
The Desperate Plight Behind “Darkness at Noon” - jseliger
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/the-desperate-plight-behind-darkness-at-noon
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h2odragon
>"At least one woman accused Koestler of rape, but many others described
behavior that today would certainly be classified as sexual abuse. "

Aren't we supposed to erase him and his works from history now, then? after
all:

>"Anyone who disagrees with the Party’s dictates is on the wrong side of
history, and so deserves to be eliminated. "

~~~
earthboundkid
Being against rape isn't a niche 21st century politico-cultural thing. People
have always at least pretended to be against rape. If you can't see the
difference between rape and say, having a different opinion about trans
issues, you're the weirdo.

~~~
renox
> People have always at least pretended to be against rape.

Depends: the notion that a husband forcing his wife to have sex is rape is
quite new.. Plus what about slaves? Women in a conquered city?

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Arete314159
I've always been struck by the detail that he _and his wife_ died in a double
suicide, because _he_ was terminally ill. This man who wrote so profoundly
about brainwashing and thought control in the end persuaded a woman that since
_he_ wasn't going to live any longer, her life wasn't worth living, either.

I only have the profoundest respect for Darkness at Noon. I read it in high
school and it has stayed with me ever since. But it strikes me that sometimes
you escape great trauma and sometimes you don't. A man who spent a lot of his
time having a great public will forced upon him tried to escape that, but
turned around and exerted the same abuse on other people in his private life.
Sort of like the man who says, "I'll never be like my alcoholic father. He
drank whiskey. I only drink beer."

~~~
MichaelMoser123
# This man who wrote so profoundly about brainwashing and thought control in
the end persuaded a woman that since he wasn't going to live any longer, her
life wasn't worth living, either.

Charlotte Altman, tbe wife of Stephan Zweig also committed suicide with her
husband. But that was because Zweig thought that all is lost as the war has
almost been lost, but why did this lead to her suicide as well?

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MichaelMoser123
I have a slight problem with all the references to psychoanalysis that authors
of that age were stuffing into their books. I mean it used to make some works
look very persuasive, but nowadays I keep wondering what of it is truth and
what of it is just bullshit.

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cafard
His _Age of Longing_ is worth a look, I think. I haven't read either book in
years, but it seems to me that it was better than _Darkness at Noon_.

I also think that quite a few writers gave better accounts of the purges and
trials than Koestler.

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oh_sigh
Has anyone noticed that literary reviews generally get very few or no comments
but frequently end up on the front page. Why is that? Is there a cabal of
users upvoting these stories for some reason?

~~~
andyjohnson0
Perhaps its just that sufficient people find them interesting enough to
upvote, but few people in the HN demographic have much to say about the
subject. Nobody comments because nobody has commented.

~~~
saalweachter
I myself upvote submissions I want to see other people comment on rather than
ones I wish to.

