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Summary: Please help me
Review: I want to know where in his writings does he treat fairly extensively the "acquiring of a second skin" as a result of being absorbed into the Gulag? I have found a very brief reference in the glossary of my old paperback translation from the early eighties. I know in years past that I read a more extensive treatment of this topic, but scanning of all his major works except August 1914 (which I have not read) and Cancer Ward (which I have read, but the local library does not have a copy) has not turned up this reference. Please someone help in this matter!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Summary: A classic of the twentieth century.
Review: This was Solzhenitsyn's first published novel and it caused a sensation. I first read the book when I was in high school in 1964 and recall being stunned by the story (even at that early date, high school students were reading the book and, as can be seen from the comments of the other reviewers, high school students are still reading it). It relates one day in the life of a prisoner, a carpenter who had been imprisoned on baseless charges, in a labor camp in Siberia in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Solzhenitzen drew on his own experiences in labor camps to write this short book. A few years later, he was awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature.
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Summary: Brilliant
Review: I too had to read this book for my senior AP English class. I chose it because all the other books we had a choice of sounded so dull. I had no idea that this would turn out to be such a phenomenal book. I have always been interested by Russia and all of it's authors, but i think Solzhenitsyn is my favorite by far. I have learned more than I could have imagined just from reading this book. It has sparked a desire in me to learn and learn more. READ THIS BOOK!
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Summary: A Classic
Review: This is simply one of the most fantastic books I've ever read! I too had to read it in high school and it was one of the few books which held my attention throughout. I read it in a day, not because I wished to experience it as the day wore on but because I refused to abandon Ivan to his fate. If you wish to read any Russian literature this is the book to choose.
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Summary: Horrifically Realistic
Review: Perhaps nobody in this century has been more bloodthirsty and murderous than Stalin and the Communists of the USSR. Solzhenitsyn first showed the sorrow and outcry for his own people by publishing this magnificent book. Estimates declare that perhaps 100 million died under this regime in the early years. Many kulaks died merely because they were kulaks. It is also a profound warning to us. Of the original Soviet commisars, nearly none of them were Russian and the Russians suffered a bloodbath for letting them come into power. We must ward off such aliens when they come to our door and offer to establish a just, equal and bright future.
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Summary: A description of Stalin work camps with peaseant wisdoms
Review: The novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is definately not an adventure, but an acurate description of what true suffering is. In the "First Circle" Solzhenitsyn syas, "Descriptions of prison life tend to overdo the horror of it. Surely it is more frightening when there are no actual horrors... The horror is forgeting that your life-the only one you have is destroyed." This quote describes perfectly what is going on in "Ivan Denisovich." Overall this book sheds some needed light on the confussion of Russia during Stalin's reign.
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Summary: Shows how hard life can really be!
Review: We always make life seem like it's so diffcult, but we hardly ever look at how hard life could really be or how good we really do have it compared to other's.In this book Ivan Denisovich got put on a prison ship and he has a really hard time he doesn't even know when he will be getting his next meal or where it will be coming from. I recommend this book to any one who likes to read a good story!
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Summary: A great lesson encapsulated in a great work
Review: People today are inclined to forget about the pleasures and contentedness one can gain through the enjoyment of the less spectacular occurences of everyday life. Read One Day in the Life... and you won't anymore. Solzhenitsyn shows that even under the most terrible conditions can a human being find pleasurable things, things to be grateful for. We here in America believe that a contented soul is encapsulated in wealth, Ivan Denisovich understands that it is really found in the richness of our own lives, no matter how horrible our circumstances may be. This book is a must read for anyone that wants understand how spectacular their life really is... after all if Ivan Denisovich achieved fulfillment in the Gulag, shouldn't we be able to find so much more in the richness of freedom?
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Summary: Red Terror
Review: This book shows the effectivness of Stalin's "Red Terror" Program. Although non-humanitarian, he and his advisors felt that the only way to maintain control is through state-sanctioned terror. It is also a good story because it is written not from the point of view of one in control or a historian. Another good historical book (I'm not sure if Amazon has it for sale) is "The Russian Revolution" written about those in power such as Vladamir Lennin and Stalin, and those that lost power, such as Nicholas or Leon Trotsky.
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Summary: Shows how creul life can be, and how people bear it.
Review: This novel shows how anyone who uttered Stalin's name in wrong ways was sent to the labour camps to endure humiliation, freezing cold and hard work. The millions of "zeks" sent to these camps were just like Shukhov. They searched for every bit of dignity and privicy, or maybe just a smoke. This is how life can be but Shukhov seemed to make the most of it.
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