx. I have read some Lenin, State and revolution is really great, I love his easy to understand and engaging style, Imperialism is also really good, I love how he dunks on Kautsky, and gives so much evidence and explanation it’s impossible to deny his conclusions. Finally Engels is pretty good, I’ve only read a few chapters of anti-duhring, but I feel like he’s like Lenin with a little more philosophical jargon.
On Authority was a key work for me as a budding Marxist. Socialism Utopian and Scientific was always a favorite too but I never remembered much because I only checked it in audiobook, I have a Marx-Engels reader that has it tho
Lenin hands down. He had the ability to explain everything he wanted, from the nuances of party praxis, through marxist economic theory, obscure statistics compilations to even the philosophy. If you ever wondered why he was commonly called “teacher” even during his life, it’s this.
Lenin for 👆 exact reason.
Mao
I’ll need to read On Contradiction because I only have his book of quotations which is nice, but kinda scattered and not organized by book, but by topic, which is kinda helpful in its own right, but doesn’t give a clear picture of how he writes
I’m a big advocate for Fidel’s speeches. He doesn’t fall in with the “four heads” theorists, and those speeches were probably collectively workshopped by the PCC, but I think they have a ton of continuing relevance in the western hemisphere.
Lenin pretty much touched every point of Marxism, plus he’s funny af when she dunks on kautsky or the SRs, as far as simplicity I think Mao wins that front.
Mao was so great with small but powerful quotes. Like shit that’s obvious when you hear it but you never think of it like that. He explained Imperialists as dust bunnies that need to be swept away. Okay I understand his point, then he drops a bombshell. Wherever the broom doesn’t sweep, the dust will not disappear by itself. The Communist Vanguard Party cannot sit idly by as Imperialists linger in their country. They must sweep away the dust before it builds up heavier and more difficult to get rid of. That blew my mind a bit, such a great analogy
Rosa Luxemburg and Lenin
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
