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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
tl;dr: Communism is stupid and ideology is bad
Vol. 1 is a tough one to review. It's absolutely 5 star quality: well written, well researched, with the added layer of Solzhenitsyn's actual imprisonment.
So the question comes down to the "un" in unabridged. The unabridged is defined by excess. In a 2100 page book, there is going to be depth and breadth, but I don't know whether the depth adds much to the experience.
While the annotated list of 60+ ways to torture people was definitely a laugh filled frolic, Do items 10-60 really add anything to the experience? Are the 30 examples which differ only through slight variations really all that necessary?
With the rise of fascism in the 2010s, this is absolute required reading, but there's also a reason why the abridged version is the standard.
Vol. 1 is a tough one to review. It's absolutely 5 star quality: well written, well researched, with the added layer of Solzhenitsyn's actual imprisonment.
So the question comes down to the "un" in unabridged. The unabridged is defined by excess. In a 2100 page book, there is going to be depth and breadth, but I don't know whether the depth adds much to the experience.
While the annotated list of 60+ ways to torture people was definitely a laugh filled frolic, Do items 10-60 really add anything to the experience? Are the 30 examples which differ only through slight variations really all that necessary?
With the rise of fascism in the 2010s, this is absolute required reading, but there's also a reason why the abridged version is the standard.
Ah yes, communism in Soviet Russia. Why don’t we learn more about these events? We recognize and condemn the atrocities under Hitler and the Nazis, but we are utterly ignorant and uneducated when it comes to the history of the gulags. This failure of knowledge has resulted in a dangerous degradation in the west. Too many people ignore the dangers of communism. The right has its limits when it comes to things like racial superiority and supremacy, but what is the extent of the left? How far can the left go before we put our foot down and say no? Is it when we’ve finally established communism? Is it finally when we listened to Marx, and threw out that old rickety system known as capitalism?
The Gulag Archipelago is split into three volumes. I plan to read the next two, but I have finished the first one, and let me tell you that this is probably one of the most, if not the most important work of nonfiction to date. Solzhenitsyn warns, through his experience of the gulag archipelago, the dangers of dangerous ideologues. How can we not understand how horribly communism has failed? How can we see with our very own eyes the compete and utter failure communism was and declare that it simply wasn’t implemented correctly. Did 94 million people die for a system that “wasn’t implemented correctly”? How can we not see that removing the bourgeoisie is what caused the famine? How can we look at Russia during WWII and shrug, while Stalin starved his people? I beg you, reader, to read these books! They will change your perspective on so much! In the end, we must live by truth, not by lies. Stop living your ideological ways, and look for the truth. You’ll only find lies in ideology.
5/5
The Gulag Archipelago is split into three volumes. I plan to read the next two, but I have finished the first one, and let me tell you that this is probably one of the most, if not the most important work of nonfiction to date. Solzhenitsyn warns, through his experience of the gulag archipelago, the dangers of dangerous ideologues. How can we not understand how horribly communism has failed? How can we see with our very own eyes the compete and utter failure communism was and declare that it simply wasn’t implemented correctly. Did 94 million people die for a system that “wasn’t implemented correctly”? How can we not see that removing the bourgeoisie is what caused the famine? How can we look at Russia during WWII and shrug, while Stalin starved his people? I beg you, reader, to read these books! They will change your perspective on so much! In the end, we must live by truth, not by lies. Stop living your ideological ways, and look for the truth. You’ll only find lies in ideology.
5/5
I could hardly add anything that hasn't already been said about The Gulag Archipelago but, just on the off chance that you've haven't heard of Solzhenitsyn, let me say that this book should be read by everyone. Period. It will be the most important and eye-opening novel that you will read.
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This is a rough, but important read. Written by a Russian, for Russians; it is not so easily accessible for those of us outside of that locale both spatially and temporally. I'd suggest that those who wish to embark on this journey already have an invested understanding of Russian revolution history of the early 20th century, otherwise you'll end up missing some of the conceptual framework that Solzhenitsyn takes for granted that you know.
With that being said, the translation is done very well, and Solzhenitsyn must be commended for writing what must be some of the toughest paragraphs put to paper in a manner that is respectable to those that were trod underfoot, whilst not leaving out anything that he could corroborate happened. All the while making such a dreary and somewhat repetitious set of situations have their time in our memory, so the collective conscious learns and hopefully never forgets the depths we as a people can achieve.
Another commendation must be Solzhenitsyn's writing style and methods with which he draws letters, personal experience & copious second hand accounts into one story crossing over half a century of time.
I don't think I'm in a position to comment much on the content specifically, but can say without a doubt you should read this.
With that being said, the translation is done very well, and Solzhenitsyn must be commended for writing what must be some of the toughest paragraphs put to paper in a manner that is respectable to those that were trod underfoot, whilst not leaving out anything that he could corroborate happened. All the while making such a dreary and somewhat repetitious set of situations have their time in our memory, so the collective conscious learns and hopefully never forgets the depths we as a people can achieve.
Another commendation must be Solzhenitsyn's writing style and methods with which he draws letters, personal experience & copious second hand accounts into one story crossing over half a century of time.
I don't think I'm in a position to comment much on the content specifically, but can say without a doubt you should read this.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This is only the transport and prisons...meaning the beginning but wow, nothing I ever imagined could happen to humans especially by humans, such detailed horror.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality