One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Rating:
Summary: Amazing.
Review: If you liked "Brave New World," or "1984," you'll like "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." The main character, Ivan, is imprisoned in a Soviet Labor camp, where he works everyday. It shows how their lives are run in a totalitarian manner. It shows how they must survive under totalitarian rule. There are things in this camp that are accepted, where in normal society they would be morally rejected. People have no second thoughts towards stealing and bribery. They do what they must to survive. When near nothing is given to them, they do what they must in order to live. The Soviets place no value on their lives for they are expendable. Ivan's day of survival will move you and make you happy that you're not in a Soviet Labor camp on the steppe.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: There are some books that stay etched in you're memory and "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is one of them. The first major breakthrough in the Solzhenitsyn repertoire is a powerful, moving account of the everyday struggles a prisoner of the Gulag faces. This vivid account that Solzhentisyn effortlessly conveys, details the experiences, motivations and practicalities of life that Ivan Denisovich encounters within a Russian labour camp.
The truly remarkable and gripping feature of this account is that it comes from a man who has lived and breathed the exact struggles that is reflected in Ivan Denisovich's character.
Tvardovsky, the Russian editor who founded this great literary work noted that "not a drop of falsehood" existed in this account and did everything possible to see it controversially published in the face of strong opposition. For this reason alone it I thought it was deserving of a read and I wasn't disappointed.
This book does not concern itself with the wider implications of life in the Soviet union because these wider issues do not effect the character. What the character is concerned with is managing to survive another day in this typically unforgiving labour camp and how he draws upon his extensive experiences and instincts developed from his years in prison.
Although this book is primarily focused around one man, there is a huge amount of insight into the variety of different prisoners that are prevalent in labour camps, ranging from the beaten up scroungers to the over privelleged slackers. This gives the reader a fresh perspective some idea of how much so little can be worth and what is vital to basic survival.
Anyone who has a fascination with life in Russian labour camps in the Stalinist era or who just wants to lose themself in a moving account should pick up this wonderfully written, flowing piece of literature. Solzhenitsyn truly pours his soul into this work.

Rating:
Summary: be more accurate
Review: hrrr grumble grumble grumble. He's refered to as Shukov because THAT'S HIS LAST NAME. Ivan Denisovich Shukov. Anyone who takes a second to look at Russian names would realise that Denisovich is a patronymic, meaning that his father's name was Denis, and a lot of Russian last names end in -ov (-ova for the women). And Lorina, he didn't escape alone, but most of the others were shot trying to get back, he's not stopped on the way to the mess hall but for not getting up on time, and he doesn't have 3653 days LEFT. That's the total sentence. 365 times ten plus 3 for leap years. He's gone through a bit more than 8 years. God, next time think before you write.

But seriously, other people, read it. I found this one of the best books I've ever read (not really but it seemed so at the time). It's a pessimistic book, about the barbarity of man, and the price of freedom, and so on, though I'm sure Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote it to reveal the truth to post-Stalinist Russia. It made me really question what matters in life etc etc all that other stuff.

Worth the read

Rating:
Summary: Compelling - Very vivid
Review: I tried to read this in my twenties and just couldn't appreciate the harshness of the prison camps at that age. Reading it again in my thirties, I find it a compelling story. Short and well told, it covers one day from reveille (5 AM) to lights out (around 10 PM) in a Russian prison camp. Prisoners were never allowed to see a clock and he said the night check at 9 PM always resulted in a recount so you never went to bed before 10. Ivan Denisovich, called Shukov throughout the book (or S-854 by his warders), takes us through his pre-roll call activities (trying to get on the sick list and a near miss with being thrown in "the can"), through roll call and the process of going out to the work site, how they were assigned and how the actual work day went, the process of checking back into the work camp and evening activities like the evening meal and receipt of packages, all the way up to lights out.

Of course it is not the actual activities that make the story so compelling. The actual activities are actually quite mundane and boring. It is the extent of the deprivation, the harshness of the conditions and the many various personalities that are so well described that you can see them, their mannerisms and expressions, in your mind's eye. Many of the men were considered spies after escaping from German POW camps - some only made a comment somewhere out of line. Each man comes through clear. Take Captain, a loyal old naval officer who's only crime was to receive a souvenir from a British admiral engraved "in Gratitude". He is a staunch Communist and party man and a little too outspoken to make it in the camp though his fellow members of gang 104 try to help him out. Then there is Alyoska, the Baptist. His is true faith - "... you mustn't pray for somebody to send you a package or for an extra helping of gruel. Things that people set store by are base in the sight of the Lord. You must pray for the things of the spirit so the Lord will take evil things from our hearts."
And there is Tyurin, the tough but well respected gang boss ... and Der, a camp 'bureacrat' who tries to goes against him.

Good men (most of them), good book ... worth a few hours to read.

Rating:
Summary: story as exciting as its setting
Review: This is Solzhenitsyn's literary representation of Stalin's Siberian camps. The mood of the story is very defeatist; the main character, Ivan, has accepted his position and does not rebel against it. Although there were definitely groups of 'zeks' (prisoners) that were rebellious to the end, such prisoners are not mentioned here.

The story follows Ivan from the opening call until he shuts his eyes at night. The events depicted are not very exciting, showcasing how trying prison life was. Probably the most exciting incident is when Ivan is nearly caught trying to bring part of a blade back into the camp.

One can sympathize with Ivan for he is actually innocent. He is a POW accused of being a spy for the German army. He knows that even if he managed to escape the guards' guns, he would not survive in the Siberian wilderness; thus, he must tough out his ten years in the camp.

He takes delight in simple things like getting an extra bowl of stew at lunch and a drag from a cigarette from one of his fellow inmates. It's also interesting how the zeks are more loyal to those prisoners closer in rank to themselves than the guards.

Unless you are taking a class on Stalinist Russia or have a deep interest in Russian literature, I recommend not reading this book. I don't believe that it is the best representation of great Russian literature. Solzhenitsyn's style is very base, fragmented and aggravating. It's quite apparent that writing was a second occupation; he was first a mathematician. Only read this book if you want to know how depressing Stalinist camp life was. If you want great introductory Russian literature I recommend Dostoevsky's 'Notes from Underground.' It is about the same length as this work, but the style is much more crisp and connected.

Rating:
Summary: building block for modern Russian literature
Review: a beautifully told tale of Stalinist work camps from a man who lived them. a great starting point for those interested in 20th century Russian literature and/or Solzhenitsyn. An easy one day read and a cornerstone work of one of the greatest minds in the 20th century.

Rating:
Summary: Survival in a Soviet camp
Review: This book was gripping from its very first page. You start the book with Shukov at dawn and continue with him for the rest of the day. Most of the book is caught up with descriptions of the tasks that the zeks (prisoners) had to do, the ingenious ways of keeping alive and what it took to make it over the ten or twenty five year stretches in a "special" camp.

I thought perhaps Solzhenitsyn could have explored the issue of the injustices in these camps more fully, there were only passing references to the unfair treatment that these prisoners had to go through and most of these were stated in a matter-of-fact kind of way. This left the reader feeling like an outsider watching a distant scene rather than being in amongst the prisoners; feeling their pain and their daily struggles.

The character Aloysha, a baptist interested me because of the way he handled the sufferings in prison with an uncanny cheerfulness. I would have loved to see more of a dialogue between him and Shukov to see what really made him tick. This book does not delve into any deep philosophical issues, it is more like a diary of Shukov's day; unthinking and mechanical, noting down the events that happened during the day in chronological order without much comment.

I do not mean to criticize the book, just point out my observations. All in all I found the book to be very interesting reading and I would recommend this book to you if you are interested in a historical novel about the "special" camps in Russia during the time of Stalin.

Rating:
Summary: an amazing, subtle accomplishment
Review: One Day is based on the real life experience of A. Solzhenitsyn, who was imprisoned for the better part of ten years (may have been more, can't remember) in a Russian hard labor camp. One of the ironies of this is that A.S. was not an outspoken dissident or a rabble rouser, he mostly held to the party line, or didn't give much thought to politics. He was imprisoned for an offhand comment after years of loyalty. After finally being released, and writing this novel, the book was banned in Russia and he was eventually forced into exile from his beloved/hated mother country. He went on to win the Nobel Prize for this and his subsequent works about Russia during his lifetime.

The character Ivan mirrors A.S. in some respects, most notably in the fact that he doesn't care at all about any of the ideology behind the camp. Some of the other characters debate politics or sociology and mostly get thrown into solitary confinement. But not Ivan. He thinks about food and how he's going to get more of it. He thinks about keeping his foot wrappings dry and leaves the political proselytizing to the fools who will soon be dead.

Ironically, this is where the book finds its true literary achievement. At the heart of this character is a total disillusion, not the smallest spark of hope or faith in ideals or humanity, and yet the experience of watching this character carefully manuever his way to an extra bowl of soup, a pinch of fresh tobbacco, an old crust of bread -- it's magical somehow. The scene of the prisoners laying bricks is practically transcendental. Here there is dignity, pride, a sense of accomplishment, community, even a small amount of pleasure. Did we forget we were reading about a communist forced labor camp? Yes, for a moment, we did.

There's a powerful statement about the nature of a human being in that. This is A.S.'s achievement, the puzzling complexity of this book -- it is precisely out of his hopelessness and disillusion that Ivan Denisovich's humanity and strength arise.

You can still feel the author's conflicted sorrow, the unquenched bitterness and the utter frustration with a communist system that was completely irrational and blindly destructive. Yet the source of that frustration is the love he had for his country that nearly destroyed him. This confusion and melding of opposite poles is only appropriate for literature about Soviet communism -- a system based on such high utopian ideals, yet responsible for some of civilization's most massive atrocities.

All in all a quick read and honestly not as depressing as it may sound. An incredible novel as well as an incredible piece of literary history. Besides, when was the last time you got off so easy reading a Nobel Prize winner?

PS. I happened to pick up All Quiet On the Western Front at the same time as this book. They turned out to be quite similar in a number of ways. If you like one of these books, you will certainly like the other. Both fascinating and oddly beautiful accounts of the misuse of the population by those in power.

Rating:
Summary: What was your today like?
Review: There is a saying that today,the day we spent in vain, is the

day which the people,who died yesterday, desperately hoped to

see. We should be fully aware of the value of "one day" reading

this book.

This book describes the overall life in a jail, which is not

better or worse than that of other prisoners. As Ivan is the

most common name of Russia, his life in the jail is as ordinary

as his name. Those who have never been to Russia or read the

contemporary literature might say that the story is too

exagerated. However nothing is a lie of false. This is the

actual life that any Russian prisoner would have overcome at

the time.

All fight for their own life:food. Prisoners are eager to

steal others' bread or soup by instinct in order to survive.

Their goal is to eat as much as possible just to get out of the

jail alive. And that is their life at the same time. The

struggle for a piece-not a loaf-of bread is the survival fight.

It is definitely not because they hate each other or so.

Besides, although the atmosphere is always tense and

oppressed, those prisoners do keep their conscience and care

for others. Perhaps what Dostoevsky tried to tell is that under

the worst circumstances do people still have their own dignity

and humanity. However, we seem to lose them in this very

comfortable and wealthier world.

One day may be very short for ordinary people yet it is so

precious to others, such as to prisoners. While reading, I,

time to time, thought, 'how come a day is so long that it takes

a whole book to describe it?' But as soon as finishing it, I

was surprised that somebody's day could be felt so short to me.

My professor assigned homework in Russian Literature lecture;to

describe 5 or 10 minites from my day. My 5 minutes were

drastically long to write.

In this book hides human breath and dignity, even though it

merely seems to show the horrible, harsh life in jail.

Regardless how hard the conditions are, people would not lose

the dignity that Solzhenitsyn taught us from this book.

Rating:
Summary: One Day in the Live of Ivan Denisovich
Review: Its the early 1900's and your in Communist Russia. You've committed a crime and are in a prison camp for ten years. In the Soviet Union, it is extremely cold and is the surveylence is almost unberable. Any wrong move and you could be either executed or thrown into a prison camp for a long time. This is exactly what Ivan Denisovich had to deal with in the book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. In this book, Alexandre Solzhenitsyn illustrates how cruel these prison camps really were. Every day, the men that were there had to put up with long, cold winters that rarely went above 15 degrees farenheight. Working out in the cold became a normal thing, but was never a thing to get used to. Since it was the time of Communism, Russia didn't care about the situations and severity of the help needed in these camps. They simply put the men to work and fed them two very small meals a day, just enough to live and get a little energy to work with. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich show how the men put up with this everyday torture and endured it for a very large part of this life. I recomend this book to anyone interested in how Communist Russia acted toward men and women of simple crimes and to see how unjust they were toward them. there is a lot more to learn and read though before we can fully comprehend what kind of life these people lived in these prison camps.