One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)

Without affectation; cuts to the quick. ( )

My favorite passage in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is when the titular character sees an older man sit down across from him in the mess hall. The man has clearly been through numerous camps and prisons, and he is described in a few sentences as being worn down, but not broken. As I was reading, I heard the ghosts of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy licking their chops. Had this man featured in one of their tomes, his description would be followed by a 10-page slobberfest over the Russian people or the current state of Russia as a whole or something of that ilk. Instead, Solzhenitsyn simply states, "However, [Ivan] couldn't go on watching the old man - he had other things to do." Take that, verbosity.

The rest of the novel plays out in the same way. There is never anything particularly flowery (In the introduction, Yevgeny Yevtushenko alleges that this is partially due to the translation, but I don't quite buy that) and in a book about life in a Siberian labor camp, that's probably how it should be. The language is all straightforward, and only hiccup for me was the occasional shift in pronouns. After not appearing anywhere in the first half, "we" begins to appear in places that feel awkward or just wrong. I don't know if Solzhenitsyn was alluding to his own experiences as a prisoner when he would drop a "we" but it wasn't consistent enough to work.

Throughout the story, the reader is always waiting for the other shoe to drop on Ivan, but it never does. He gets some extra food, doesn't get busted during the pat-down, and buys some high-quality tobacco without incident. What makes his story heartbreaking is how pitiful his "good day" was and how few days would ever be like this one, and what brings a grain of hope is his attitude, a combination of realism and a determination to survive. He may not go home anytime soon (or ever), but he'll approach tomorrow in the same way he did today, and that will keep him alive.

If you're looking for a reminder of the importance of perspective, check this one out. However, as Yevtushenko points out in the introduction, the influence of Solzhenitsyn's novel in the West was far more political in nature than literary. Throw it on the list, don't expect too much, and don't forget to take off your hat five paces before you reach a guard. ( )

This was an interesting read. I did not like the writing style, however the topic is interesting to read about. I read it for my English Lit class. It did remind me of Untouchable. ( )

Harrowing tale of a soviet political prisoner. It has a gruelling description of life in intense cold and miserable conditions. ( )

A harrowing yet beautiful look at 24hrs of life in a Stalinist Russian prison and labour camp. Our central character strives hard to maintain dignity in the face of inhumanity. Seemingly ordinary objects take on great significance in the quest for one's own survival. A bleak and hard hitting read and a cult classic. 142 pages of grim determination.