 As he grew older, Stalin lost interest in priestly studies, his grades dropped, and he was repeatedly confined to a cell for his rebellious behaviour.The seminary's journal noted that he declared himself an atheist, stalked out of prayers and refused to doff his hat to monks.Stalin joined a forbidden book club at the school; he was particularly influenced by Nikolay Chernyshevsky's 1863 pro-revolutionary novel "What Is To Be Done?