"Better to growl and submit. If you were stubborn they broke you." (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

Member Name: StampedingTurtes

Product:	One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Date:	14/08/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful writing, hopeful and tragic

Disadvantages: /

This is a novel which has haunted me since the moment I first finished it. It is one of those rare and deeply moving novels which are both depressing and hopeful at the same time.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was first published in Novy Mir - a Soviet magazine - in 1962, nine years after Stalin's death and Solzhenitsyn's own release from the Gulag. It was the first time in Soviet history that a derogatory account of life under Stalin had ever been published. This was a huge event in Russian literature.

The story centres on Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. He is a prisoner in a Gulag (The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies) on charges of spying for Germany. He is, of course, innocent, as were a great many of the victims of the Gulag system under the extremely paranoid Soviet Union. As the title suggests, this book takes us through one day in Shukhov's life.

Shukhov has awoken late, feeling dreadfully sick. His receives a (rather mild in terms of the Gulag) punishment and is sent to work. The book details his constant fight for survival and it really is survival of the fittest. He works out on a frozen tundra in a 24 man company. It is a construction site, Shukhov works hard to lay blocks and level them before the mortar freezes.

Throughout this section we get a sense of wary camaraderie between the prisoners. Some are trusted more than others by Shukhov and we begin to see the intricacies of living in such an oppressive environment. Every man for himself... but do not be seen as a snitch or a traitor. It's a very fine line and we watch Shukhov walk that tightrope constantly.

Solzhenitsyn is a wonderful story teller. He sets the scene for this novel by describing the world into which Shukhov is waking up. Solzhenitsyn, having personal experience of this world, paints a cold and unforgiving backdrop for his characters. You can't help but feel cold and stiff when Shukhov feels this way. Whenever Shukhov eats, the description is so minutely detailed that it is obviously coming from Solzhenitsyn's own memories. The preciousness of that inadequate bowl of porridge and the bread kept from breakfast come through in every word.

"You had to eat with all your mind on the food - like now, nibbling the bread bit by bit, working it into a paste with your tongue and sucking it into your cheeks. And how good it tasted, that soggy black bread! What had he eaten for eight, no, more than eight years? Next to nothing. But how much work had he done? Ah!" page 43/44.

The book is full of moments like this. Solzhenitsyn writes with great style which is almost conversational - as if he is speaking directly to you, the reader - which comes through even in the translation. Although I always feel a wrench of regret that I cannot speak Russian to read and appreciate his work more fully as it was written.

In this novel, we find that Shukhov has had a very good day in terms of the Gulag. He has not been thrown into the cells, he had an extra bowl of kasha, he gained pleasure from building his wall well, he hadn't been as ill as he first thought. He is thankful and the thanks God for such a day. In reading about Shukhov's thanks for such small blessings, I cannot help but feel entirely hopeful. What are our minor troubles in comparison to what these prisoners went through? Our troubles can be dealt with, they are within our control. Solzhenitsyn, an educated and brave man who fought for his country, was then imprisoned by them. He suffered many cruelties and throughout all of this, he has not become bitter. This too, is reflected in the novel. There is no bitterness. There is anger; I am sure, about the way people - not just Solzhenitsyn himself - have been treated by the state. But the predominant feeling is hope and thankfulness for survival. How can we not admire that?

.....Who should read this novel.....
When some people hear the name Solzhenitsyn, they immediately think words like "high brow" "communism" "political" and generally feel that his work may be "too difficult" for them. I cannot disagree with this opinion more.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is an easily accessible novel. I first read this when I was 17 and in one day. At the time I had little knowledge of Stalin and of the Gulag system, however, this one book sparked an interest in Russian literature which remains to this day. I learned much about the politics of the time from reading this book, and later, the Gulag Archipelago which is, admittedly, a little heavier than this book, but still written with Solzhenitsyn's personal and discursive style.

This novel is one full of pathos and written in a style which draws the reader in and really allows us to empathize with the characters. It is by no means an "easy read" but for people who like to think about what they are reading, I cannot recommend this novel enough. It is the kind of book which will challenge you to think differently about many things we take for granted, it will change your views on many issues and it will hopefully interest you enough to read other novels by wonderful Russian authors.

On his release from prison Solzhenitsyn was sent into exile in Kazakhstan and in 1974 he was again arrested and stripped of his Russian citizenship. He was sent to West Germany and remained in exile until 1990 when his citizenship for the country he loved was restored.

He died on August 3rd last year and Russian leaders and dignitaries paid tribute to him as a man and as an author.

Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
ISBN 01400.20535
1962, reprinted 1984 by Penguin Modern Classics
143 pages

Summary: A wonderful novel, truly inspirational.