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nabus19 's review for:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
4.0

This book was full of... strength? Hope?

I love the Russian heart, a heart that cannot be crushed by a hard life. This story is simply a day in one man's life. He is not great. He is a sane man in an insane world. He is living in a world controlled by the tyrant, Stalin. But the terribleness of Communist Russia is not confronted head on. It is not a tract.

My mind thinks back to Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" (or any other book he wrote). He is blasting capitalism and greed, and championing socialism. That is so... American. Championing a world view that is killing millions across the ocean. Solzhenitsyn doesn't give an alternative to the bad. He just shows the beauty/strength/life of the everyday Russian making his way.

So, I really liked the book. The last line is still haunting me.