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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
A powerful book filled with recounts of life (and death) in Russian work camps thru the 30s-50s. The life and subjugation of the prisoners is so horrific that it is hard to imagine how he engages sustains the reader with material so void of hope and sense. Solzhenitsyn does this through his near sardonic wit, his literary prowess, and his unbelievable recounting with clarity. He writes about the absurdly cruel way prisoners were treated by not only giving details, but providing the emotional and cognitive process thru the prisoners eyes; specific food rations (capturing the certain death of a disident who protested the quantity of bread), the process of going to the bathroom (eliminating the feeling of escape in the most literal way for this natural process), maintaining material possessions (by being free of them), torture (the rationale for finding the perfect amount of time to release or fabricate information). Truly a seminal work, I highly recommend for anyone interested in Russian history or how people can sustain in seemingly hopeless places.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
“(We)would like to take our anger out on those who are weaker, those who cannot answer. It is a human trait.”
Don’t think I can give it a proper review after really losing track with it last year, and only picking it back up in the last few weeks, but I think this is an example of an important historical text not being a great book.
Quite rambling and repetitive, synthesising and retelling individual experiences without significantly organising broader narratives, or putting them into a wider structure.
Saying this though, some beautiful and important points about humankind’s capacity to hope, in the face of impending personal disaster.
Don’t think I can give it a proper review after really losing track with it last year, and only picking it back up in the last few weeks, but I think this is an example of an important historical text not being a great book.
Quite rambling and repetitive, synthesising and retelling individual experiences without significantly organising broader narratives, or putting them into a wider structure.
Saying this though, some beautiful and important points about humankind’s capacity to hope, in the face of impending personal disaster.
Nothing in this is for the faint of heart. I started reading it years ago and it filled my head with terrible dreams. It's maybe the most graphic book I've ever read, but it's the most excellent condemnation of communism ever written. Solzhenitsyn lays out chapter by chapter topics like interrogations and gives a detailed and cold accounting of terror after terror. It's very difficult to stomach. Then his personal thoughts on the reliance of the human spirit and the testaments of faith shines through in truly excellent prose.
These books are required reading for every school in Russia. It should be everywhere. He lays out exactly where ideologies lead to violent authoritarianism. He has a very interesting chapter on how the smartest engineers were rounded up and sent to the Gulag because they criticized the regime. It's his opinion that Russia never recovered technologically from that. The scale of death that went through Russia and Eastern Europe during this time is clearly one of the longest and bloodiest periods in our modern age. The West was sadly very complicit in letting the "meat grinder" (as they call the Soviet run areas of Eastern Europe and Russia) destroy so many people. Solzhenitsyn makes that point from his perspective as a soldier who was sent to the Gulag after the war.
It's a heavy read but very based and worth the challenge.
These books are required reading for every school in Russia. It should be everywhere. He lays out exactly where ideologies lead to violent authoritarianism. He has a very interesting chapter on how the smartest engineers were rounded up and sent to the Gulag because they criticized the regime. It's his opinion that Russia never recovered technologically from that. The scale of death that went through Russia and Eastern Europe during this time is clearly one of the longest and bloodiest periods in our modern age. The West was sadly very complicit in letting the "meat grinder" (as they call the Soviet run areas of Eastern Europe and Russia) destroy so many people. Solzhenitsyn makes that point from his perspective as a soldier who was sent to the Gulag after the war.
It's a heavy read but very based and worth the challenge.
Should go without saying that this is a heavy, heavy read. Taught me an innumerable amount relating to 20th century Russian history. Great writer, but very drawn out. At the time of release, denoting every little thing that was happening was necessary; however, from a current lens readers would be better off reading the abridged version.
I wouldn't say I enjoyed reading this, but I found it worthwhile, although at times difficult keeping up with all of the Russian names and agencies. I also realize that my version contained only books one and two, and I doubt I will read the remaining portions.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Finally finished after 3 months! Should have read the abridged version, there’s just wayyyy too much detail. Should be mandatory reading
informative
medium-paced
slow-paced