One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Rating:
Summary: A Penetrating Look Into the Human Condition
Review: Highly recommended reading! Many have hailed Solzhenitsyn as a modern Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev or Gorky, and I fully concur. He, like many of his Russian literary predecessors, is able to penetrate into the inmost workings of the human consciousness. The book does indeed display the atrocities of the Russian labor camps under the rule of Stalin, yet it goes much further than this. Solzhenitsyn elucidates the struggle to make life "normal" even in the midst of utterly inhumane circumstances. He shows how people search for dignity and respect though thrown into the lowliest of situations. So you walk away from this book, not simply with a feeling of disgust at the treatment of people, but with an better understanding of the human condition. You may find yourself asking "How could they have possibly continued in such a state?"; Ah, but they did.

Rating:
Summary: Emotional..
Review: This book was very emotional to read, the things people in Russian labor camps had to endure are unimaginable to me. Read this book and find out how much you really take for granted!

Rating:
Summary: Historical, philospohical and emotional
Review: This may not be a literary masterpiece but it definately heartfelt and rings with truth. It is an accurate and poignant description of lives in the Gulags (as far as I know). It somewhat refuses to get philosophical at some points and at others is almost poetic in it's thoughtfulness and depth. It is both important for it's historical content and it's wonderful ideas and observations on people.

Rating:
Summary: A Day Living Under the Oppression of the Evil Empire
Review: Alexander Solzhenitsyn has given the world a glimpse of the evil that is communist oppression and tyranny. While Western Intellectuals (disguised as enlightened progressive liberals) where idolizing the Soviet Union and its collectivist economy, Solzhenitsyn brought the reality of the system to the fore. More than anyone else, he made envy of the Evil Empire less fashionable. This novel is based on Solzhenitsyn own experience with the Soviet work camps that recognize no human rights and starved or worked prisoners to death in the cold arctic Gulags of the Soviet Union. Solzhenitsyn gives the reader intricate details of what a day in the life of a Gulag would be like and is asked to imagine not only thousands of such days - but of not knowing the duration of one's imprisonment. This book, along with Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago," is a monument to the evils of hands-on collectivist ideology.

Rating:
Summary: I really enjoyed this book:
Review: This book gave an intricate look into an ordinary man's life in a Russian Labor camp. The protagonist, Ivan Denisovich Shukov, is a person anyone can identify with. While the pace was a bit slow, (Though what I expected from a book entitled "One Day...", I'm not sure) I found it a poignant and sad look into the past. Mr. Solzhenitsyn brought across the feeling of extreme desolation and hopelessness, that these prisoners lived with every day. I have never read any of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's books before this one, but I am certainly going to start reading more of them now.

Rating:
Summary: A GRAFICAL DEPICTION OF SIBERIAN LABOR CAMPS
Review: SOLZHENITSYN DID AN EXELLENT JOB OF DEPICTING A SINGLE DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MAN WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED IN A SIBERIAN LABOR CAMP. THIS NOVAL ALLOW THE READER PRIVY INTO A WORLD THAT WAS ONCE KEPT A SECRET BY RUSSIA DUE TO THE HARSNESS OF THE TREATMENT TOWARDS THE INMATES. IF YOUR INTERESTED ABOUT HOW RUSSIA USE TO CONDUCT THEIR FORCED LABOR PRISONS, THAN THIS IS DEFINATLY A BOOK FOR YOU. EVEN IF THAT'S NOT WHAT GETS YOUR WHEELS TURNING, IT IS STILL A BENIFICIAL BOOK TO READ. IT OPENS YOUR EYES TO SEE THINGS IN A DIFFERENT ASPECT.

Rating:
Summary: The book's compelling honesty came with its share of lows.
Review: Throughout the book, many of the events that occured were elongated and led to complete boredom. However these events were uplifted by sorrowful tragedies that these men faced from dawn until dusk everyday of their lives. The utter honesty shocked me, it was unbiased and compelling. The book was not horrible but it had its share of lows. Read this book if you have patience, or wish to read a historically unbiased novel.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite and first book to write
Review: A very true, sad, and yet inspiring fiction that has shed light to the horrid conditions in Russia's prison camps.

Rating:
Summary: Profound, vital
Review: This small book is the most important work of fiction of the century. It is an expose of the cruel, inhumane communist concentration camp, written by a man who experienced the Gulag first hand. Solzhenitsyn is not only the century's important writer, he is one of the most important men of the century. He was a giant intellectual force in driving a stake through communism's bloody, cold heart.

Rating:
Summary: Makes you want to know more about Soviet past
Review: I can't believe that I was this interested in a book that takes place over a single day. The concept sounds boring, but it makes you realize that there are situations where the small things in life really do matter, and everyplace has its rules. The character is street wise and very likeable. I read this during the Northeast heatwave in the 90 degree range with no air conditioning and fantasized about the sub-zero cold!