What Is To Be Done?

The book that helped spark the Russian Revolution

"No work in modern literature, with the possible exception of Uncle Tom's Cabin, can compete with What Is to Be Done? in its effect on human lives and its power to make history”. ~ Joseph Frank, The Southern Review

Last weekend I was reminded of this book after overhearing a conversation between two men sitting next to me on a train. One man was Australian, and the other was Polish but lived in Thailand. Their conversation veered into derogatory comments about Russian men, perhaps because they were traveling back from a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. At the time I was reading Barbara Tuchman’s extremely well written but maligned book, The March of Folly, but as I listened, without joining their conversation, I began to reflect on geopolitics and Russian literature.

To those who have long considered Russian literature to come from a select group of authors, Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s What Is to Be Done? may come as a surprise, and even help explain much of modern Russia. While Solzhenitsyn, Chekhov, Nabokov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Turgenev have their places enshrined in the literary pantheon, Chernyshevsky’s work, which is arguably the most transformative novel in Russia’s 19th century, sits awkwardly, cherished by revolutionaries but snubbed by dilettantes. The audacity of What Is to Be Done? lies in the fact that it does not merely describe ideas, its author may have intended to provoke others to act upon them.

Chernyshevsky, had a curious blend of intellectual confidence and personal awkwardness, as such he was the ideal advocate for such revolutionary fervor. Raised in the provincial town of Saratov, the son of a priest, he combined an extraordinary appetite for learning with a fiery commitment to social justice. By the time he studied at St. Petersburg University, between 1846 and 1850, Chernyshevsky had already begun to break with Orthodoxy, embracing instead the intoxicating allure of materialist philosophy, French utopian socialism, and Feuerbach’s incendiary critique of religion.

This ideological transformation, from a dutiful son of the church to an uncompromising radical, paralleled the seismic shifts happening in mid-19th century Russia, where the autocratic state stood uneasily on the precipice of reform. The Crimean War had humiliated the empire, exposing its economic and technological backwardness. Alexander II’s subsequent reforms, including the emancipation of the serfs, seemed bold on the surface but left radicals like Chernyshevsky disillusioned. Against this backdrop, What Is to Be Done? bursts forth as both critique and blueprint. His novel excoriated patriarchal family structures, lambasted tsarist authoritarianism, and condemned the half-hearted reforms of Alexander II.

But it is not all scorn, Chernyshevsky’s book also sparkles with possibility. He imagines a society built on cooperative principles, where the educated elite, “new people” armed with scientific knowledge and moral integrity, lead the way to social transformation.

From Lenin to Xi Jinping

Few works have so palpably altered the course of history. Vladimir Lenin, who called his own book by the same title, admitted that What Is to Be Done? played a foundational role in his intellectual development, its hero, Rakhmetov, offering a model of ascetic revolutionary discipline. Some even consider Rakhmetov as the template for Ayn Rand's literary heroes and heroines. Yet, the novel's resonance extends beyond Rakhmetov’s austere example. Vera Pavlovna, with her determination to establish a life of independence and equality, embodies Chernyshevsky's ideal of women’s liberation and self-realization, while Lopukhov’s intellectual rigor and commitment to social reform reflect the broader aspirations of the "new people." Together, these characters illustrate the multifaceted vision of social transformation that Chernyshevsky sought to inspire.

But the novel’s impact was not confined to politics. It incited fierce debates about the role of art, with Chernyshevsky arguing that literature must serve society, rejecting the “pure art” espoused by the likes of Turgenev. For Chernyshevsky, art was not an escape but a tool, a way to reshape reality by illuminating its injustices and inspiring action. Even today leaders beyond Russia draw inspiration from the novel. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech at the recent BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), referenced What Is to Be Done?

“Should we allow the world to descend into the abyss of disorder and chaos, or should we strive to steer it back on the path of peace and development? This reminds me of a novel by Nikolay Chernyshevsky entitled What Is to Be Done? The protagonist's unwavering determination and passionate drive are exactly the kind of willpower we need today.”

“We should build a BRICS committed to justice, and we must all act as forerunners in reforming global governance. The international power dynamics are undergoing profound changes, but global governance reform has lagged behind for a long time. We should champion true multilateralism and adhere to the vision of global governance characterized by extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. We must ensure that global governance reform is guided by the principles of fairness, justice, openness and inclusiveness.”

Utopia

The books incendiary ideas and radical themes align it with the broader tradition of utopian literature, yet it stands apart in significant ways. Unlike Plato’s Republic, which envisions a rigidly stratified ideal society, or Thomas More’s Utopia, with its idyllic but passive communal life, Chernyshevsky’s novel is a call to action, firmly rooted in the turbulence of 19th-century Russia. Its characters embody a vision of dynamic, self-realized individuals driving societal transformation, making it less a theoretical construct and more a blueprint for immediate revolution. For generations of Russians its power lies not only in its narrative finesse but in its incendiary ideas.

If this all sounds didactic, that’s because it is. What Is to Be Done? is unapologetically polemical, a quality that has earned it as much derision as admiration. Critics, then and now, have dismissed its characters as lifeless mouthpieces, its plot as implausibly idealistic. Yet, to judge the novel by conventional literary standards is to miss the point. Do not read, What Is To Be Done? as a Leninist manifesto, although as Joseph Frank claims, “Chernyshevsky's novel, far more than Marx's Capital, supplied the emotional dynamic that eventually went on to make the Russian Revolution,” read it as a historical novel.

Enlightened Elite

Since reading his book I have grappled with the paradoxes of Chernyshevsky’s vision. While he championed individual self-realization and women’s liberation, his ideology often veered toward paternalism and authoritarianism and has even been called The Most Politically Dangerous Book. This paradox stems from the authors belief that true progress requires the guidance of an enlightened elite, whose moral and intellectual superiority could shape society’s evolution. Yet, how does one reconcile this authoritarian bent with the emancipatory promise of individual self-realization? Chernyshevsky seemed to suggest that self-realization could flourish within a collective framework, provided that the leaders of such a society were themselves paragons of virtue and rationality. This tension underscores the inherent fragility of his vision, balancing liberation with control, and leaves open the question of whether such a balance is sustainable. His “new people” were to be selfless yet self-assured, altruistic yet infallible, a contradiction that echoes the broader tensions between utopian idealism and revolutionary destruction.

Randism

Chernyshevsky is often cited as an influence on Ayn Rand, mainly due to both Chernyshevsky and Rand writing of the “new human,” and “rational egotism” or “rational selfishness.” But in What Is to Be Done? the new human’s are figures of ascetic extremism and utopian resolve, whose sacrifices chart a radical vision for societal reformation. On the other hand, Rand, an unwitting heir to Chernyshevsky’s radical lineage, transforms these philosophical prototypes into unapologetic avatars of capitalist glory. Her protagonist, wielding steel convictions and unyielding wills, eschew the collectivist undertones of their Russian progenitors, exchanging communal harmony for individual supremacy.

Rand’s “new human,” as exemplified by Howard Roark in The Fountainhead and John Galt in Atlas Shrugged, embodies a purified rational egoism, a fervent belief that the individual’s pursuit of self-interest is not only moral but the bedrock of human progress. This stark divergence from Chernyshevsky’s synthesis of public and private good accentuates the ideological chasm between the two writers, yet their shared penchant for crafting revolutionary figures underscores an undeniable kinship. Both authors imbue their heroes with a messianic fervor. Chernyshevsky’s radicals dream of egalitarian paradises while Rand’s architects and industrialists engineer dominions of unyielding ambition.

The philosophical underpinning of rational egoism bridges their works, Chernyshevsky’s characters attempt to bring moral thought to balance self-interest with societal welfare, while Rand’s figures boldly declare the primacy of self. This evolution from tempered idealism to resolute individualism reflects Rand’s departure from her Russian intellectual roots, reinterpreting them through the capitalist lens. If Chernyshevsky’s utopia sleeps on a bed-of-nails, Rand’s dreams are forged in steel and dollar signs, their visions divergent yet indelibly linked as literary extremism.

Do Not Settle

Ultimately, what makes What Is to Be Done? endure in many ideologies is its refusal to settle for the world as it is. Chernyshevsky’s prose burns with the conviction that change is not only necessary but achievable, that the structures of power and privilege can be dismantled, and that a better society can be built in their place. For the Russian intelligentsia of the 1860s, alienated from both the autocracy above, and the peasantry below, this was not merely a novel, it was a call to revolutionary arms.

To understand Russia, and let’s face it, 2025 will likely be heavily focused on geopolitics, so the more we understand the better, I believe more people would benefit from reading What Is to Be Done?

In my view it is a novel in the “literary realism” sense, although it has also been defined as political, propaganda and pro-socialism. There are even suggestions to read it as a “sociopolitical document important for the understanding of the genesis of Russian radicalism,” which helps us understand parts of modern Russia. But, as I say, my belief is to read it with its rich historical context. After all Chernyshevsky left the 19th century reader with a haunting question, What is to be done?

Stay curious

Colin

Update - The link to the Wikipedia mentions that Chernyshevski was sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor in Siberia and was forced to undergo a ritual mock execution, which shaped his writing. I did not make that clear in my post.

Nabakov book The Gift has a chapter on Chernyshevski (see comment)