The one down side to all of this, and this is no doubt an understatement, is the dour subject matter. This book has been called, for lack of a more creative term, “depressing.” Well, I can’t say that I disagree with that, but I can say that the author approaches the subject without any sort of self-pity or sentimentality. Rather, he presents it as: these are atrocities, and here is a bit of what happened to bring people to this point. Another interesting fact is, in the end, freedom isn’t really the ultimate goal of these prisoners. Does that sound preposterous? One of the points the author mentions is that when a prisoner is ultimately granted his freedom, that it’s like the arrest happening all over again:
“But the pattern of a man’s future may be even more firmly drawn by the emotional crisis which he undergoes at the moment of release. This crisis can take very different forms. Only on the threshold of the guardhouse do you begin to feel that what you are leaving behind you is both your prison and your homeland. This was your spiritual birthplace, and a secret part of your soul will remain here forever—while your feet trudge on into the dumb and unwelcoming expanse of freedom.”
Solzhenitsyn does a great job getting into the psychology of the individual’s mind, and it is this ability that allows his writing to transcend and connect with his readers, years later. Solzhenitsyn is not a poetic writer per se, but an excellent narrator. His prose is dense is that good sort of way, not the turgid, disconnecting sort. I would rank him among the greatest of the Russian writers, and I will no doubt be pursuing some of this other works in the future.
I also have to note the connections reading a book like this provides. Some of this material matches that which Dostoevsky discussed in The House of the Dead, where the Russian writer recreates the hard labor of prison life. The great Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva hanged herself in 1941, as many did throughout the years, possibly to avoid arrest.
I encourage everyone to read this book, and learn about these significant events. One of the reasons the author wrote it in the first place was because he did not want these events, these times, to be forgotten.
So do the man a favor and read his book. Thank him later. I did.
Article comments
1 - susana palmes
I read the book when I was in college, I was impressed then but understand it better now. thank you