jnepal 's review for:

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

5.0

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Short and powerful.

Solzhenitsyn writes about one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a prisoner within the frozen walls of a "special camp" in Soviet Russia. The descriptions are no less and certainly more than teeth-chattering, toe-numbing, and snot-freezing cold.

I don't know how good the translation was, but if it was bad I couldn't tell.

I loved this scene of a robust argument between two inmates on art:

"But listen," he resumed. "Art isn't a matter of what but of how."
X 123 struck the table angrily with the edge of his hand.
"To hell with your 'how' if it doesn't arouse any worthwhile feeling in me."

I agree with X 123, wholeheartedly. Although, if one does the "how" well that can't hurt, but it's definitely not a god to be worshiped and bowed down to. Especially if one wants to write good stories.

Now onto his Gulags... :) Eventually.