From Under the Rubble

Rating:
Summary: National conscience in a book-- powerful
Review: Alexander Solzhenitsyn edited a powerful book that dramatically impacted my life in my thinking about how nations are transformed. While it was published in 1974 (renewed in 1981) and obviously is now out of print, for several of the essays, this book is worth searching for.

It should be noted that Solzhenitsyn is much more well thought of in the West than in Russia today. Even though he returned to live in Moscow, Russians generally feel he left the country to profit on his message, so he is not accorded the same kind of respect given to other dissidents that remained.

Still, there are powerful messages here. Personally, the most impacting was Solzhenitsyn's chapter "Repentance and the Self-Limitation in the Life of Nations" and Igor Shafarevich's "Separation or Reconciliation? The Nationalities Question..." In these chapters the authors suggest that national "repentance" is a key aspect to any kind meaningful social change. The search for sins begins in ourselves and progresses upward on behalf of the nation. He says, nations "are suceptible to all moral feelings.. including repentance" (p. 109). The nation is "mystically welded together" in this way. He further points to history to show the nature of Russian character in "penitental movements" as part of the national character that must be reclaimed to transform society.

The message of the book is that national transformations must occur at all levels but be built on a spiritual foundation. It offers a critical view of the roles of the church, socialism and personal conscience as obstacles or conduits for change.

While the social and political nature of Russia had dramatically entered upheaval for thepast 11 years (25 years after these essays were originally penned), the messages are still relevant for Russia today and equally applicable in many respects for our own country as well.

Rating:
Summary: National conscience in a book-- powerful
Review: Alexander Solzhenitsyn edited a powerful book that dramatically impacted my life in my thinking about how nations are transformed. While it was published in 1974 (renewed in 1981) and obviously is now out of print, for several of the essays, this book is worth searching for.

It should be noted that Solzhenitsyn is much more well thought of in the West than in Russia today. Even though he returned to live in Moscow, Russians generally feel he left the country to profit on his message, so he is not accorded the same kind of respect given to other dissidents that remained.

Still, there are powerful messages here. Personally, the most impacting was Solzhenitsyn's chapter "Repentance and the Self-Limitation in the Life of Nations" and Igor Shafarevich's "Separation or Reconciliation? The Nationalities Question..." In these chapters the authors suggest that national "repentance" is a key aspect to any kind meaningful social change. The search for sins begins in ourselves and progresses upward on behalf of the nation. He says, nations "are suceptible to all moral feelings.. including repentance" (p. 109). The nation is "mystically welded together" in this way. He further points to history to show the nature of Russian character in "penitental movements" as part of the national character that must be reclaimed to transform society.

The message of the book is that national transformations must occur at all levels but be built on a spiritual foundation. It offers a critical view of the roles of the church, socialism and personal conscience as obstacles or conduits for change.

While the social and political nature of Russia had dramatically entered upheaval for thepast 11 years (25 years after these essays were originally penned), the messages are still relevant for Russia today and equally applicable in many respects for our own country as well.