Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
Drags a bit in the middle, mostly because of the huge ammounts of information that Solzhenitsyn is using to establish things as the norm instead of just exceptional cases...but has all the hallmarks of a true story of life (and an out of control power aparatus); there's no need to insert extra pathos - things are terrible enough for just being.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Very eye opening account of the horrors of the Soviet Union. While it was hard to keep up sometimes, Solzhenitsyn gives a detailed description of what happened to him and millions of other poor souls who were forced into prison for often as little as disagreeing with the government or having an accident at work. I recommended this book to anyone interested in Soviet history, politics and history in general.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
I didn’t retain everything as well while listening as I would have reading, but the book is an incredible accomplishment with amazing and terrifying stories. One that stuck with me was how the stress of looking over your shoulder was so exhausting, people were practically giddy once they were arrested and it was over.
It's been a while since I last picked up this book and it has become one of the books that I always plan to finish but probably never will. It gives a deep insight into life in the Soviet Union under Stalin, but the statistics, the descriptions, the details assault the reader with so much horror and despair that I found it (so far) impossible to finish even book one in the series. In short: I think it's an important book that is definitely worth reading - if you can bring yourself to read through it.