“Dying actually didn’t damage.” These are the opening phrases of Patriot, the posthumously printed autobiography of Alexei Navalny. We all know that he died. And this e book tells the story of his demise—how he approached it, how he ready for it, and the way he conquered it. Navalny’s memoir is that of a man who consciously walks towards demise. It’s a gospel—however an autobiographical one.
Although Navalny’s memoir is that of a man consciously strolling towards demise, Patriot begins flippantly and humorously. Navalny cracks jokes, recollects previous anecdotes, and shares detailed tales from his childhood. He painstakingly recreates the ambiance of the Soviet Union and the damaged Russia of the early Nineteen Nineties. At occasions, it reads like a fantastically crafted novel. Right here is the writer as a little boy, touring to a village close to Chernobyl. Right here he’s, bundled in his warmest garments, climbing onto a freezing bus to return residence from kindergarten. Right here he’s, being robbed by an older classmate—Navalny, a nerd who doesn’t wish to struggle however likes to learn, not sure of learn how to react.
The e book begins this fashion as a result of the writer nonetheless has time. In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned with Novichok—nevertheless it failed. He recovers in Berlin after which Schwarzwald, Germany. He relearns learn how to stroll, learn how to maintain a pen, and prepares to return to Russia.
It’s throughout this time that Navalny begins scripting this e book, Patriot. He nonetheless has sufficient time to joke, to attract historic parallels, to craft an pleasant learn.
I used to be in all probability one of many first to learn her in the unique, pure Russian model. Alexei’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, was very fearful that the file may be stolen—so about a month in the past, she requested me to fly from New York to Vilnius, Lithuania, to learn the typeset manuscript there. As I started the e book, Alexei’s model was instantly recognizable—it felt as if I may truly hear his voice. However that was solely the start.
In January 2021, Navalny flies again to Russia and is arrested instantly on the Moscow airport. Within the e book, he explains why he returned, the identical approach he did in his earlier writings and interviews: It’s his alternative, his Golgotha; that is his sacrifice for his lovely future Russia.
He continues writing the autobiography in the identical tone up till he describes what could also be a very powerful and cherished second in his life: assembly his spouse, Yulia. That is the funniest and most uplifting a part of the e book. Navalny is in jail when he writes it—separated from his spouse. The reader is aware of, studying it now, that this separation shall be perpetually. Nevertheless it appears Navalny doesn’t know this but. Or does he?
The following chapters are Navalny in a rush—he’s chasing time, hurrying to complete. He skips particulars, cramming a number of years onto a single web page.
I first met Navalny in 2010. I nonetheless do not forget that daring younger man, freshly returned from Yale, strolling into my workplace with the exclamation, “Finally, I’ve made it to my beloved TV Rain!” On the time, I used to be operating Russia’s solely opposition TV station. Navalny was making an attempt to talk like Barack Obama—although it got here off a bit exaggerated. However quickly, he discovered learn how to be a true politician. The next decade, from 2010 to 2020, was essentially the most energetic, most outstanding interval of his political life. Throughout these years, he turned Putin’s chief adversary, Russia’s hottest politician, and a hero to younger Russians. He infuriated hundreds of officers and fell out with lots of of journalists.