Futility

In Short

Set during the Russian Civil War and Allied intervention in Siberia, this satirical masterpiece traces a British officer entangled with an eccentric, deeply impractical Russian family. As empires crumble and anti-Bolshevik forces retreat along the Trans-Siberian Railway, the family wanders through Petrograd, Omsk, and Vladivostok, forever waiting for nonexistent fortunes, resolving petty romantic intrigues, and endlessly talking about beginning real life. Combining tragicomic irony with keen observation, the novel captures the drifting, melancholic absurdities of human indecision amidst historical catastrophe. Its brilliant synthesis of Western irony and classical Russian literary melancholy accounts for its enduring brilliance.

The Story

The narrative opens in Petrograd on the brink of revolution, seen through the eyes of Andrei Andreiech, an Anglo-Russian officer attached to the British military mission. Andrei becomes hopelessly involved with the family of Nikolai Vasilievich, a well-meaning but utterly ineffective man burdened by astronomical debts and a bewildering household. Nikolai lives with his mistress, Fanny Ivanovna, while continuing to support his estranged wife, his daughters, and a colorful entourage of hangers-on, including an impoverished old prince who sits in their living room silently eating their food. Nikolai's entire financial hope rests on the hypothetical wealth of his distant Siberian gold mines, which are perpetually tied up in bureaucratic delays or occupied by warring factions.

Andrei falls in love with Nikolai's middle daughter, Nina, a flippant and elusive young woman who routinely promises to marry him only to mock his seriousness moments later. As political chaos erupts, the Czar abdicates, and the Bolsheviks rise to power, the family remains entirely preoccupied with their own tangled affairs. Relatives argue over trivial romantic betrayals, initiate absurdity-laden financial schemes, and endlessly philosophize about how real life is just about to begin once their immediate troubles are squared away.

When Allied forces intervene in the Russian Civil War, Andrei finds himself traveling across the vast expanse of Siberia aboard a luxurious military train alongside British officers, including Admiral Kolchak and his staff. Nikolai and his chaotic clan tag along, carrying their domestic drama, secret lovers, and endless complaints right through the heart of a devastated landscape. From Omsk to Lake Baikal and finally to the crowded port of Vladivostok, the family's retreat mirrors the collapses and shifts of the White Army. Nikolai attempts to plead his mining claims before high-ranking generals, only to be met with indifferent instructions to wait. The endless waiting drives him to brief, explosive outbursts of rage, after which he subsides right back into passive resignation.

In Vladivostok, surrounded by foreign troops, decaying military supplies, and constant political shifts, the family continues its absurd routine—playing syncopated tunes on borrowed gramophones and managing shifting romantic alliances. Andrei attempts once more to secure Nina’s love, having abandoned his studies at Oxford to travel for three months to reach her. Nina coolly rejects him, pointing out a speck of soot on his nose and dismissing his romantic devotion. Realizing the futility of his quest, Andrei finally watches their ship steam away into the horizon, left with a strange sense of liberation amid the quiet ruins of the dockyard.

How It Unfolds

The domestic labyrinth Andrei Andreiech enters the chaotic world of Nikolai Vasilievich in Petrograd, listening to endless, repetitive confessions from Nikolai’s mistress Fanny Ivanovna while observing the family’s strange array of silent freeloaders.

Revolution breaks out As the Russian Empire collapses into political turmoil, local intellectuals and family members debate the future over dinner, celebrating the bloodless revolution while Nikolai’s immediate financial affairs continue to unravel.

The Siberian migration Escaping the growing chaos, the family joins Andrei aboard a lavishly appointed Allied military train, traveling east across the snow-bound Siberian wilderness toward Omsk while maintaining their trivial household feuds.

Bureaucracy at Omsk Nikolai desperately seeks military authority to reclaim his distant gold mines, but after being repeatedly told to wait by indifferent staff officers, he erupts into a futile, magnificent outburst of rage against the entire military command.

Violence and detachment While bloody street skirmishes between rival forces break out across snowy towns, the family remains strangely insulated within their own dramatic intrigues, trading spouses and dancing to American pop records.

The final parting After pursuing Nina all the way back to Vladivostok, Andrei receives a final, flippant rejection in an autumn park overhanging the sea, leaving him alone on the empty quays after their ship departs.

The People

• Andrei Andreiech: The narrator, a British officer of mixed heritage who observes the surrounding madness with detached humor while fruitlessly pursuing Nina across war-torn Russia.
• Nikolai Vasilievich: A chronically indebted, soft-hearted patriarch who dreams of clearing his debts with his Siberian gold mines, forever paralyzed by his own inability to act.
• Fanny Ivanovna: Nikolai’s long-suffering mistress, a German-speaking woman who constantly seeks out any available listener to unload her long, theatrical confessions.
• Nina: Nikolai’s middle daughter, a humorous, whimsical, and thoroughly elusive girl who delights in teasing Andrei and refuses to take life or love seriously.
• Sonia: Nina’s sister, who marries a man claiming to be a baron, only to demand a quick divorce when he vanishes and turns out to be an untitled impostor.
• Admiral Kolchak: A stern British-backed naval commander who envisions sweeping military victories while dealing with minor domestic annoyances in his headquarters.

In Its Own Voice

"I think all day and night. Ach! Andrei Andreiech."

Fanny Ivanovna pauses over her endless needlework to express her overwhelming mental burden to Andrei during one of her frequent, theatrical confidences.

"I’m an optimist!"

Nikolai Vasilievich declares his own inherent foolishness while gazing out the window at the impending financial and political collapse of his world.

"Why did you come?" she said. "Why? I never asked you."

Nina responds with cruel indifference when Andrei tells her he spent three months traveling across the world to declare his love.

What It's Really About

The novel explores the immense gulf between grand historical events and the petty, persistent realities of personal life. While empires fall, political factions slaughter one another, and revolutions reshape nations, the individual remains stubbornly fixed on personal romantic spats, social status, and small conveniences. Gerhardie targets the human tendency toward perpetual waiting—the dangerous belief that real life is always just around the corner, delayed only by temporary circumstances. It exposes optimism not as a virtue, but as a soothing form of paralysis that allows people to watch their world crumble without ever taking decisive action to save themselves.

Why Read It Today

This novel will deeply satisfy readers who appreciate sharp comic satire, psychological realism, and ironic historical fiction. Rather than presenting a romanticized or overly grim view of the Russian Revolution, it captures the everyday awkwardness and absurdity of living through historical upheaval. Its tone balances subtle tragedy with high comedy, offering a refreshing contrast to traditional war novels.

Reading it requires a tolerance for episodic pacing and deliberately indecisive characters who circle the same emotional and financial problems without resolving them. The narrative intentionally avoids thrilling heroics, leaning instead into the frustrating, circular logic of human behavior. Yet what remains with the reader is its profound tenderness for human flaws. Gerhardie turns the tragic mess of human futility into something immensely funny, deeply moving, and strikingly true to life.