A Slick, Quick, Superficial Read

The virtues of Lawrence McDonnell's account of the October rebellion of 1993 and Yeltsin's subsequent storming of the White House are comparable to those of an edition of cribbing notes to a classic novel for lazy examinees. You would not bother with the notes if you had actually studied the original book in any depth, but if you have not then you might be tempted by a slick, quick, superficial read."October Revolution" may interest readers who, like your reviewer, were not in the country last October, or who failed to catch the mini civil war as it was unfolding live on CNN. But it will not tell experienced Yeltsin-watchers anything new."October Revolution" is what is known in the antediluvian business of publishing -- in which a typescript, like a baby, usually takes nine months to gestate into a book on a shelf -- as an instant book. The idea is that an observer of an event of historical significance, usually a reporter, will empty the contents of his or her notebook, sometimes even as the story is unfolding, so as to get their inevitably insubstantial account into the shops while the public's interest in the subject is still acute. Other better researched, more analytical, books may follow but the instant book will always have the cachet of getting there first.Lawrence McDonnell, however, has been cheated of this distinction. For Boris Yeltsin and his publisher, HarperCollins, have succeeded in the not inconsiderable feat of getting the president's own account of events, "A View From The Kremlin" onto the shelves in English almost as quickly as McDonnell's book, albeit at twice the price in a glossy hardcover edition. McDonnell, a BBC reporter currently based in Kiev, never effectively questions Yeltsin's actions and motives. As a journalist he is made uncomfortable by Yeltsin's censorship of the press during the rebellion, but in general he is keen to forgive the president his undemocratic lapses. And, on the few occasions when McDonnell does commit his opinions, as opposed to plain facts, to paper, his protective tone makes it clear that he is unambiguously pro-Yeltsin. Take, for example, McDonnell's description of Yeltsin's decree-issuing binge, designed to consolidate his position, in the days after the disbanding of Parliament. "Most (decrees) made perfect sense ... But others brought him down to the same level as his opponents still sitting in the White House announcing their own decrees ... Once dissolved, Parliament should have been ignored."It is hard to explain why a reader in search of a subjective, pro-Yeltsin account of events should not turn to the President's own book. For McDonnell cannot compete with Yeltsin in his stated aim of analyzing how relations between the president and the Supreme Soviet in general, and Alexander Rutskoi and Ruslan Khasbulatov in particular, deteriorated to such a degree so quickly. And Yeltsin is better able to dramatize the existential struggle between democracy and dictatorship, and the ironic predicament of needing to use dictatorial methods to protect democracy.In fact, the only reason to read McDonnell's book is for the action sequence that describes the occupation and liberation of the White House, which lies at the core of the book. For, as the title of Yeltsin's book makes clear, once events moved from siege to attack the president was trying to assert his authority in the Kremlin. But McDonnell was among the demonstrators on the streets, or at his ringside bedroom window in the Ukraine Hotel. And his eyewitness account of the action makes exciting reading. Swept away by the drama of the narrative, the reader can ignore the unsubstantiated generalizations: "Russians tend, by nature, to be rather a violent nation.... Russians love a conspiracy theory." The banal statements of the obvious are quickly passed over: "The media clampdown is designed to suppress any voice of dissent ... The ultimatum only heightened tension." And the slick phrases and neat word-play begin to sound like wittily phrased truisms.It is a shame that Lawrence McDonnell did not give himself more time to interview the protagonists rather than simply returning to the secondary sources. For when he does get out there and make contact with his subjects he has a humorous, human touch that is compelling. A good example is the story of Sergei Baskachin, 19, a rebel soldier wounded in the battle for the White House, which reads like a parable of civil war. McDonnell came upon Sergei in Sklifosovsky Hospital as he smoked foul-smelling cigarettes and spoke manfully of his willingness to lay down his life for what he believed in. As Sergei began to describe the battle, his sense of pride in the Russian army -- the enemy at the time -- overwhelmed any anger at having been shot by them. "'They took me out right at the start, look, three quick shots to the legs and arm, they could have killed me if they wanted to. Those boys really knew what they were up to.' Sergei was a true nationalist.""October Revolution" by Lawrence McDonnell is published by Spellmount Limited, price ?9.99. This book can be ordered through Zwemmers.