To the Finland station
by Edmund Wilson · first published 1940
7mentions
3recommended by
6HN commenters
2013–2025first – last mentioned
50% recommend17% neutral33% critical
Presents the history of revolutionary thought and the birth of socialism, from the French Revolution and the 1824 rediscovery by Jules Michelet of the ideas of Italian political philosopher Giovanni Vico about the perfectibility of man, through the 19th-century collaboration of Marx and Engels, to the 1917 arrival of Vladimir Lenin at Finland Station, Saint Petersburg, to lead the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution.--Adapted from Wikipedia.
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Zinsser's On Writing Well. (i.e. on writing non-fiction) The first half of To The Finland Station (1940) was absolutely fascinating (the second half is the story of Marx, Lenin etc which I know more about so didn't read) - about 19th C French historians, and the origins of socialism. I had no idea…
on “Ask HN: What is the best non-tech book you read this year?” ↗Thanks for the recommendation, looks interesting. My other favourite book in this area is To the Finland Station, of course the NSA knows that already as I bought it on Amazon :)
on “Petition to Pardon Edward Snowden” ↗> Democratize ownership I think there is another word for this. read To The Finland Station by Edmund Wilson. There are only a very few cases where Democratize ownership worked and it was under a benevolent dictator. After the dictator died, everything fell apart.
on “Has the decline of knowledge work begun?” ↗For a contrary view of Edmund Wilson, get the Kindle sample of To the Finland Station https://www.amazon.com/Finland-Station-Writing-History-Class... : I wouldn't give a lot of deference to a book review by someone who'd write that. I'm sure his titanic reputation is well-deserved, but…
on “W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring” ↗Ah yes. That fine scholar who authored among several notable works the outstanding “To the Finland Station: A Study in the Writing and Acting of History”. A landmark work that every successful actor has read and every aspiring author must read.
on “W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring” ↗To The Finland Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_Finland_Station
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗To the Finland Station is about the Russian Revolution.
on “W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring” ↗