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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
HAve to read this for one of our course and it's worth it.
An impressive, touching, and thought-provoking work. Don’t let the ignorant blurbs fool you: this has nothing in common with The Magic Mountain, besides its greatness. There are no Castorps here; everyone in the cancer ward wants to get better, to live, even if living means struggle and suffering.
Rather than proceeding with a single protagonist, Solzhenitsyn pivots between an ensemble cast, whose perspectives and chapters are unique and masterfully handled. The philosophies and ideas in the work are always subtle (except maybe where socialism is discussed, but within the world of the text it’s a natural, everyday conversation), never clumsy, and there is plenty of characterization for conventional readers to chew on. The prose becomes more poetic as the book goes on, and the last quarter of the book provide satisfying yet realistic conclusions for many a character.
This has held up better than Dostoyevsky, and is more worthy of one’s time than several other Russian ‘greats’.
Rather than proceeding with a single protagonist, Solzhenitsyn pivots between an ensemble cast, whose perspectives and chapters are unique and masterfully handled. The philosophies and ideas in the work are always subtle (except maybe where socialism is discussed, but within the world of the text it’s a natural, everyday conversation), never clumsy, and there is plenty of characterization for conventional readers to chew on. The prose becomes more poetic as the book goes on, and the last quarter of the book provide satisfying yet realistic conclusions for many a character.
This has held up better than Dostoyevsky, and is more worthy of one’s time than several other Russian ‘greats’.
A compassionate, psychologically nuanced novel. A cancer clinic in the early 1950s USSR, where radiation is one of the few available tools and common practice is not to share prognosis and details with patients. The patients' and doctors' worries and soul-searching are presented against a backdrop of the first year or two after Stalin's death, when things begin to thaw out a bit, but these changes are perceived very differently by those who suffered and those who caused suffering. Many fascinating edges in one book.
I bought this books years ago but only now got around to reading it...and I'm glad. I think the younger me would have been bored whereas the older me was totally engrossed. It was a fascinating look at Soviet society after Stalin's death, as well as an insightful panorama on human nature.
As soon as the book begins we see a politician being admitted to a hospital ward struggling to cope with patients waiting in corridors to be seen. He has no choice though, the tumour on his neck is growing by the day. He is stripped out of his clothing and into a hospital gown and we at once see the fragility of our human bodies and how much social class is inconsequential. When he enters the hospital it is the great humbler and leveller. You are no better than anyone else and you will be treated the same.
As he is stripped from all of his expensive furs and clothing and left pale and sickly his wife by contrast seems to grow in size and stature and strength as she continues to offer support to her husband before leaving with her son, who seems aloof and unconcerned for his father— probably due to the hard attitude and his self importance and concern for his job over all else in life. He cautions his son against being soft before being led to his ward by the nurse. When asked why he is here or what type of cancer he has he claims not to have cancer as he is in denial and continues to despise the situation he is in and the patients and staff he is stuck with.
It’s his own ego adjusting to a place without rank or hierarchy that takes some adjusting. “In a few short hours he had lost all his personal status, reputation and plans for the future.” He is a fish out of water, surrounded by a mad bunch of peasants and crass creatures he is is forced to confront his own prejudice and ego.
One of the young female nurses (who may be married) ends up developing feelings for one of her patients. It’s really exciting to see them play the game, so to speak, and for him to attract her to himself. And the revelation about the hormone injections after their first kiss.
The conversation between the village doctor Oreshchenkov and Dontsova, the latter of whom, in a cruel twist of fate, has fallen ill to the very same disease she specialises in treating—cancer. Oreshchenkov is 65 or so now and is lamenting over the loss of the family doctors and its impact on society which is just as salient today. He warns of the danger to the lack of good sex education and the role a good doctor plays in this department. And further how it should not be left for children to pick up all on their own like animals so they have vague and distorted ideas. And also in echoing the philosophy of Dostoyevsky that a good doctor also plays a role in anticipating and answering questions children have based on their knowledge of them and their experience so that he can at the same time be a moral guide to the young person. In that way old family doctors who were dying out were concerned for the physical, mental and spiritual well being of their patients and saw this as vital to the development of young people’s minds and for their future prospects and usefulness in society. Which is something the communist party should have recognised and respected but progress had other ideas.
He also seems aggrieved at the changing circumstances regarding the free health service and treating diseases separately and patients being tossed from specialist to specialist. He argues that the doctor should look at the whole body as one system and be an all-rounder and treat patients holistically which is the modern movement among GPs that we say today, like Dr Rongan Chatterjee.
The conversation ends with a fantastic final couple of paragraphs in which the doctor reveals his personal opinion about the meaning of life, formed by the death of his wife. Well worth reading.
At times some of the conversations can feel contrived in order to stage a dialectic about a social issue in that same way a lot of Russian authors seem to contain multitudes and be able to understand and debate philosophy on multiple levels. I enjoy that sort of thing but you may find a couple of sections are vehicles for essays on a variety of topics. That being said it’s a really clever setting to stage this discussions from all walks of life and I think no one does it better than the Russian greats.
The books finale is excellent the scenes leading up to Kostoglotov’s potential meeting with Vega and that excellent scene which so disturbs his soul where he see the sign at the zoo saying that the macaque-thesis’s eyes had been blinded by a young thug throwing tobacco in its eyes becomes a sort of Werner Herzog-esque moment of absurdity arising from the mundane which resonates with the character’s world view. Herzog always films like a documentary and walks around often waiting for life to throw something up as he managed so spectacularly in Stroszek. Fantastic book.
As he is stripped from all of his expensive furs and clothing and left pale and sickly his wife by contrast seems to grow in size and stature and strength as she continues to offer support to her husband before leaving with her son, who seems aloof and unconcerned for his father— probably due to the hard attitude and his self importance and concern for his job over all else in life. He cautions his son against being soft before being led to his ward by the nurse. When asked why he is here or what type of cancer he has he claims not to have cancer as he is in denial and continues to despise the situation he is in and the patients and staff he is stuck with.
It’s his own ego adjusting to a place without rank or hierarchy that takes some adjusting. “In a few short hours he had lost all his personal status, reputation and plans for the future.” He is a fish out of water, surrounded by a mad bunch of peasants and crass creatures he is is forced to confront his own prejudice and ego.
One of the young female nurses (who may be married) ends up developing feelings for one of her patients. It’s really exciting to see them play the game, so to speak, and for him to attract her to himself. And the revelation about the hormone injections after their first kiss.
The conversation between the village doctor Oreshchenkov and Dontsova, the latter of whom, in a cruel twist of fate, has fallen ill to the very same disease she specialises in treating—cancer. Oreshchenkov is 65 or so now and is lamenting over the loss of the family doctors and its impact on society which is just as salient today. He warns of the danger to the lack of good sex education and the role a good doctor plays in this department. And further how it should not be left for children to pick up all on their own like animals so they have vague and distorted ideas. And also in echoing the philosophy of Dostoyevsky that a good doctor also plays a role in anticipating and answering questions children have based on their knowledge of them and their experience so that he can at the same time be a moral guide to the young person. In that way old family doctors who were dying out were concerned for the physical, mental and spiritual well being of their patients and saw this as vital to the development of young people’s minds and for their future prospects and usefulness in society. Which is something the communist party should have recognised and respected but progress had other ideas.
He also seems aggrieved at the changing circumstances regarding the free health service and treating diseases separately and patients being tossed from specialist to specialist. He argues that the doctor should look at the whole body as one system and be an all-rounder and treat patients holistically which is the modern movement among GPs that we say today, like Dr Rongan Chatterjee.
The conversation ends with a fantastic final couple of paragraphs in which the doctor reveals his personal opinion about the meaning of life, formed by the death of his wife. Well worth reading.
At times some of the conversations can feel contrived in order to stage a dialectic about a social issue in that same way a lot of Russian authors seem to contain multitudes and be able to understand and debate philosophy on multiple levels. I enjoy that sort of thing but you may find a couple of sections are vehicles for essays on a variety of topics. That being said it’s a really clever setting to stage this discussions from all walks of life and I think no one does it better than the Russian greats.
The books finale is excellent the scenes leading up to Kostoglotov’s potential meeting with Vega and that excellent scene which so disturbs his soul where he see the sign at the zoo saying that the macaque-thesis’s eyes had been blinded by a young thug throwing tobacco in its eyes becomes a sort of Werner Herzog-esque moment of absurdity arising from the mundane which resonates with the character’s world view. Herzog always films like a documentary and walks around often waiting for life to throw something up as he managed so spectacularly in Stroszek. Fantastic book.
In this novel Solsjenitsyn is above all a Russian writer. For starters, lots of characters: patients, doctors, nurses in the cancer ward of a hospital, somewhere in Central Asia, in the mid-50's, that is in full Soviet era. He takes his time to describe some of these characters in full, and through them he brings up existential, political and social questions. Let's say he offers a mix of Tolstoi and Dostojevski, although he is less whirling and feverish than those two classic models.
The construction of the novel is a bit awkward: some storylines are unfinished, and sometimes I had the impression Solsjenitsyn had lost course. In the end there's only one character left, the others fade away. But these shortcomings are compensated for by the political and humanistic message. Solsjenitsyn gives a most uncompromising critic on the soviet system, namely by showing the effect it has on real people. The cancer is a metaphore for the totalitarian system. But the strongest storyline is that of people fighting the horrible disease, coping with the possibility of death and the question what they have made of their life.
The last 100 pages are almost unbearably beautiful: the main character, Kostoglotov, leaves the cancer ward, still a bit unstable and enters the nearby city, observing everything with wondering eyes; it has been 12 years since he has been in the real world. His voyage has ups and downs, with hope and disappointment, and in the end accepting his fate. It's no coincidence this somehow reminds of Mann's [b:The Magic Mountain|88077|The Magic Mountain|Thomas Mann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403170928l/88077._SY75_.jpg|647489]. You have to take your time for it, and perhaps you'll be annoyed by the slow pace and the many digressions, but hey, this is another very classic Russian novel.
The construction of the novel is a bit awkward: some storylines are unfinished, and sometimes I had the impression Solsjenitsyn had lost course. In the end there's only one character left, the others fade away. But these shortcomings are compensated for by the political and humanistic message. Solsjenitsyn gives a most uncompromising critic on the soviet system, namely by showing the effect it has on real people. The cancer is a metaphore for the totalitarian system. But the strongest storyline is that of people fighting the horrible disease, coping with the possibility of death and the question what they have made of their life.
The last 100 pages are almost unbearably beautiful: the main character, Kostoglotov, leaves the cancer ward, still a bit unstable and enters the nearby city, observing everything with wondering eyes; it has been 12 years since he has been in the real world. His voyage has ups and downs, with hope and disappointment, and in the end accepting his fate. It's no coincidence this somehow reminds of Mann's [b:The Magic Mountain|88077|The Magic Mountain|Thomas Mann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403170928l/88077._SY75_.jpg|647489]. You have to take your time for it, and perhaps you'll be annoyed by the slow pace and the many digressions, but hey, this is another very classic Russian novel.
There's something sobering about this novel.
Weighing in at over 500 pages and easily the heaviest thing in my bag, you would naturally expect Cancer Ward to have managed to come to a definite conclusion, be it comforting or disturbing, by its denouement. But Solzhenitsyn offers nothing of the sort. Rather, we must revel in the beautiful ambiguity of this novel, and, in so doing, revel in the often frustrating, poignant, and somber ambiguity of life.
This novel is at once both a metaphorical critique of Soviet Russia as well as a touching story of numerous multi-faceted characters. From almost humorously heartless Rusanov, to young and lovable Dyomka, to our faithful protaganist Kostoglotov, there isn't much of humanity that Solzhenitsyn doesn't touch upon with his piercing thought. And touch he does: Solzhenitsyn set the novel in a Cancer Ward on the outskirts of the USSR in the mid-50's, and used this locale masterfully as a touching-point for his clear observations of both life and death.
Some men survive to see better times; many fates are left unknown; and, unavoidably, with a sick punch to my gut, a few men suffer throughout, never to live their lives with health and zeal again.
At points, the feel of decay in the Ward is tangible. Tomb-like, almost. As though there is nowhere for these varied men to go, nothing for them to hope for, their robust arms, stomachs, legs all wasting away to nothingness.
And yet, there is life to live. Kostoglotov realizes this and fights for his freedom with all that he has; he sneaks books, questions doctors, does all that a peasant man can do to try to take hold of his life once again. He struggles with the decision of whether or not to take a hormone treatment that will give him the gift of freedom for a few years--but at the expense of his virility. And he wonders: what is the price of a life? At what point do you cut the cord? Is freedom truly freedom if you cannot follow your passions?
Amidst these back-and-forth daily concerns is the overarching concern of Soviet society. The Cancer Ward is a microcosm for the USSR at large; it holds both party leaders and party exiles, camp guards and camp prisoners in its fleshy grip. Their cancers bring them down to the same level: human. And it is terrifying. Kostoglotov often considers the senseless cruelty that comes with life.... of cancer, of the Soviet party leaders, of average, normal human beings. He thinks of the monkey at the zoo that has been blinded by a man who threw tobacco at its eyes. And he learns that there will never be a respite from senseless, reasonless malice; it is the sober state of human nature that a single man can, at will, unwind all of your life and its promises and treasures.
Just like that....
Weighing in at over 500 pages and easily the heaviest thing in my bag, you would naturally expect Cancer Ward to have managed to come to a definite conclusion, be it comforting or disturbing, by its denouement. But Solzhenitsyn offers nothing of the sort. Rather, we must revel in the beautiful ambiguity of this novel, and, in so doing, revel in the often frustrating, poignant, and somber ambiguity of life.
This novel is at once both a metaphorical critique of Soviet Russia as well as a touching story of numerous multi-faceted characters. From almost humorously heartless Rusanov, to young and lovable Dyomka, to our faithful protaganist Kostoglotov, there isn't much of humanity that Solzhenitsyn doesn't touch upon with his piercing thought. And touch he does: Solzhenitsyn set the novel in a Cancer Ward on the outskirts of the USSR in the mid-50's, and used this locale masterfully as a touching-point for his clear observations of both life and death.
Some men survive to see better times; many fates are left unknown; and, unavoidably, with a sick punch to my gut, a few men suffer throughout, never to live their lives with health and zeal again.
At points, the feel of decay in the Ward is tangible. Tomb-like, almost. As though there is nowhere for these varied men to go, nothing for them to hope for, their robust arms, stomachs, legs all wasting away to nothingness.
And yet, there is life to live. Kostoglotov realizes this and fights for his freedom with all that he has; he sneaks books, questions doctors, does all that a peasant man can do to try to take hold of his life once again. He struggles with the decision of whether or not to take a hormone treatment that will give him the gift of freedom for a few years--but at the expense of his virility. And he wonders: what is the price of a life? At what point do you cut the cord? Is freedom truly freedom if you cannot follow your passions?
Amidst these back-and-forth daily concerns is the overarching concern of Soviet society. The Cancer Ward is a microcosm for the USSR at large; it holds both party leaders and party exiles, camp guards and camp prisoners in its fleshy grip. Their cancers bring them down to the same level: human. And it is terrifying. Kostoglotov often considers the senseless cruelty that comes with life.... of cancer, of the Soviet party leaders, of average, normal human beings. He thinks of the monkey at the zoo that has been blinded by a man who threw tobacco at its eyes. And he learns that there will never be a respite from senseless, reasonless malice; it is the sober state of human nature that a single man can, at will, unwind all of your life and its promises and treasures.
Just like that....
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A very very very very very very very sad book. Not necessarily one that would make you sob especially dramatically but rather one after which you will feel a deep, long-lasting sadness, present almost in every paragraph of this masterpiece. There is, however, some hope included and the novel really made me appreciate my life more.
I loved the characters (excluding Paweł Nikołajewicz & his whole family) and I really wished them all the best. Kostogłotow's story will definitely stay with me for a long time, I also kind of relate to Wadim, or at least I can understand him very well. The dialogues felt so Russian - a wonderful mix of most pessimistic philosophy and excessive ugliness, understood at a much deeper, metaphorical level. The beauty of the world was emphasized in few descriptions, but because of that they made a much stronger impression.
The novel obviously criticized totalitarianism, but it also asked philosophical questions that stayed unanswered until the end. Also most of the stories of the main characters didn't receive a clear ending, which I really appreciate. The only reason why I didn't give the novel 5 stars is because it was really hard to get through it, sometimes I was simply bored. But in general, as I said, I'm very happy my mum recommended it to me. Russian literature never disappoints.
I loved the characters (excluding Paweł Nikołajewicz & his whole family) and I really wished them all the best. Kostogłotow's story will definitely stay with me for a long time, I also kind of relate to Wadim, or at least I can understand him very well. The dialogues felt so Russian - a wonderful mix of most pessimistic philosophy and excessive ugliness, understood at a much deeper, metaphorical level. The beauty of the world was emphasized in few descriptions, but because of that they made a much stronger impression.
The novel obviously criticized totalitarianism, but it also asked philosophical questions that stayed unanswered until the end. Also most of the stories of the main characters didn't receive a clear ending, which I really appreciate. The only reason why I didn't give the novel 5 stars is because it was really hard to get through it, sometimes I was simply bored. But in general, as I said, I'm very happy my mum recommended it to me. Russian literature never disappoints.
It was definitely a tough read which got me a little bored at moments, but the last few chapters is what touched me the most: when Oleg the main character and labor camp worker (prisoner) experiences one normal day after leaving the titled cancer ward. I grabbed this book as in I love dystopian literature and thought I might as well read about real experiences of normal people living in a totalitarian regime and my observations are as such that it is just sad normal life of people living normal lives without any grand hope or revolutions or brave 16yo saving us all just. Just living lives where each person no matter their status is very much disposable and replaceable, unfortunately quite like today regardless of where you’re coming from. As a side note I really enjoyed the science and healthcare centric chapters, as that also give me an insight what challenges the medical personnel was facing decades ago.