One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel (FSG Classics) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (PDF)

Description

For the centenary of the Russian Revolution, a new edition of the Russian Nobel Prize-winning author’s most accessible novelOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is an undisputed classic of contemporary literature. First published (in censored form) in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, it is the story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov as he struggles to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. On every page of this graphic depiction of Ivan Denisovich’s struggles, the pain of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s own decade-long experience in the gulag is apparent—which makes its ultimate tribute to one man’s will to triumph over relentless dehumanization all the more moving.An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin’s forced-work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary works to have emerged from the Soviet Union. The first of Solzhenitsyn’s novels to be published, it forced both the Soviet Union and the West to confront the Soviet’s human rights record, and the novel was specifically mentioned in the presentation speech when Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. Above all, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich establishes Solzhenitsyn’s stature as “a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy” (Harrison Salisbury, The New York Times).This unexpurgated, widely acclaimed translation by H. T. Willetts is the only translation authorized by Solzhenitsyn himself.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Groundbreaking at the time of its publication, “One Day in the Life” was the first work on the Gulag to be published in the USSR. The fact that this book was published at all is a historical anomaly, induced by a strange confluence of events that resulted, incredibly, in one of the most repressive regimes not censuring a work which exposed one of its deepest secrets. Some contributing factors were Solzhenitsyn’s own background (he had been a captain in the USSR army during WWII, and was not a member of the intelligentsia), the “Great Thaw” (a period from the mid 1950s through the early 1960s, during “de-Stalinization,” during which censorship was drastically reduced), and Khrushchev’s role in allowing the publication of “A Day in the Life” (he wanted to expose Stalin’s crimes and the predicted fallout).”A Day in the Life” is just that: the minutely detailed description of one day during political prisoner Shukhov’s (Ivan) internment in the Gulag. Solzhenitsyn takes us through the coveted morning hour which a prisoner has to himself if he wakes up earlier than the bell, endless “prisoner counts” starting right after, horrifically deficient meals, an arduously demanding construction job, and finally, to the day’s end, when all one can do is thank his lucky stars for still being alive, for still not being ill, and for thinking that perhaps, this experience might just be survivable.This work does not describe horrific abuses, does not sensationalize the terror of the Gulag, does not dwell on despair, fear, hope, or pain. In fact Solzhenitsyn’s account is most disturbing because of the protagonists’ quiet acceptance and concrete, practical orientation. Unlike others in the camp, Ivan is neither an intellectual nor a spiritual man; he does not find peace in salvation through Christianity (as Alyosha), he does not seek slivers of hope and meaning in discussions with other political prisoners about literature and film. Instead, Ivan focuses on survival: on procuring an extra portion of oats for breakfast, on smuggling in a bit of a rusted blade into his barracks to build a knife, on staying warm in the Siberian winter. He “does not have time” to contemplate the beauty of stars and of its promise, to engage in conversation with other members of his squad, to think about his past and present, to philosophize about his condition.This seems perhaps as the scariest condition of all, essentially indicating a loss of humanity, a return to the most animalistic, basic survivalist mode of being. For after all, what separates us from animals other than the power of human hope, thought, passion? Indeed, the aims of the Gulag, and of communism itself, were to reduce human beings into mere unthinking animals, instinctually scavenging for food and other necessities while loosing sight of the powers of human intellect, artistic impulse, and initiative.Even more disturbing is Ivan’s complacent acceptance. In fact, “A Day in the Life” is a good day for Ivan, he is “almost happy” by the end of the short story: that night, he “went to sleep fully content. He’d had many strokes of luck that day: they hadn’t sent his squad to the settlement; he’d swipe a bowl of kasha at inner; the quad leader had fixed the rates well; he’ built a wall an enjoyed doing it; he’d smuggled that bid of hacksaw blade through; he’d earned a favor from Tsezar that evening; he’d bought that tobacco. And he hadn’t fallen ill.” (last page).In an ironic twist, Ivan is thus born into a new humanity, one that has learned to live in, and almost find happiness, under the most brutal, demoralizing, repressive, tortuous conditions imaginable. The proof is his Survival.Born and raised in Communist Romania, Solzhenistyn’s world is a familiar, disturbingly dark, and utterly tragic one for me; the existential structures of eastern block consciousness, even outside of the Gulag, are eerily similar to those of the imprisoned in “One Day in the Life”: the appreciation for every small detail of subsistence related pursuits, such as scrounging for a bit of extra sugar or butter, the ways in which people are turned against their neighbors through carefully articulated and craftily schemed policies and rules, the extensive bribery system/underground economy without which no one would survive, learning how to live in silence, barricading the soul/heart in an attempt at survival.A “Day in the Life” is not only as a fictionalized memoir of Solzhenitsyn’s own Gulag experience and a detailed account of the impossible life of prisoners in these camps, but may also be read as a broader metaphor for the ways in which eastern-block consciousness was shaped by state mechanisms during the communist era.A personal note: If I was rating this book based on how much I enjoyed it, the rating would stand somewhere around a 2. It’s filled with details on construction work, much of it was inscrutable to me (there were many terms that as a laywoman, I had to look up, and it was difficult to visualize such details as the configuration of the space, the usage of tools, the process of building, etc, without extensive knowledge of the field).But more importantly, I don’t understand, and am quite disturbed, at Ivan’s path to survival. I clearly have never suffered a Gulag (though my family underwent its own tribulations under Ceausescu/the Securiatate), but I’d like to imagine I’d find my hope in dreams/philosophy/art if I was in Ivan’s place, like the Captain, and, if one were to go by popular lore, as most political prisoners did. There were very few ways to escape communism’s deep reaches into daily life back in this era, and the main route was through art and soulful expression in the absurd, satires, poetry, and a dark humor which is impossible to understand without having lived in such a repressive society. People read books voraciously, there was an entire culture built around going to art galleries, the opera & theater, around discussing important books (non political on the surface, usually, but of course, always subversively all political).The Gulags were filled with members of the intelligensia: in Romania, there were even jokes (again, the dark humor) about how the masters of Romanian political philosophy, art, and history enjoyed the prison camps because they got to meet each other and philosophize all day: what could be so bad about that, after all? Personally, that (obviously romanticized) version of survival sounds much more appealing & humanizing than Ivan’s, with which I do not personally identify. Then again, what would I know? I’ve never laid bricks in the cold for 14 hour days in the Siberian winter.

⭐Have you ever pondered a crust of bread? Or stopped to consider the ‘thickness’ of a bowl of soup? Have you thought about food in terms of ounces? The exact number of pinches necessary to fill a hand rolled cigarette? The careful choreography required to give you an advantage over others – advantages measured not in grand titles or powerful friends but in slices of sausage or the thickness of a fleece coat?I just finished Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s first, simple novel “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”. Solzhenitsyn decided to write this book while he himself was in the Gulag, as a catalog of sorts of the experiences and concerns of the Soviet Union’s unfree. That alone amazes me; while this great writer’s mind was occupied with the not-so-trivial minutia necessary to stave off death till tomorrow, till next week he was also thinking about his writing. I guess that’s what makes great writers great.I have a friend who always tells me “You have to hustle in this life, to get ahead”. We do that sometimes in the West – networking, going to happy hour after work when we’re tired, attending the Christmas party even though we’d rather be with our families. Some people “hustle” to get to Target superstore at midnight before “Black Friday” – pushing and pulling to secure a cheap flat-screen TV or a free foot massager. But “hustle” took on for me a new meaning, laid out as it was by Solzhenitsyn in that formidable daily struggle to stay one step ahead. Because in the life of the Gulag, hustling becomes existential, and sinister. Rushing to get in line for the many “counts” and “searches” – to preserve the precious minutes of free time before bed. Cozying up to the guard who will let you keep most of the package you receive from family … that is if you receive a package at all. Hurrying, wary to never be late for the countings in the morning; for breakfast – where your food is measured expertly in ounces by your practiced eye; trudging deliberately to your forced-labor site to arrive not too soon but not too late either; jockeying to the side of the fire, to soak up the precious warmth. Fighting through the melee for the thickest bowl of soup. Everything is for sale in the camps – a bizarre ‘people’s capitalism’ where you sell tiny favors, lies. Influence. “Peddlers of pull,” Ayn Rand called it.“Waste not, want not” we are told by our grandparents – but storing away in your underwear detritus found on the side of the road, obsessing over its potential use all day long? Sewing bread into the interior of a mattress as if it were a sacred artifact? Experiencing a piece of salt pork; counting the puffs of a cigarette; measuring your misery honestly – those who lie to themselves will not survive the gulag. Who of us have done this, we who live in a world of excess?Novelists depend so much upon luck – there are so many who fade away, never recognized for so great a talent married to such courage. Solzhenitsyn’s luck was that Khrushchev had an anti-Stalinist streak; he hated the despot and perhaps thought himself as more of a humanitarian. During one of his fits, he was handed a copy of “One Day in the Life”, and Solzhenitsyn exploded upon the world. I, for one, am glad he did. We need reminders of the dark shadow of totalitarianism; of the oppressive evil of communism; of the viciousness to which that ideology reduces the human soul.We need reminders, because there are still gulags out there. In Venezuela people again are counting food; waiting in lines; turning their heads from the malevolent stares of their minders. They might be allowed to live in their houses – at least most of them, who have not become tools of the regime’s propaganda, people like Leopoldo Lopez and Lorent Saleh – but they still watch what they say, they still peddle pull. They are still unfree. Or North Korea, where Yeonmi Park eloquently and fearlessly tells us of the great gulags in that godless place. Cuba, Syria, Belarus, Iran. So many places still lock away those who dare to think of something other than the regime.For this I thank Solzhenitsyn. You should too.

⭐I purchased this book for my eldest daughter as she wanted to know more about why Russia oppressed people who spoke the truth (or in their eyes fake news). My daughter could not understand why people in Russia believed that attacking the Ukraine was to denazify the country and that those who protested against what was happening were arrested by the Russian Police and sent to prison.Trying to explain to a Western teenager that certain types of opinions in Russia can land you in a Gulag was unfathomable to her. Thankfully, after she read this book she fully understood the harsh realities of Gulag life in Siberia. Criminals, Political Dissidents, Gender Non-Conformists were all taken away to work till they died (or denounced their views to conform to the Russian Communist mindset).My daughter admitted it was a brutal read but extremely eye opening to what happens in Russia when you speak out against the Government/President.

⭐One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn speaks to the heart and leaves a lasting impression on the soul. The novella centres around our protagonist and narrator Ivan Denisovich Shukhov as he navigates the hell of being a zek (prisoner) in Josef Stalin’s gulag system.The novel uses Shukhov throughout the book, his surname. He is a political prisoner sentenced to 10 years hard labour for criticising the dictator. Political prisoners are treated more harshly than criminal prisoners. He knows that once he is released, if he is released, then he will face exile. This could be a worse fate.Shukhov forms part of the gang 104 and shows truly one fine day in the middle of winter in Siberia. It starts of badly, he is ill, struggles to rise and then is too late to be given the day off work. However, from there things look up. He enjoys working on the building site with his comrades, the closeness and respect for their foreman Tyurin, who is able to secure good payment for their work. A dinner Shukhov obtains two portions of soup and even manages to smuggle a piece of metal back into the barracks which can be made into a tool. He avoids the hole, which a new member The Captain is given and has even recovered from his stomach problems.The novel is meant to show the harsh reality of the Gulag system, where young men and women, the majority innocents were sent wasting their lives. Solzhenitsyn puts life into perspective and allows the reader to appreciate the simple things in life. The novel was used by Nikita Khrushchev in order to criticise Josef Stalin as part of his destalinisation programme after coming to power.It is a bleak setting, one really feels the bitter cold, the dark sweeping landscape. Snow and ice everywhere. The problems Shukhov faces are only know to one who faced such misery. For example, does he chose winter or summer boots? He can’t have both and they each are only useful half the year. This is something I love about All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Maria Remarque.I really loved the tension built as he tried to smuggle the metal is his mitten back into the camp. A great price of storytelling. What is amazing about this book is that it is so short, but the character building and setting are done exceptionally well. I was placed into the camp and really felt a brotherhood and sense of belonging to the characters. Overall this is history, Count Leo Tolstoy said that history is about events and fiction is about the people in those events. This is so true here. It really brings the horrors of the brutal system to life by someone who went through it. It was great and I will definitely revisit this in the future.

⭐I found some parts a bit hard to follow and tedious to read, such as describing the work and the meals. There were also too many characters to keep track of but I really liked the overall message. It portrays the very best and worst sides of humanity. How unbelievably vindictive and petty the warders were and how resilient and stoic the main character was. It’s a useful reminder of how lucky we are to live in these times and how much we take for granted.

⭐This is a small book. You can actually read it in a day or two. But it’s absolutely fantastic. Utterly gripping, I couldn’t put it down. And have read it twice now. Ivan is in such a dreadful place (a gulag camp) yet somehow the book takes you on a fabulous journey with him and its not depressing at all. In fact somehow its uplifting to the point where it made me question my own reality and the way I perceive my life.

⭐It took me the 39 years between the first time I read it till the second time I read it to realise that it was called one day in the life and only had one chapter because it was actually the story of one day. I found it shocking and moving when I was 14 but I think the intervening 39 years added a bit more depth Thankfully .

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