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miq33l's review against another edition
4.0
Between 1930s and mid 1950s Soviet Communist regime sent over 14million people to Gulag forced labour camps. Varlam Shalamov spent quite some time. Kolyma Tales is an anthology of short stories depicting life in Gulag.
This book is outstanding.
I have read Solzhenitsyn and Herling-Grudzinski. I also read quite a few memoirs of Aushwitz and Majdanek prisoners. Kolyma Tales stand among the best of those.
One thing that really separates this book from others is the clarity and beautiful simplicity of the prose. There is nothing indispensible written on the pages. Shalamov is very succinct with his writing, expressing his thoughts and memories with bare minimum of words, but conveying a wealth of meaning.
An Epitaph was the short story that made biggest impression on me. I recommend you read it, even if you dont finish the whole book.
In summary, Kolyma Tales is a beautifully written documentary of horrible times. It should be read so that we can become more aware of some of the experiences of people in the past and so that these experiences do not happen again.
This book is outstanding.
I have read Solzhenitsyn and Herling-Grudzinski. I also read quite a few memoirs of Aushwitz and Majdanek prisoners. Kolyma Tales stand among the best of those.
One thing that really separates this book from others is the clarity and beautiful simplicity of the prose. There is nothing indispensible written on the pages. Shalamov is very succinct with his writing, expressing his thoughts and memories with bare minimum of words, but conveying a wealth of meaning.
An Epitaph was the short story that made biggest impression on me. I recommend you read it, even if you dont finish the whole book.
In summary, Kolyma Tales is a beautifully written documentary of horrible times. It should be read so that we can become more aware of some of the experiences of people in the past and so that these experiences do not happen again.
vidhi26p's review against another edition
3.0
“We understood that death was no worse than life, and we feared neither.”
This was quite the adventure. I started reading this novel because my Russian History Professor recommended it as a supplemental book to our course, and I’m really glad I picked it up. Detailing the daily life and struggles of convicts in Soviet Russia during the Great Terror, it’s filled with harrowing stories illustrating there really are things worse than death in this world. It’s awful to read this and then suddenly realize, no, this isn’t fiction I’m reading, although I guess that’s the point the author is making. It’s terrifying what people can do to others with whom they have ideological differences, after all that’s what political prisoners are, right? They haven’t committed traditional crimes, and in this case many are convicted on false testimonies, but either way this makes you ask, what people really deserve to be incarcerated like this? I really enjoyed this read, and while it was tough to get through at times, I’m very glad I had this incredible insight into the prison camps of the Soviet Union.
This was quite the adventure. I started reading this novel because my Russian History Professor recommended it as a supplemental book to our course, and I’m really glad I picked it up. Detailing the daily life and struggles of convicts in Soviet Russia during the Great Terror, it’s filled with harrowing stories illustrating there really are things worse than death in this world. It’s awful to read this and then suddenly realize, no, this isn’t fiction I’m reading, although I guess that’s the point the author is making. It’s terrifying what people can do to others with whom they have ideological differences, after all that’s what political prisoners are, right? They haven’t committed traditional crimes, and in this case many are convicted on false testimonies, but either way this makes you ask, what people really deserve to be incarcerated like this? I really enjoyed this read, and while it was tough to get through at times, I’m very glad I had this incredible insight into the prison camps of the Soviet Union.
mrlivia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Hard to put into words the emotional black hole that this writing conjures up. Felt as if I was being told stories from memories as they were recollected. It exposed a life and death in the camps that I cannot fully comprehend. The bodies will still be in the permafrost despite the deconstruction of the gulag. Gold and death remain buried
juansnchz's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
It's a long book but each story is unique. There are some stories that are more powerful and captivating than others but otherwise it's a good and reflective read.
nikita_barsukov's review
5.0
One of the bleakest, saddest, most depressing texts. Almost unbearably so.
A cornerstone of prison literature, postulates nothing positive can come out of it, a man can only become worse there. Even more, he underlined that a prisoner doesn’t have any agency, only a chance can get a prisoner through.
A cornerstone of prison literature, postulates nothing positive can come out of it, a man can only become worse there. Even more, he underlined that a prisoner doesn’t have any agency, only a chance can get a prisoner through.
klarastan's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of my favorite books by a Russian/Soviet author. Shalamov's writing is gorgeous; the stories are awe-inspiring in their description of degradation and deprivation.
writerreader's review against another edition
4.75
Probably one of the best short story collections by a single author out there. Most of the stories just sting. 🦂
It is bleak stuff made up of gulag life and really breaks how the human spirit can be crushed by a machine.
It is bleak stuff made up of gulag life and really breaks how the human spirit can be crushed by a machine.
sloatsj's review against another edition
5.0
Such an excellent book. Vivid and brutal. The reader becomes the inmate, not gladly, but with great interest (and, unlike the inmates, not inextricably).
Some of the best Gulag/labor camp literature I've ever read. For me it's superior to [b:Survival in Auschwitz|6174|Survival in Auschwitz|Primo Levi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165555421s/6174.jpg|851110], and richer (if bleak is rich) to [b:One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich|17125|One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich|Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316638560s/17125.jpg|838042].
Some of the best Gulag/labor camp literature I've ever read. For me it's superior to [b:Survival in Auschwitz|6174|Survival in Auschwitz|Primo Levi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165555421s/6174.jpg|851110], and richer (if bleak is rich) to [b:One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich|17125|One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich|Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316638560s/17125.jpg|838042].
tomnana's review against another edition
5.0
The suffering endured in the gulags is boggling. Really any systemized, mass violence eludes reason or imagination. Often, we view these events through a historical context in which numbers of victims, sheer volume of horror, are the point of contact and define the atrocities. This book cannot truly explicate on the magnitude of suffering created in the gulag system. The reality may be that there is no proper reckoning with it. Suffering in Kolyma Stories is personal, the forces which control for ones life are vague and outcomes arbitrary. Perhaps this is the only way you can accurately approach an atrocity. At the very least, if we typically focus on the number of victims, this book ensures that we also know and don't lose sight of the monstrous degree to which an oppressive regime can bear its power with crushing force on one person. Kolyma Stories is a strident illustration of what it means to suffer, and, through absolute deprivation demonstrates what is truly valuable for life.