Unforgiving Years

Victor Serge is always in print and always neglected. He is one of the very greatest writers of the 20th century. He chronicles the rising intensity of the desire for liberation by means of political revolution and its collapse into totalitarianism. He barely survived this and his writing is far beyond reportage.In this novel he chronicles the end of an agent's career; the ring of betrayals that close in, the memories of a harsh hopefulness, and the final escape. And with all this, his faith in humanity barely falters.But, as he says:"Best not to be entirely innocent; you'll feel less of a fool when you get caught." (p.248)Thus he tells the broken story of the 20th century.Please do read this, his last novel.

and the prophet who wishes to write a new apocalypse will have to invent entirely new beasts, and beasts so terrible that the ancient animal symbols of St. John will seem like cooing doves and cupids in comparison." Heinrich HeineVictor Serge did not have to invent entirely new beasts to pen his vision of the Second World War in the "Unforgiving Years". The beasts that were unleashed by the 20th century's apocalypse were not Serge's creation. However, what Serge has done so masterfully here is to craft a story that looks at this world through the eyes of a few of its participants. The result is a horrific, almost hallucinatory look, at a world gone mad.Serge was born in Brussels in 1890 to Russian emigre parents. He returned to Russia early in 1919 in order to support the newly created Soviet Union. He served as both a writer and journalist. However, Serge was one of the first of the old-line revolutionaries to oppose Stalin's concentration of power. He was arrested, expelled from the party, released, and arrested again. Finally, in 1936 after a public campaign by leading European political and literary figures (Andre Gide was one); Serge was released and deported to France. He eventually found his way to Mexico where he died, penniless, in 1947."Unforgiving Years" is set in four sections and in four locations. In the first section, set in Paris in the days just before the start of WWII, "Secret Agent", we are introduced to Agent D. D is a Soviet agent who has finally had enough of the purges, paranoia, and betrayal that marked Soviet life (both at home and abroad) during the height of Stalin's purges. He has no plans to defect; he simply wants to escape to some place off the grid. He talks to Daria (the one character to appear in all four sections of the book), another agent and former lover to join him. His preparations and their discussions about his departure form the heart of "Secret Agent". This section is filled with the sort of beautifully realized self-critical examination that marked Koestler's dialogues in "Darkness at Noon". It is a remarkable piece of writing.The second section, "The Flame Beneath the Snow", is set in Leningrad during the worst days of the 900-day siege. Daria has returned from internal exile in Kazakhstan to assist the Red Army's (via the security forces) defense of Leningrad. This is a street-level look at a Soviet city under siege. This is not a look at the battle as much as it is an examination of the life of Daria and her conflicting feelings as she goes about her job amidst death, destruction, and slow-starvation. All feelings are cast aside, or seemingly cast aside. What is left is not love but random acts of gratification.The third section, "Brigitte, Lighting, Lilacs", takes us two a German city in the final days of the war. Daria is operating behind the lines as an agent, doing what she can to obtain information while protecting partisans and foreign (Eastern European) refugees. What is remarkable here is Serge's treatment of the German civilian population caught in the constant bombardment and devastation of their city. Writing in 1946, when the full scope of the horror of the camps and the devastation of the war generally was still fresh in everyone's mind, Serge's considered treatment of the people of this city presaged W.G. Sebald's Natural History of Destruction by fifty years or so.Last, Daria and Agent D are reunited at the end of the war in a remote village in Mexico. The conclusion to"Unforgiving Years"is very powerful and,in its own way, entirely fitting."Unforgiving Years" paints a picture of a world gone mad as seen through the eyes of Daria and the circle of people she meets along the way. Serge is brutally honest in his view of man in what has to be considered a brutish state of nature. Life is nasty, brutish, and short and people react accordingly. Serge's writing matches this mood and that is what I meant when I said his writing was almost hallucinatory. It jumps in mood and pace seemingly at whim. A character goes from thinking `big thoughts' to focusing on the minutest aspect of a random daily act. But I was engaged from the first page and had trouble putting the book down.As noted so aptly in the introduction by translator Richard Greeman, Serge asks "how to live if history no longer has a meaning? What remains of human consciousness if society has indeed entered a regressive era of ideological repression and technological pan-destruction?" These are questions that, sad to say, seem as timely now as they were in 1946. "Unforgiving Years" was finished just before Serge's death. It is, undeniably, his masterpiece. Highly recommended. L. FleisigP.S. Serge's  The Case of Comrade Tulayev (New York Review Books Classics)  (fiction) and  Year One of the Russian Revolution (non-fiction) are also well worth reading.

In general, I agree with the plaudits given this book. NYRB deserves much credit in not only resurrecting it, but finally translating it to English (from French).As already discussed, this book is divided into four complementary sections. There are many "big ideas" which were sometimes presented in monologues and often during the course of tedious dialogue: these latter were occasionally lofted into vaguely pretentious displays of erudition by the characters. However, recall that most of the early revolutionists were self-absorbed intellectuals often presented themselves in this way.As an historical source on the Revolution, the book fails, however, historical representation was not Serge's goal. The first section, dealing with the defection of Sacha ("D") introduces the characters and explains the "secret agent's" abandonment of the Revolution. However, it is not an analysis of "true believer" psychology like Koestler's, "Darkness at Noon" (or, for that matter, Eric Hoffer's, "The True Believer"). The second section, dealing with the personal experiences of Daria, a Communist functionary, during the Seige of Leningrad, was the weakest, as the characters appeared to be archetypes with whom it was difficult to establish sympathy. The third section, dealing with the end-stage of the War in Germany appears to owe a debt to Celine ("North", in particular). Again, Daria plays a dedicated role. The ultimate reason for her abandonment of the cause as presented in the final section was not given. The fourth section of the book, set in Mexico, was most beautifully written. The style evokes Paul Bowles, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Malcolm Lowry, though I suspect this work was unknown to them.In summary, this is an excellent novel, one deserving attention by anyone who appreciates real artistic endeavors. The fact that Serge could write this under conditions of privation and exile and near the end of his life adds even more testament to his brilliance.

Victor Serge is largely unknown outside of Russian/European academics, but his books deserve a wider audience. He has now been dead 50 years, but his descriptions of the world of the early 20th Century struggles against both Communism and Fascism are brilliant.This books contains descriptions of Paris in the 1930's and Leningrad during its WW 2 seige - highyly evocative in both cases, for different reasons......More people should read this book, and understand the struggles of the 20th century to make for safer world for all.

Serge is a great writer, determined to understand and record the tragic times he lived through in fictions that rank with Tolstoy's. This novel is more demanding than his others, but rewards in equal measure.

Serge describes the heartbreaking failures of the Russian experiment but leaves the reader with a optimism provided by the irrepressible strength of the human soul's quest for the good, the right, the just.