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Review Summary: only one day in the gulag |
Date: 2008-10-12 |
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Details:
No study of the Soviet Union could be complete without reading "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", By Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Unlike Solzhenitsyn's later novels "The First Circle" or "The Gulag Archipelago" that explore the life of a zeck (political prisoners) in depth, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is a simple straight forward narrative of a single day in the life of a zeck. Solzhenitsyn captures the unchanging hopelessness and brutality of life in a gulag with both brevity and startling guileless narrative. Even the length of less than 200 pages is a transformation of the usual Russian novel.
Prior to publication of Solzhenitsyn's work in 1962 by Novy Mir (New Life) Magazine and its publication in the West being little was known about the details of the Stalinist Repression Prison Camp System. The very existence of the gulag system came as a surprise, but the size and brutality of these camps was a breathtaking revelation. Not all zecks were political prisoners most were confined for violation of Article 58; weakening of the power of workers' and peasants'... or undermining... the external security of the U.S.S.R., literally covering everything from littering to treason.
As additional reading I recommend "The Trial" by Kafka to get a unique if somewhat parallaxed view of Soviet Jurist Prudence. A narrative of Joseph K. who awakens one morning and, for reasons never revealed, is arrested and prosecuted for an unspecified crime, or "The First Circle" a narrative of the life of high-valued zecks working on an encrypted telephone system for Stalin's use.
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Review Summary: Five Star Book of Five Star Books |
Date: 2008-10-11 |
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Details: Not a wasted word. Incredible story. Powerful beyond belief. The glowing reviews are right--a must read. |
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Review Summary: Icy, Enduring, Classic ... |
Date: 2008-10-07 |
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Details: This book has been reviewed over and over again. I doubt I can add much that has not been mentioned. I read this book (the first time) in 1978. It is one of the few books that sticks in my mind like I read it yesterday.
First, it is short, only about 150-160 pages. For all its brevity it packs the impact of and 800 pager by Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. I enjoyed this book more than the much longer "Cancer Ward".
Solzhenityn's descriptive and narrative power are in absolutely top form here. It captures perfectly, the futility, hopelessness, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit undergoing 10 years of unjust imprisonment. Chilling and descriptive in its captivating imagery. It is simply written by a master at the top of his game with unparalleled subject matter to work with. Considering that the story captures only one day, the density and power of the imagery are amazing.
There are so many little snippets that stick with you, bone chilling cold so frigid that cement must be heated or it freezes before it can be used,searching for soup with "fish eyes" in it because it fills you up better and is more nutritious,and of course the last sentence of the book has a chilling and desolate finality to it that I will probably remember until I am dead.
This book made me hate the Soviet Union enough to become a soldier. |
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Review Summary: An important book |
Date: 2008-09-27 |
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Details: Reading Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's book while traveling through the former Soviet Union recently was downright spooky. He had died just before I left, so I did him the honor of bringing his book along. You don't necessarily read it expecting a fun or enjoyable read. You read it because it was one of the first books that exposed yet one more terrible era the Russian people endured, Stalin's gulag prison camps.
Actually, I was a little let down when I read the introduction (Katherine Shonk) and learned that Khrushchev purposely had the book published in order to expose Stalin's crimes and vilify Stalin. I was hoping that it was a truly "underground" book that somehow managed to evade the censors....But, alas, it is still an important book in Russian history, and I am glad I did read it.
It's a quick and easy read. The other reviews provide the basics of the book, so I'll spare you the extra verbiage. |
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Review Summary: Frightening Insight Into the Dark Side of Mankind |
Date: 2008-09-10 |
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Details: The recent press surrounding the death of Solzhenitsyn prompted me to seek out his written works, and decided to start with this, his first book. Drawn from his own time spent in Soviet Gulags, Solzhenitsyn paints a frightening picture of a single day in the life of a typical prisoner as he tries to avoid the wrath of both the guards and his fellow inmates from dawn to dusk.
Incidently, the events surrounding the publication of "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" are as eye-opening as the book itself. First published in 1962 with the express permission of then premiere Nikita Khrushchev, it was only two years later that the new regime took offense to the book, not only ceasing publication but prompting Solzhenitsyn's declaration as a "non-person" within the Soviet Union. Undaunted, Solzhenitsyn continued writing in secret, producing several other works (which I happen to be reading now!).
If you've any interest in Soviet history and literature, this seems to be a great place to start. |
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out of 167 Reviews
