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Editorial Review Product Description
The first published novel of controversial Nobel Prize winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn- now in trade paperback.
First published in 1962, this book is considered one of the most significant works ever to emerge from Soviet Russia. Illuminating a dark chapter in Russian history, it is at once a graphic picture of work camp life and a moving tribute to man's will to prevail over relentless dehumanization, told by "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy, [and] Gorky" (Harrison Salisbury, New York Times).Amazon.com Review
Solzhenitsyn's first book, this economical, relentless novelis one of the most forceful artistic indictments of politicaloppression in the Stalin-era Soviet Union. The simply told story of atypical, grueling day of the titular character's life in a labor campin Siberia, is a modern classic of Russian literature and quicklycemented Solzhenitsyn's international reputation upon publication in1962. It is painfully apparent that Solzhenitsyn himself spent time inthe gulags--he was imprisoned for nearly a decade as punishment formaking derogatory statements about Stalin in a letter to a friend. ... Read more Customer Reviews (201) 
Gulags R us
Ivan or Shuhkov as he's called through out the book is imprisioned in a Russian prison camp. His days starts with hanging out in bed because he feels ill. The book could really be considered a long story. There are no chapter breaks. And even though the idea of tracing one through a day seems dull its interesting. I especially like the three types of narration which is so subtle you may miss that it changes. It's good literature. I recommend it.
A Voice for the Countless
"One Day in the Life..." is stark, humane, and ceaselessly hopeful.
Solzhenitsyn spend years in labor camps and exile, and he filters those experiences into this tale of one prisoner going through a day in the freezing wastelands of Siberia. Ivan has a ten-year sentence, and has learned to work the system of guards, gangs, and mess hall. He hates the cold, but he knows ways to fight it and finagle better tools, smokes, and food. He, like the others, is a survivor who thinks mostly of himself; on the other hand, he is willing to share with his favorite Estonians.
Throughout, Solzhenitsyn gives glimpses into the various regions of the former Soviet Union, into the politics and even religious thoughts, and let's us see these things through colorful yet simple language that befits his protagonist. Ivan is anything but self-pitying. He is a voice for the countless prisoners of that day ang age. It's hard to fathom, in our culture, the impact this story had on the international community in the midst of Communism in Russia. Many then were unaware of the abuses under that system. Solzhenitsyn brought into the light the many cruelties suffered under Stalin's rule. I traversed Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express in the late 1980s, and it is sad to think of the many censored artists, writers, poets, and preachers who died in the country's harsh eastern landscape.
The final paragraphs of this book don't rely on heightened drama but on the weighty realism of Ivan's ongoing incarceration. Despite this reality, Ivan is focused on the next day alone, thankful, full of hope, looking for the good in the midst of trouble. It's this attitude that makes "One Day in the Life..." a classic to be shared for generations to come.
Bleak and Disturbing
Written from the perspective of a common prisoner, laboring in a Soviet camp, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is the semi-authobiographical novel of former political prisoner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It is a simple novel, telling the story of Ivan Denisovich, imprisoned in the Gulag for crimes comitted while serving in the Russian Army during WWII. It takes place over the course of a single day, from reveille to retreat. The protagonist spends his day in hard labor, in this instance he and his squad are building a power station, construction on which had been abandoned six months previous. His day begins in misery, cold, and sickness, yet somehow Denisovich manages to end his day, and the novel with a note of hapiness, even hopefulness.
However this book is about so much more than just what Ivan's day to day life is like; it is a political statement. It is a look at the cruelty and oppression of the Soviet regime under Stalin, when a man could be imprisoned for just about any action, real or imagined. Denisovich was imprisoned for supossed desertion (in actuality he had been held as a German POW and escaped) while serving in the Soviet Army during WWII. Another character, Aloyshka - a dedicated Baptist, was imprisoned for his religious beliefs. Tiurin, squad captain, was imprisoned despite his impressive military record, for his birth. Solzhenitsyn, himself, was imprisoned for supossed derogatory remarks regarding Stalin.
It was suprisingly published in 1962, despite the rampanent censorship of the Soviet era, after gaining the approval of Kruschev while having one of his "anti-Stalin" days. It was later banned in Russia and Solzhenitsyn expelled after the ouster of Khrushchev, yet elsewhere the novel was so important and widely regarded that it's author received the Nobel Prize.
The novel itself is short, my edition only 139 pages, and the writing style spare, almost simplistic. However I feel this to be a reflection of the experience it is telling. One living in Stalin workcamp isn't going to have the time or energy for superflous words or emotion. Solzhenitsyn's austere style only served to emphasize the horror of the topic, and made it that much more powerful. The labor camps of Stalinist Russia rank right up there with Hitler's Death Camps as one of humanity's darkest moments. In a way that no history text could, Solzhenitsyn and One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich shed light on events that should horrify and sicken anyone. This is one novel that should be required reading in any history of the world.
Essential Russian Literature
A central twentieth century Russian literary work, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is significant for many reasons. It is best known as a highly autobiographical novel exposing the Soviet Union's infamous gulags and is certainly noteworthy in this way. However, it is also excellent in itself, a gripping, highly moving story of determination, endurance, and in the end, hope. Anyone at all interested in twentieth century Russian literature or history must read it.
The historical angle is such that the book would be well worth reading for it alone. Before One Day, gulags were hardly even publicly admitted; having its horrors given in such detail was astonishing, one of the most dramatic examples of the Soviet Union's anti-Stalin program. To put this in perspective, it is necessary to remember that Boris Pasternak, whose Doctor Zhivago criticized Soviet tactics less openly, had to refuse the Nobel Prize only four years before to avoid scandal after the Soviets told the Nobel committee not to award him. This would of course be a mere historical footnote if One Day had no other value, but it does even in this sense. Years after gulags - and even the Soviet Union itself -- are gone, it is an invaluable, practically first-person account of the important phenomenon. Anyone wanting to know about gulags would do well to start here; it introduced them to the world and arguably remains the best source.
Noteworthy as this is, the literary merit is at least as great. Alexander Solzhenitsyn tells a remarkable story in straight-forward, admirably concise prose that cuts to the proverbial core; his story is so immediate that he has no time for verbal trappings. This is to the book's benefit, as the story more than stands on its own -- an utterly engrossing, distinctly modern drama of humanity's inhumanity. We identify with the title hero's trials and sufferings, which are detailed in a vividly visceral way that makes them unforgettable. Yet this is not a work of despair. Dark as it is at times, especially considering its nearly autobiographical nature, it is ultimately a triumph of the human spirit. It shows, as few works can, just how much a person can survive. We do not see Ivan leave the camp, but we know Solzhenitsyn did, which means much. Despite all, the book thus leaves us with hope.
Few twentieth century Russian works can be more essential, but it is important to remember that this is very different from nineteenth century Russian masterpieces. It is short and sticks firmly to the bare subject, lacking the long, philosophical digressions so characteristic of those works. Anyone expecting an update of them will be disappointed, but One Day in many ways strongly resembles them in spirit. The seemingly paradoxical Russian soul -- partly overflowing with goodness, even self-sacrificing saintliness, partly crowded with darkness leading to oppression -- is on prominent display here as there, as is profound psychological insight. Fans of those great works may find much to like, and those who usually dislike Russian literature are at least as likely to appreciate the book. One Day is that rare work that probes deeply yet still has wide appeal, which is high praise indeed.
Man's Inhumanity on Display
As you read this slim novel, you keep shaking your head about man's inhumanity towards his fellow man. You wonder how a political system could be set up in which people are sent off to live under near-impossible conditions for decades, and why other people acquiesced to the insanity. Even though we know today that the Soviet system collapsed, we also know that Russia has penal colonies and prisons that are filled with innocents who are living scarcely better than Ivan Denisovich Sukhov does in the book.
The blunt language of Alexander Solzhenitsyn brings out the utter barrenness of existence in a Siberian labor camp. As other reviewers have said, you actually find yourself shivering as you read about ill-clothed men standing for an hour in minus-20 degree weather, waiting to be frisked by prison guards. You mind reels at the thought that a bowl of thin gruel, gulped down in less than 5 minutes, is so great of a luxury that it feels to these men as if time has stopped. You try to imagine being sent to live in those conditions for 10 years or more, and you come away feeling that you would lose all hope.How could you do otherwise?
It's a remarkable book.By showing the typical day in a prison camp -- in fact, a day that Ivan Denisovich considers "good" because he got an extra ration of soup and bread and avoided getting in trouble for anything -- you see the Soviet system in all its brutality.And you see how people tried to maintain their dignity and hope in the face of oppression on an industrial scale.While the system is inhuman, the people remain humans, as they try to survive on hope, pride, and ingenuity.
There's a reason that high schoolers were assigned this book 20 years ago, and there's still good reason to have young people (and older people) read it.The book is a warning about the depths to which a political system and social system can descend.
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