Named a Best Book of the Year by The Times and The Sunday Times
"With a nimble style and an eye for leaden prose . . . Kalder's work is quite an accomplishment, and is the one book people interested in the terrible writing of dictators should read."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Kalder turns indigestible beef jerky into foie gras. . . . In addition to being highly entertaining, [The Infernal Library] is a cautionary tale about the capacity of societies to be wooed by foolish demagogues spouting gibberish."
—The Times (UK)
"A compelling examination of why bad minds create bad writing, and therefore a valuable read for anyone interested in literature—or the world, in fact. Every writer is certainly a little dictator, and every dictator, it seems, a little writer. Kalder’s dry humour makes The Infernal Library a fun tour de force through the mad history of the 20th century and the present."
—Norman Ohler, New York Times bestselling author of Blitzed
“[Kalder] renders his highly compelling narrative in a cheeky yet erudite tone that will keep readers smirking despite the monstrousness of the book’s protagonists. Dictators have never looked so educated.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"An overwhelmingly powerful reminder of 20th-century misrule, and of just how delusional human beings can be—especially if they’re literate."
—The Telegraph
"This about the most discomforting book I’ve read in the past year. Never mind Trump and never mind Twitter: Daniel Kalder demonstrates that words themselves, and the escapist spells we weave with them, are our riskiest civic gift. Kalder’s claim—that he has read the deathless prose of tyrants so we don’t have to—does not go nearly far enough. The Infernal Library sweeps aside the ideas and intentions of its subjects (Mao, Hitler, Stalin, and their imitators) and reveals what’s really been going on: an epic, world-transforming battle between words and reality, between people as they are and people as we would like them to be."
—Simon Ings, author of Stalin and the Scientists
"A perverse feat of literary endurance."
—Wisconsin Public Radio
"A fascinating study. . . . Partly an enjoyable romp, but mostly a somber sidelong-glance history of 20th-century totalitarianism."
—The Sunday Telegraph
“Kalder delivers with this entertaining and highly informative book.”
—BookPage
"Kalder spent years reading the works of dictators . . . teasing out some fresh insights and analysis . . . [which now] seem all too relevant at a time when authoritarianism is on the upswing and terrible people keep writing (or getting ghost writers to write) terrible books."
—Foreign Policy
"I enjoyed this book a great deal. . . . A rather snappy read."
—The Guardian
"Hugely compelling. . . . Kalder has really dug deep into the minds of these infernal texts' creators, and thus delivers some truly entertaining insights."
—The Irish Independent
★ 01/01/2018
The 20th century’s most infamous dictators were also authors, often prolific ones, complementing the atrocities they visited on humanity with crimes against literature. Kalder (Strange Telescopes), a journalist with a nimble style and an eye for leaden prose, read the significant works from this benighted subgenre, from the vast theoretical corpus of Lenin, through Stalin’s The Foundations of Leninism, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, Mussolini’s My Life, and Mao’s Little Red Book. Kalder also extends his purview to the works of latter-day autocrats Fidel Castro, Mu’ammar Gadhafi, Saddam Hussein, and Turkmenistan’s Saparmurat Niyazov, whose spiritual, autobiographical tome, The Rukhnama, which Kalder encountered while living in Moscow, began his fascination with the subject. The substance of these books is largely beside the point, since, as Kalder observes, these autocrats’ texts were not about thinking, but about repetition. Moreover, his zesty put-downs should discourage all but the most serious scholar from actually poring over them. Of Hitler’s “almost 400 pages of gibberish,” Mein Kampf, he says that it doesn’t need to be read; “to provoke unease, fear, hatred, and terror, it need only exist.” The enduring significance of these books, Kalder shows, is as totemic objects. Kalder’s work is quite an accomplishment, and is the one book people interested in the terrible writing of dictators should read. (Mar.)
Could the current disintegration of society, seen in public shaming and hardening opinions, lead to totalitarianism? Author Daniel Kalder looks at dictators' writings and their effects. Narrator Chris Ciulla delivers Kalder's survey of dictator literature, delighting in the author's mocking tones. The discussion starts with Vladimir Lenin, whom he dubs an "armchair terrorist," noting that the Soviet revolutionary was himself inspired by a novel and remade himself in the hero's image. The work continues through Turkmenbashi, whose writings and regime first piqued Kalder's interest in this topic. Since he focuses the rulers’ own writings, this is not a complete history of ideology or tyranny, but a fascinating discussion of the often dangerous power of words. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Could the current disintegration of society, seen in public shaming and hardening opinions, lead to totalitarianism? Author Daniel Kalder looks at dictators' writings and their effects. Narrator Chris Ciulla delivers Kalder's survey of dictator literature, delighting in the author's mocking tones. The discussion starts with Vladimir Lenin, whom he dubs an "armchair terrorist," noting that the Soviet revolutionary was himself inspired by a novel and remade himself in the hero's image. The work continues through Turkmenbashi, whose writings and regime first piqued Kalder's interest in this topic. Since he focuses the rulers’ own writings, this is not a complete history of ideology or tyranny, but a fascinating discussion of the often dangerous power of words. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
2017-11-22
A singular look at how dictators have gained control through literature.When asked to look back on history, we go first to significant historical events. We examine world wars, local battles, social injustices, and the dictators that have served as resistant and challenging road blocks in the peaceful evolution of society. In his latest book, Texas-based journalist Kalder (Strange Telescopes: Following the Apocalypse from Moscow to Siberia, 2009, etc.), who lived in Moscow for 10 years, explores a handful of dictators that have helped shape our conception of 20th-century history by way of the works of literature they produced. "I was struck by the fact that many dictators begin their careers as writers," writes the author, "which probably goes a long way toward explaining their megalomaniac conviction in the awesome significance of their own thoughts." Indeed, each of Kalder's subjects displayed a true passion for irreverent, revolutionary literature. The author begins with Lenin, who "resisted the impulse to deliver a full-throated demand for revolution," though "immediately after the revolution, he moved to establish part control over the written word." Stalin was "deeply provincial, describing revolutions and intellectual battles taking place far away, in more interesting places." Mussolini misidentified "his true vocation as dictator instead of writer." Hitler "desired to seduce his readers, to present himself as a child of destiny, the logical choice for the national savior" during a time of unrest. Mao defended "the primacy of evidence, research and investigation" and expressed "a desire to shut down everybody who hasn't done the work." Following a chapter on each dictator, Kalder delivers a series of focused essays on specific issues such as religion, geopolitics, ecology, technology, and the role literature played in informing the policies written in response (he touches on Castro, Kim Jong Il, Putin, and Hussein). The author renders his highly compelling narrative in a cheeky yet erudite tone that will keep readers smirking despite the monstrousness of the book's protagonists.Dictators have never looked so educated.