Reviews

The Gulag Archipelago, Abridged Edition by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

rollingfroth's review against another edition

3.0

70 hours of tourture and human cruetly is hard to get through...but we should.

nandin_rhodes's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring sad slow-paced

4.0

gannent's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.25

The introduction describes this as a literary history, not entirely historical fact as professional historians do historiography. This was a really interesting concept to consider while reading this, because this book is a constant wrestling with and confrontation of very hard ideas about humanity. Add into that - how can you create a history of an institution that purposefully avoids examination through violence and death? How can you verify stories of people whose existence has been wiped out? And how could you let those stories go untold? 

314rateship's review

challenging informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

zaggeta's review against another edition

5.0

This was a hard book to read. It's subject-matter was horrific, to say the least, revealing many horrors that I knew about, and many that I didn't. No sane person can come out of reading this book and still believe a stitch in the Soviet experiment. That much is clear.

I had to take breaks to deal with the revelations of extreme inhumanity that was wrought on innocent people by an insane and inherently corrupt and evil system. For this alone, the book deserves every star I give it - if only to pay tribute to those who suffered.

The writing style does not make this experience easier, however. The author has a habit of going on long tangents and rants, often rambling and detailing a stream of poetic consciousness. The writing is beautiful, but often hard to follow at time.

But despite all my difficulties with the book, I think it is an essential read. A must read for everyone. Especially those who still cling to outdated and evil ideologies.

asarna's review against another edition

5.0

excellent beach read. will make you lots of fun at parties.

sophiaroll's review against another edition

2.0

I GET that its an important book, and people should read this to understand the horrors of the Russian prison system, but his writing is so hard to get through (both because the content is genuinely disturbing and because his writing style is very “stream of consciousness”)
I DNF’d halfway through. The chapter on interrogation made me feel sick.

I AM counting this in my “Read” books because I know eventually I will come back and finish this, and also because I did put in an honest effort to read and finish this book, I just couldn’t do it this time around.

moosemaple's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

5.0

Without a doubt one of the most important books ever written 

brendonhall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

lejenkins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

5.0