A review by joylesnick
Journey into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg

3.0

The first 25 pages were a bit rough because the Russian names and places (other than Stalin and Moscow - could I be more American?) were a bit difficult to follow. Also, I couldn't figure out why Genia was being arrested (and she couldn't either). Turns out, I don't know much about the Great Purge, which (according to Wikipedia) was "a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin in 1936–1938.It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and Government officials, repression of peasants, Red Army leadership, and the persecution of unaffiliated persons, characterized by widespread police surveillance, widespread suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment, and executions."

I spent 15 minutes with Wikipedia, and now I'm hooked. The book chronicles the author's experience in prison and labor camps, including 2 years in solitary confinement. If you are skeptical about reading this for book club this month, maybe you should give it a chance....