The Novel of a Novel : Abridged Diary Entries From Moscow, 1935–1937

One of the first critiques of Stalinism from within the communist movement, The Novel of a Novel is a memoir in the form of a journal. It was first published in Yugoslavia in 1955 based on the journal, letters, clippings, and other materials kept by the Hungarian-Jewish novelist Ervin Sinkó during his two years in Moscow between 1935 and 1937, years in which the Soviet cultural policy of the Popular Front was giving way to the Great Terror. Sinkó and his wife travelled to the home of socialism with great hopes. He had just completed his novel Optimists on the Hungarian Revolutions of 1918–1919 but could not find a publisher for it in Depression-era Paris. He went to Moscow at the urging of Romain Rolland and at the invitation of VOKS, both promoters of the Soviet Union as the center of a new civilization. Sinkó's optimism however soon gave way to grave doubts. Fearful publishers kept him in limbo and starving despite the support that Sinkó had from Béla Kun and Alfred Kurella of the Comintern. Sinkó deplored the over-centralization of cultural policy, attacks against the avant-guard, the forcing of Socialist Realism, the cult of Stalin, the reverses on abortion, the development of a privileged class of managers and Stakhanovist workers, and finally, the advent of the show trials. He tried to understand these developments through conversations with a great many people of the German and Hungarian communist diasporas, the visiting French Left, and local Russians among whom he was allowed to live. In the second year of his stay, the Sinkós shared an apartment with the writer Isaac Babel and his wife, Pirizhkova. The story of the tragic misunderstanding that ensued between the two men reveals much about Babel's difficult situation and about the limits of Sinkó's understanding of the Terror. The Sinkós were fortunate to be expelled from the country. But even back in France, Sinkó was prevented by his fear of the fascist threat from openly criticizing the Soviet Union. It was a miracle that the couple survived both the terror and the Holocaust. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Translator’s Introduction Note on Conventions I: Part I 1 By Way of Introduction 2 As If by Miracle 3 Károlyi Goes into Action, and Two Letters from Switzerland in Quick Succession 4 Comrade Arosev and the Strange Parisian Career of Optimists 5 The Journal Europe and Further Friendly Letters from Villeneuve 6 The Dream Come True 7 Idyllic Intermezzo 8 On the Way to Moscow, the Same Night on the Train II: Part II 9 Preliminary Explanation 10 Growing Amazements, Growing Concerns 11 Béla Kun 12 The Adventures of Optimists and its Author are Just Beginning 13 The Happy Life and Gratitude 14 Gorky, Rolland, and a Word about Barbusse III: Part III 15 Nighttime Thoughts, or Letter to My Yet Unborn Friend 16 While the Censors Write 17 My Incurable Individualism and an Unforgettable Lesson 18 In Black and White 19 “One Must Get Used to Life” 20 In a Foreign Land . . . IV: Part IV 21 Commentary on Three Months, which are Only Summarized by the Journal 22 “Degenerate Art” 23 Comrade Bukharin Must Correct His Views 24 Andor Gábor, the New Censor of Optimists 25 André Malraux and the Marxist Encyclopedia 26 I Am Beginning to “Understand” Babel 27 The Optimists Makes Propaganda for Zinoviev 28 The Screenplay for Mosfilm 29 A Human Trait Has Been Lost V: Part V 30 The Last But Most Eventful Part, Ending in Paris 31 Brief, Happy Excitement but “The Times Are Unfavorable” 32 The Soviet Union, Seen from the Perspective of Madame Lupescu’s Kingdom 33 “These Mad Dogs Must Be Shot” 34 Proof of the Author’s Blindness 35 Funeral 36 The Friendly Visits of Comrade Lopuhina 37 My Witness, I. E. Babel 38 “Now Nothing Can Be Known For Sure” 39 Two Years Later 40 On the Meeting of Romain Rolland with Stalin Epilogue Postscript Another Postscript Index About the Editor and Translator This book provides an abridged translation of the writings of Ervin Sinko, the Hungarian writer and intellectual, during his visit to the Soviet Union in 1935-37. It describes his initial sympathy for the Soviet project and his eventual disillusionment after witnessing what he considered to be Stalinism's betrayals of socialist ideals. This book provides an abridged translation of the writings of Ervin Sinkó, the Hungarian writer and intellectual, during his visit to the Soviet Union in 1935–37. It describes his initial sympathy for the Soviet project and his eventual disillusionment after witnessing what he considered to be Stalinism’s betrayals of socialist ideals.