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Summary: Top-notch historical view of Soviet prision system
Review: The Gulag Archipelago is the definitive work on the Soviet prison system and Stalin's methods of disposing of undesirables (or anyone, for that matter). With Solzhenitsyn's keen wit, cutting irony, and cruel sarcasm, he slices away a cross-section of Russian law and examines the inner workings of the U.S.S.R. In Volume I, he examines the ways people where chosen to go to the gulags and how they got there, followed by Volume II's examination of the gulags themselves and what went on inside. Volume III is the most entertaining, explaining the process of leaving (escaping, or otherwise). All in all, an entertaining and interesting set, carrying the reader easily through the six to eight hundred pages in each volume.
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Summary: A Work that Makes You Think - "Thank God I wasn't there!"
Review: I read this work while doing research in preparation for my senior Western Civilization presentation. Most students struggle to locate primary sources of any merit, it was not so when I found The Gulag Archipelago. Not only did I find that it provided me with an understanding of the Soviet penal system, Solzhenitsyn also manages to bring his words to life using his own experiences and recognizing his own faults. I would recommend this book to any student who didn't mind wading through long tirades and could fully appreciate the style the author uses to make his statement.
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Summary: What are we complaining about?
Review: This Work (with an upper-case "W"), aside from being phenomenal in it's political aspects, has a tremendous impact on the individual reading it. After reading this, I am much more thankful for the freedom we have in this country, though it may be abused; not to mention the food I eat every day and the sleep every night! This is a work that ought to be read by all people to maybe rekindle love for other human beings. It is a great testament to the Christian faith of Mr. Solzhenitsyn, to say the least.
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Summary: Well worth the trouble.
Review: All three volumes of this massive series serve to illustrate, albeit conclusively, one single principle: power corrupts. And in a system that enshrines brute power, moral corruption flourishes. Besides this, it is an excellent tome, essentially a story about the Soviet Union in all its horror. Despite all this, however, if you are interested in the subject, it isn't too tough - Solzhenitsyn's insights and sharp wit make it an enjoyable read.
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Summary: I'll Let Everyone Else Write Long Reviews
Review: and I'll just say that this, along with Volumes 2 & 3, was one of the most incredible books I have ever read. It opened my eyes, made me see in new ways, and made me appreciate how wonderful life is.
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Summary: One of the great 20th century histories
Review: I'm surprised to see reviews calling this a "heavy" read. While it does help to have some knowledge of revolutionary Russia and the people involved, this is a truly fascinating read, with brilliant, searing writing unlike few other books. Deserves to be read and reread every few years.The first volume is superior to the second and third ones. In fact it's superior to just about every other history out there.
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Summary: Deserved to win a Nobel Prize. Much better than Cancer Ward
Review: In my opinion if one wants to read one book that will expalain why communism is wrong. I would suggest you read this. Unlike many so called great writers such as Orwell, his work is true and explodes the communist myths that Orwell and his like created.This shows both the moral bankruptcy of communism along (as he sets the background) the economic failure. This book is also extremely well written with his grating style much superior to the flowery style of other 'great' authours. In fact even in style this deserves to be the best book of all time. Also the glossary is very interesting and illuminating. In short he deserved to win a nobel prize for this rather than later for Cancer Ward. This book is essential reading for any economics student, russian history student or any student whose syllabus crosses communism in any form. Although Solzhenitsyn has been the subject of a vendendetta of both the MGB, the Guardian and some trendy novellists (such as Malcom Bradbury who attacked him in 'Doctor Criminale')he was definitely the person of the 20th century and was possibly greater than any other writer, fiction or non ficition ever.
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Summary: Someone has to tell the truth
Review: This is probably as significant a book as has been published in the 20th century. Not because it changed the course of history or influenced a huge number of people. It did neither of these things. The history it deals with was already long passed and its size and severity kept it from being read by a mass audience. Still, it is significant because it tells a story that otherwise could not have been told. The full extent of what happened during the half century of Soviet rule to millions of Soviet citizens is the focus of this book and Solzhenitsyn's narrative, often numbing in the regularity of repeated cycles of arrests, 'trials', and imprisonment, seems to be his effort at repaying those who perished - at insuring that they are remembered and that those who subjected them to lives of torture are remembered for what they did. Solzhenitsyn is a true hero of the 20th century. A military officer of the Soviet Union during WWII, he was imprisoned for writing a letter that included a joke about Stalin. During his time in prison he met numerous others who had been in different camps - different places and different types - and started piecing together in his mind the full scale of the vast Gulag enterprise which eventually consumed more of his contrymen than the total count of those of all countries who died in WWII. That the size and scope of this mass internment was kept virtually a secret to most of the world (and to most Russians)for so long is only part of the horror to which Solzhenitzyn is responding. From his first book, A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovitch, a small volumn about a single day in the life of a typical Gulag prisoner - smuggled out of Russia and published in the West - he has devoted his life to various tellings of his country's recent history. Most of it to do with the Gulag. This isn't pleasant stuff. It isn't tight fiction like Darkness At Noon. This is the real stuff with no prettifying. He feels that someone had to tell the truth. We owe it to him to listen.
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Summary: An important work, but not to be undertaken lightly
Review: The Gulag Archipelago is certainly one of the important books of the 20th Century, and gives insight into Soviet politics, life under the Soviet regime, and especially, life in the Gulag and in transit thereto. The depth in which it covers these subjects is far greater than that available in public education or the popular press. As such, I regard this is a must-read for any student of Soviet history, Soviet politics, politics of resistance or revolution, politics in general, or even penology for that matter. However, I think that for any but the most devoted reader, this book will be a very heavy read, and I imagine that nearly all students who are forced to read it find their suffering tolerable only because of the much greater travails borne by the characters in the book. I must wonder if the positive reviews this book has received are more due to the sense of accomplishment one feels after finishing the book than an appreciation for the writing. Though it is commonly regarded as a novel, it is thinly veiled as such, and is for the most part basically a first and second hand description of the Gulag, and the Soviet Union from the end stages of the Russian Revolution through the Stalin era. It does not read like a novel, but more as a somewhat disjointed series of narrative accounts along similar themes combining to form a larger picture. Though I haven't read any other translations, there were various points within the book when I wondered if there might perhaps be a better on out there. I suspect not, however, as it is my impression that Solzhenitsyn intended this to be not a novel, but a massive collection of narratives interspersed with his own political sentiments, and the disjointed nature is likely not the fault of the translator. This is not to say that this book is not good. To the contrary, it is a classic. I highly recommend it highly to a serious student of the disciplines mentioned above. But if what you are looking for is a novel describing life in the Gulag, you would be far better served to read Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which is in fact such a novel. Further, it offers a very vivid account of a prisoner's perspective on the Gulag, is a much lighter read, and is put together in a much more readable format. (Note that Ivan Denisovich) goes much lighter on the politics, without the digressions for accounts of show trials and such characteristic of Gulag Archipelago.)
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Summary: the best book i've ever read
Review: this explained to me triumph and tradgedy in it's rarest form. solzhenitsyn is a brilliant novelist. the best best book ever. the gulag is a novel that everyone should read. history wouldn't be the same without it. solzhenitsyn's masterpeice. this reader loved it.
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