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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
The story of a myth ..., 16 Sep 2004
Furet says, in the preface to this book, that "The passing of an illusion" "is not a history of Communism, even less a history of the Soviet Union; it is a history of the illusion of Communism during the time in which the USSR lent it consistency and vitality". In my opinion, this book tells us a story, the story of a myth. That myth is no other that the Communist myth, that was supposed to bring a world of peace and freedom, and instead only brought more chains to those who chose to follow it. The October revolution was thought to be the continuation of the French Revolution, a new revolution that would finish the task the other couldn`t complete. Many continued to believe so even after it was fairly evident that that wasn't the case: the dictatorship of the proletariat had turned into arbitrary rule of the proletariat by a few. Of course, it was much easier to believe in the Communist myth living far away from the URSS than in that country, having to deal with the reality of oppression. Furet points out how ingeniously the URSS managed to retain its universalistic appeal even after Stalin imposed the doctrine of "socialism in one state". He also mentions the intelligent identification that the URSS tried to make between Communism and Anti-Fascism, and the realization that "Communism had to conceal its reality in order to remain an 'idea' ". Many intellectuals were almost eager to be mislead: they hated Fascism so much that they didn`t wait much to "establish a subjective connection between Communism and liberty". "The passing of an illusion" is rather long, but it is more than worth your time and effort. Even though it doesn`t exhaust the subject, it allows the reader to learn a lot about it... Moreover, it was written by François Furet (1927-1997), a well-known French historian that somehow managed to convey wonderfully how important the theme was to him. In his own words, "I have a biographical connection with my subject: in my youth, I experienced the passing of an illusion as a Communist between 1949 and 1956. My subject is thus inseparable from my existence, and I experienced firsthand the illusion that I am attempting to trace back to the time in which it was most widespread". Why did the myth persist for so long, and how did it finally fall?. The author examines these questions, and finds some answers that I consider very interesting. However, those answers are quite long, so instead of repeating them I advice you to read this book :) On the whole, I recommend "The passing of an illusion" to all those who want to understand our present. Believe it or not, doing so is impossible without understanding the communist myth and its evolution. Ideas are important, and the impact of Communism over our century is just another proof of that... Belen Alcat
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