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Darkness at Noon
by Koestler, Arthur
- Used
- very good
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller
-
Schenectady, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Signet, 1948. First Printing. Paperback. Very Good. Signet 671. Mild lamination peel, front cover a bit warped. A very good+ copy. ; Small octavo.
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.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Parigi Books, Vintage and Rare
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5916
- Title
- Darkness at Noon
- Author
- Koestler, Arthur
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Printing
- Publisher
- Signet
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1948
- Keywords
- RUSSIA, TREASON, TRIALS, VINTAGE, PAPERBACK, FICTION
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction and Literature;
Terms of Sale
Parigi Books, Vintage and Rare
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About the Seller
Parigi Books, Vintage and Rare
Biblio member since 2008
Schenectady, New York
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About Parigi Books, Vintage and Rare
Parigi Books, established in 2006, is an independent antiquarian bookstore located in the heart of Schenectady, NY. We are open by appointment only.We buy and sell fine books and collectibles in all fields with a strong focus on science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, comics and graphic novels. Our eclectic taste is reflected in the ample variety of items available, from significant titles from the 1500s on to original comic art, from collectible paperbacks to literary magazines. We carry in stock the best selection of Italian language graphic novels and comics you can find this side of the pond.As fairly strict graders who pay particular attention to collecting standards, we have been able to make thousands of customers happy over the years.Parigi Books is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), and the Independent Online Booksellers' Association (IOBA).
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