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Summary: A poignant account of the Soviet gulag
Review: Solzhenitsyn's first book is a stark description of life in a Siberian prison camp. The protagonist, a WWII POW, is accused of spying for the Nazis and sentenced to 10 years of forced labor. The story is at its best in the matter-of-fact approach by which Ivan Denisovich Shukhov describes a typical day. The reader is not subjected to tales of brutality or beatings. Even fears of the effects of countless days in a dehumanizing environment seem to take a back seat to the mundane challenges of daily life in the gulag. Shukhov's description of meal time is a good example: "... their bowl of hot and watery soup without any fat was like rain in a drought. They gulped it down. They cared more for this bowlful than freedom, or for their life in years gone by and years to come."Solzhenitsyn's message is clear. Humility is easily stripped away under oppressive regimes, and survival becomes the end game. Only the strongest can hope to retain their dignity, and even they will eventually lose that battle as the years go by. "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is a great intro to Russian literature, and a poignant account of post-war life in a Stalinist gulag.
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Summary: 3650 days to go plus 3 more for leap years
Review: This was a good read, not a great one, but an interesting one at that. A chilling historical look at a way of life that many had to endured due to the effects of war, and the survival of the fittest within the confines of a Siberian labor camp. Ivan Denisovich tells us about a "Good" day in this life that he's been sentenced 10 years to unjustly. He was an innocent man beaten to within inches of death when he signed a confession of treason to save his own life. Reveille was tapped out by a stick, on windows covered with two fingers thick ice, and on this particular morning the outside temperature was a mere 37 below zero, not cold enough to call work off for the day. It had to be 40 below for that event to take place. Clad in foot rags and wet felt boots, trousers, jacket, a hat, and makeshift mittens, the men fell out into the darkness of the beginning day in formation to be counted. Once hopefully, if the guards got the count right the first time, which didn't seem to happen very often. They survived on a watery soup. If one was lucky, he might find a bit of a potato, or even a remnant of fish in his bowl. For the most part, it appeared as dirty dish water, littered with discarded fish bones, which were welcomed by it's diner as they sucked on them to get whatever bits they could from them. Along with this they were served a 200 gram ration of bread. Then it was off to whatever work detail they were assigned to for the day. Today they would be fortunate, they would be laying a block wall. Inside work, which they were grateful for seeing they would be sheltered from the extreme bitterness of the flesh cutting winds that blew outside. The harder your worked for your foreman, measured by the amount of work accomplished, the unit would be rewarded with extra food portions. So needless to say, the survivalists kept on the backs of the slackers to ensure their fair share, which kept tension tight between the men. Ivan paints a very descriptive portrait about the men that he shared this life with, the pathetic camp conditions they overcame, and the hopes and dreams, both lost and found. I was a bit taken back when I realized this all took place in the 1940's, not so very long ago at all. It just seemed too barbaric for the era. I have to say this is a good historical piece, as well as a look at the human nature's fight to survive. It's a quick read, and worth taking a look at.
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Summary: A Gem of Soviet History
Review: One of the major values of Solzhenitzyn's work lies in the fact that it is semi-autobiographical. And as such, his work documents a time in Soviet (as well as world) history that is often overlooked by younger Western eyes. For those of my generation, born after 1978, the Cold War lacks the menace and frightening magnitude that it conveyed for over forty years. With the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, the history of Soviet Russia has evaporated from popular thought and has left a gaping whole in the education of American youth. U.S. schools fail to illustrate that the Soviet Union was an empire that spanned seventy-four years, and nearly controlled half of the world. Fortunately, One Day In The Life... brings the history of this deceased giant to bear. Solzhenitzyn sheds light on what was occurring behind "The Iron Curtain." His discussion of the infamous Gulag and the oppression of individual thought allows the reader insight into why some people were so utterly fearful of a "Communist" takeover. I was most impressed how Solzhenitzyn refrained from making an outward assault on Communist philosophy and instead concentrated on the misdeeds of the Soviet Union as a state. He allowed the reader to form his or her own opinions on the merits of collectivist thought, and instead recited his memoirs of living in the Soviet Union. This was a very impressive, short novel, and should be considered required reading for high school history classes when discussion the Cold War or Soviet history.
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Summary: One day in the life of Ivan...a plot without action
Review: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich written by Alexander Solzhenitsyn is a story about life in a Siberian prison camp. It follows the main character, Ivan Denisovich through his day in the camp. It begins when he awakens and ends when he goes back to bed. Ivan is serving the eighth year of his ten year sentence for treason against the Soviet government. It follows Ivan to breakfast, work, lunch, work and dinner. It illustrates the how the life of a prisoner is filled with boredom and repetition.
The purpose of the novel, often difficult to conclude, is to show the importance of societies and how they can form a guaranteed safety net that helps people survive. Although, most people entered the camp alone, people within a squad become a"family." They are there to help each other survive the work they are expected to do. They take care of each other. But one must remember that all parts of a society are present in these families. They too are always having to deal with traitors, liars and thieves. The novel also serves to inform the reader of the harshness in the camp. Because the novel begs for sympathy, it is easy for the reader to forget that the residents of the camp are criminals. They, in a time of war, have done something wrong to a country and are being punished for it.
The novel does succeed in bringing the reader into the life of a prisoner of the camp. But it contains a plot that never climaxes which often results in feelings of boredom. There is no action in this story. The reader simply follows Ivan like a shadow unable to get into his head or any of the other prisoners. The story does not make the reader feel anything. They simply understand how people lived life in a prison camp. This novel could easily be read by anyone high school age or older. This book would be great for anyone interested in life in a prison camp. Otherwise there is not any other reason to read it. There is no action or stunning conclusions to be found in this book. It is even difficult to find the purpose of witting such a novel. If bookstores began informing possible readers of books by placing stickers of on them. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich's sticker would read, *WARNING* lack of action!
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Summary: Russian Read
Review: ... I hate to admit it, but I only read the book because I was desperate for reading material. As an avid reader, I usually have about 5 or 6 library books on my dresser, but not this time. I expected nothing...except maybe boredom. Maybe not. This is a fantastic book, and I'm glad I did run out of reading material. Before school had been dismissed for the summer, we learned about the Holocaust and similiar genocides. One of these events was Joseph Stalin's concentration camps in the Ukraine. I knew that this book was foreign, but I didn't know that I was going to get a close up look at what I had just read in World History class and was interested about. As the title suggests, the story was about a winter-like day of prisoner Ivan Denisovich...but he is referred to as "Shukov", though it never says why. The beginning is an introduction to the day. A bleak, cold, and seemingly uneventful day for this prisoner who, like many others in the camp, had been imprisoned for bogus reasons. Ivan had been sentenced to 10 years for being a spy, when he had actually been captured by Germans and then escaped alone. After waking, Ivan begins his normal routine of getting to the Mess Hall for something to eat. He gets stopped on the way, and has to mop the floor of a higher-up. Then he eats his mush and goes to the hospital to try to get out of the days work, to no avail. Thus, starting his workday. Him and the rest of the barracks file out to go to a job site. They trek two miles in the snow to work at laying bricks on an upperlevel building. After a good day of work, they walk back to the compound to try to beat out the other barracks for first group at the mess hall. Of course, everything is brought out in good details. It would be to make a book out of just one day! As Ivan Denisovich lives out this day, which he claims is a good day and you'll see why, he is also nearing the end of his sentence. He isn't confident that they will let him go, though. They could slap another sentence on him or forbid him from going home. Even though he won't be recieving packages or letters from home, he still can have an almost happy day. And he only has three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days left in his sentence...
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Summary: one day in the life of ivan denisovich
Review: This is the book that introduced me to Russian literature, and more importantly, to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, perhaps Russia's greatest living writer. This book is bleak, it is short, and it describes unimaginable cruelties and deprivations, but more than anything, it demonstrates the ability for suffering not to cripple a man, but make him stronger, as is evidenced by Shukhov's phenomenal strength of character, and life-affirming nature in the face soul-deadening routine. Moreover, this book is really symbolic of the prison in which all men reside, one escapable only through embracing the minute joys every day brings. How different, really, is Shukhov's happiness over receiving an extra bowl of gruel for dinner, versus my taking an extra 10 minutes on my break at work. I would also recommend Cancer Ward and The First Circle to anyone who finds this book at all interesting.
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Summary: Gripping and moving narrative of labor camp survival
Review: Solzhenitsyn's first published story, published after Kruscheav's denunciation of Stalin behind closed party doors. It became the story of suffering reflecting the experience's of thousands of survivor's- most of whom were released during the general amnesty's granted after Stalin's death. "One Day" follow's Ivan through literally one day of his life in a labor camp. Small issues become life threatening- an extra bowl of soup, a boot repair- all of it effects his life in one way or other. A rather simple tale, it contains within itself a world of suffering and hope. To read this is to understand the genesis of Solzhenitsyn's later "Gulag Archipelago" trilogy. An important and moving tale.
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Summary: Very sad, but educational
Review: Not many of us can say we have experienced anything as dramatic as what the characters in this book have to experience on a daily basis. With that in mind, this book is highly educational, showing us one ordinary day in the life of one of the thousands of people who lived, and in some countries still live under terrible conditions. The story is a sad one, not because of violence, which it has virtually none, but because the idea of living that life every single day is brutal, and it just tears your heart apart. I am not sure I loved the way it was written, it seemed too simple, but it did make the reading go faster.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: I enjoyed One Day very much. I chose to read it for a high school outside reading assignment (perhaps the length of the novel had something to do with my choice), not knowing what to expect, but in the end I found that, as my first introduction to the history of Russia regarding Stalin and his opporessive policies, it was an interesting story.
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Summary: Surprising reality of the Russian Gulag
Review: My grandmother, an avid reader and former English teacher, recommended this book to me with the words, "You'll feel guilty eating anything while you read this." Having read a multitude of books centered around various concentration camps, including Elie Wiesel's Night among others, I thought that there was little that could shock me or even make an impact on me in this book. I was wrong. The novel is centered around one day in the life of a man named Ivan Denisovich who has been living in Soviet camps for years. It tells how his prized possession is a spoon he carries in his boot, and a good day includes an extra bowl of gruel with fish bones for lunch. It is winter in the heart of Russia, and the only thing that pushes him to work is the fact that his increasing circulation warms his hypothermic body. This book opened my eyes to a world that I have never heard of, that of the Russian camps, where the objective was not to exterminate the prisoners. Instead, the prisoners were worked like animals until they dropped dead in the fields of hunger, exhaustion, sun stroke or hypothermia. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an easy read with a difficult reality.
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