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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
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Publisher's summary
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn’s startling book led, almost 30 years later, to Glasnost, Perestroika, and the "Fall of the Wall". One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich brilliantly portrays a single day, any day, in the life of a single Russian soldier who was captured by the Germans in 1945 and who managed to escape a few days later. Along with millions of others, this soldier was charged with some sort of political crime, and since it was easier to confess than deny it and die, Ivan Denisovich "confessed" to "high treason" and received a sentence of 10 years in a Siberian labor camp.
<[>In 1962, the Soviet literary magazine Novy Mir published a short novel by an unknown writer named Solzhenitsyn. Within 24 hours, all 95,000 copies of the magazine containing this story were sold out. Within a week, Solzhenitsyn was no longer an obscure math teacher, but an international celebrity. Publication of the book split the Communist hierarchy, and it was Premier Khrushchev himself who read the book and personally allowed its publication.More from the same
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- By Stacey Nation on 10-26-23
By: Lucy Adlington
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The Colour of Magic
- Discworld, Book 1
- By: Terry Pratchett
- Narrated by: Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place that might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. Particularly as it’s carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.
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TERRIBLE Narration!
- By Kayla I on 07-08-22
By: Terry Pratchett
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My Brother's Voice
- How a Young Hungarian Boy Survived the Holocaust: A True Story
- By: Stephen Nasser, Sherry Rosenthal
- Narrated by: Maxwell Glick
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Stephen 'Pista' Nasser was 13 years old when the Nazis whisked him and his family away from their home in Hungary to Auschwitz. His memories of that terrifying experience are still vivid, and his love for his brother Andris still brings a husky tone to his voice when he remembers the terrible ordeal they endured together. Stephen's account of the Holocaust, told in the refreshingly direct and optimistic language of a young boy, will help every listener to understand that the Holocaust was real.
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my favorite I've read it 5 times
- By Anonymous User on 04-15-18
By: Stephen Nasser, and others
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Now and in the Hour of Our Death
- By: Patrick Taylor
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
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Patrick Taylor’s first novel of the Irish Troubles, Pray for Us Sinners, introduced us to Provisional IRA bombmaker Davy MacCutcheon and the love of his life, Fiona Kavanagh. Davy planned to leave the Provos after one final mission. But the deadly mission backfired, and Davy ended up in prison. Six years later, in Now and in the Hour of Our Death, Fiona Kavanagh has found sanctuary in Vancouver, Canada. But news of a breakout at the Maze prison brings back memories she thought she’d left behind.
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The Perfect End of a Great Epic
- By J. Lindsey on 03-01-15
By: Patrick Taylor
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Andersonville
- By: MacKinlay Kantor
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 37 hrs and 13 mins
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Acclaimed as the greatest novel ever written about the War Between the States, this searing Pulitzer Prize-winning book captures all the glory and shame of America's most tragic conflict in the vivid, crowded world of Andersonville, and the people who lived outside its barricades. Based on the author's extensive research and nearly 25 years in the making, MacKinlay Kantor's best-selling masterwork tells the heartbreaking story of the notorious Georgia prison where 50,000 Northern soldiers suffered.
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Worthy of the Pulitzer
- By Gillian on 03-22-15
By: MacKinlay Kantor
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Way of the Wolf
- The Vampire Earth, Book 1
- By: E. E. Knight
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel, E. E. Knight (Introduction)
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
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Louisiana, 2065. A lot has changed in the 43rd year of the Kurian Order. Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the bloodthirsty Reapers have come to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it is night, as sure as darkness, they will come.
On this pitiless world, the indomitable spirit of mankind still breathes in Lieutenant David Valentine.
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Its what you expect, and thats not a bad thing.
- By Kevin McLaughlin on 11-26-08
By: E. E. Knight
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One Soldier's War
- By: Arkady Babchenko, Nick Allen - translator
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1995, Arkady Babchenko was an 18-year-old law student in Moscow when he was drafted into the Russian army and sent to Chechnya. It was the beginning of a torturous journey from naïve conscript to hardened soldier that took Babchenko from the front lines of the first Chechen War in 1995 to the second in 1999. He fought in major cities and tiny hamlets, from the bombed-out streets of Grozny to anonymous mountain villages.
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Real, Brutal, & Honest
- By Patrick on 05-09-16
By: Arkady Babchenko, and others
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Covenant with Death
- By: John Harris
- Narrated by: Mike Rogers
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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They joined for their country. They fought for each other. When war breaks out in 1914, Mark Fenner and his Sheffield friends immediately flock to Kitchener's call. Amid waving flags and boozy celebration, the three men - Fen, his best friend Locky and self-assured Frank, rival for the woman Fen loves - enlist as volunteers to take on the Germans and win glory.
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A superb Great War historical novel
- By Jean on 09-28-14
By: John Harris
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The Canal Bridge
- A Novel of Ireland, Love, and the First World War
- By: Tom Phelan
- Narrated by: Paul Nugent
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1913, before there is a rumor of war in Europe, Matthias Wrenn and Con Hatchel, lifelong friends from Ballyrannel in the Irish midlands, decide to see the world at the expense of the king of England and join the British army. A year later, while en route to India, their troop ship is recalled and they soon find themselves in the European slaughterhouse that was World War I.
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Beautiful, disturbing and unforgettable
- By Kathy on 05-25-16
By: Tom Phelan
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I, Who Did Not Die
- A Sweeping Story of Loss, Redemption, and Fate
- By: Zahed Haftlang, Najah Aboud
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
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Khorramshahr, Iran, May 1982 - It was the bloodiest battle of one of the most brutal wars of the twentieth century, and Najah, a 29-year-old wounded Iraqi conscript, was face to face with a 13-year-old Iranian child soldier who was ordered to kill him. Instead, the boy committed an astonishing act of mercy. It was an act that decades later would save his own life.
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- By jennie on 04-10-24
By: Zahed Haftlang, and others
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The Nobel Prize winner’s towering masterpiece of world literature, the searing record of four decades of terror and oppression, in one abridged volume (authorized by the author). Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.
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Mandatory reading in Russia, not USA. Why?
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The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1
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Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.
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Should be required reading in US schools
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March 1917 tells the story of the Russian Revolution itself, during which not only does the Imperial government melt in the face of the mob, but the leaders of the opposition prove utterly incapable of controlling the course of events. The absorbing narrative tells the stories of more than fifty characters during the days when the Russian Empire begins to crumble. The anti-Tsarist bourgeois opposition, horrified by the violence, scrambles to declare that it is provisionally taking power, while socialists immediately create a Soviet alternative to undermine it.
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Pertinent
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Darkness at Noon
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A fictional portrayal of an aging revolutionary, this novel is a powerful commentary on the nightmare politics of the troubled 20th century. Born in Hungary in 1905, a defector from the Communist Party in 1938, and then arrested in both Spain and France for his political views, Arthur Koestler writes from a wealth of personal experience.
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I wanted way more than one day -
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One of the five finest novels written in the 20th Century
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March 1917 tells the story of the Russian Revolution itself, during which not only does the Imperial government melt in the face of the mob, but the leaders of the opposition prove utterly incapable of controlling the course of events. The absorbing narrative tells the stories of more than fifty characters during the days when the Russian Empire begins to crumble. The anti-Tsarist bourgeois opposition, horrified by the violence, scrambles to declare that it is provisionally taking power, while socialists immediately create a Soviet alternative to undermine it.
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Pertinent
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By: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, and others
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Brilliant! A true story told by Mr. Muller.
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Uncanny insight...
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Exiled to four years in Siberia, but hailed by the end of his life as a saint, prophet, and genius, Fyodor Dostoevsky holds an exalted place among the best of the great Russian authors. One of Dostoevsky’s five major novels, Devils follows the travails of a small provincial town beset by a band of modish radicals - and in so doing presents a devastating depiction of life and politics in late 19th-century Imperial Russia.
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Excellent translation and narration
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In 1986, Jean Fritz went to China and talked to survivors of the Long March. It is from their recollections and her own broad, personal knowledge of Chinese history that Fritz has written one of the most compelling accounts of the incredible 6,000-mile journey across China made by the Communist Army in 1934 and 1935. Fritz takes us on the route of the 60-mile-long First Front Army, the unit of Mao Zedong that wound its way through a terrain so perilous it was often more threatening than their battles with the enemy.
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A wonderful ride.
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Bait
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With some of the most spine-chilling scenes in modern suspense fiction, Bait guarantees the listener a roller coaster ride with a hero not afraid to cross the line. Life for narcotics detective Jack Walsh is one continuous drunken binge - until one blurry night when his car veers into an oncoming car, killing the son of Boston’s premier crime boss. Now Jack must decide if he wants to hide from D’Angelo’s vengeful compatriots or reclaim his life.
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A fantastic story, told by the Master.
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The Short Story Collection
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This group of four classic stories from the 19th century includes works that appear in many collections of European literature. Offering tantalizing revelations and unforgettable characters, these tales have delighted readers ever since they were first published. These classic short stories are narrated by two of the most critically-acclaimed readers in the audiobook field: George Guidall and Frank Muller. Their performances bring fresh emotional nuances to the tales while highlighting the wonderful strands of irony.
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Really good short story collection
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"I am a sick man.... I am a spiteful man", a nameless voice cries out. And so, from underground, emerge the passionate confessions of a suffering man; the painful self-examination of a tormented soul; the bristling scorn of a lonely individual who has become one of the greatest anti-heroes in all literature.
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Unbelievable
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Araby
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A teenage boy falls in love with his friend's sister and must finagle a trip to a bazaar at nearby Araby to win her heart. But will it be that easy?
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Beautiful
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Pigtown
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Caunitz, a NYPD detective for more than 20 years, is a master of police blotter fiction. In the gritty, hardboiled world of the NYPD, Detective Matt Stuart works a shabby beat where homicides are his daily paper work. Tracking down an elusive killer, he is forced to face critical decisions when the trail leads to dangerous criminals who are not on the street, but in uniform.
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Finally gave up
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By: William Caunitz
What listeners say about One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- SandyK
- 12-28-21
An Important Book
I’ve always wanted to read One Day. Now I’ve experienced it, and I’m glad I did.
I think it may be more important historically than valuable literarily. The author gets into Ivan’s inner life a bit. I wanted him to do that more.
But, in the end, I recommend both the book and the performance. It’s both a key piece of Soviet history and yet another glimpse into the tyranny of the 20th century.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Alan
- 09-16-21
Brutal and yet human depiction of the gulags
I enjoyed this book for really getting you into the head of a gulag prisoner, without it feeling preachy or fake. You feel Ivan’s pain and frustration as he goes through one more day of his ten year term, knowing that it might all be in vain when he is released back to a home he has long forgotten (or is sent to another camp due to the machinations of a bloated and corrupt communist government).
Ivan often talks about God throughout the book, and you can sense the frustration of a quasi-theistic soviet: he has been told that belief in God is stupid but at the same time is shown that belief in man is more stupid. He sees the joy and content of the Baptist prisoner, and wonders how such a man could keep his faith and love in such a hell as the gulag. Towards the end Ivan and the Baptist try to convert one another: Ivan talks about a materialistic agnosticism where God exists but that man is only a temporary being in creation; while the Baptist argues for a eternal providence where God uses all things (good and bad) for the salvation and nurturing of his beloved children (while citing many examples for imprisonment and suffering as the paths to holiness and conforming one’s self to Christ).
Sadly, Ivan rejects the Baptist’s pleas for the embracing of one’s cross in suffering. He has been hardened through surviving the Eastern front, being taken prisoner by the Germans, and being sent to gulag by the Soviets for having been a German prisoner. He looks through his life and can not accept that is was all ordained by God, but rather the cruelty and stupidity of man. Yet he still believes in God, even while he rebels in his wounded state.
TL;DR:
It’s a great book, and will make you think about the fate of countless millions like Ivan who suffered by the hands of Godless socialist governments.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Andy
- 11-17-17
Excellent narration of a haunting tale
It turns out that "Ivan Denisovich" makes a great audiobook! The text itself is short and to the point. And the translation does a great job turning the Russian into plain, conversational English.
Frank Muller is excellent, really embodying the mood and tone of Gulag life.
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12 people found this helpful
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- kaking
- 07-18-18
Hard times
A quick story showing the manaughteny of prison life in Siberia. Time takes forever to come and it often stays too long.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amanda
- 04-21-22
This will wake you up
Wondered how a woke world treats its own? This books gives a beautiful account of one day in that people’s replublic. Wonderful poetry, great allegories and a riveting plot.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lee CD
- 05-21-16
A Classic! Still a great read after 30 years!
Still a great read after reading it the first time 30 years ago. A study of the adverse.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Ross G Conatser
- 09-02-19
Men struggling to remain men
It is interesting to think that the Soviet’s stand against capital punishment ended up producing this terrifying system of gulag. The picture of the men working on the wall or struggling to get their supper make the Zeks seem less than human. Each day just trying to survive and not weaken in the face of ever restrictive and tyrannical rules that serve little purpose.
An amazing insight into the tyranny of socialism run rampant.
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- Charles
- 04-28-22
Great read. Beware of Communism/Socialism
Amazing that the author was able to survive his own ordeal in the camps. Hope to read Gulag Archipelago as well someday. Very instructive on why we have to be ever vigilant in our opposition to Communist/Socialist/Big Government tyranny.
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- Lenny C. Husen
- 01-24-22
Awesome book very good Narrator
Really liked this and planning to get paper version to read later again. Highly recommend
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- William
- 11-25-22
An Amazing Psychological and Spiritual Study
I’m old enough to remember when Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, writer and dissident from the USSR, won the Nobel Prize and eventually was expelled from his homeland. I remember the news when he settled in Vermont. I met one of his sons on a hike across southern Taiwan several decades ago. But, I had never read one of his books until this one, and this is one that made him famous and also got him into at least a little bit of trouble. It was published in 1962 at a time when Kruschev was encouraging more openness and trying to break away from and discredit Stalin.
The story is set in 1951 and describes one day in the life of a prisoner in one of Stalin’s prison camps and Solzhenitsyn had personal experience to go on for he had also been arrested for writing some derogatory comments in a personal letter to a friend and, in 1945, sentenced to 8 years in a prison camp. The book is interesting because there are no chapter breaks. It is one unit as if to emphasize that it is one day.
You may imagine that nothing could be more boring than a book that describes a single day in the life of a prisoner, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Shukhov (Ivan Denisovich’s everyday name) has been given a ten-year sentence and has now been in prison for 8 years. We are told how many days that is (including the days for leap years), but that Shukhov no longer is counting the days to his release because he has seen that there is no certainty that a prisoner will be released at the end of their sentence. And he never actually committed a crime. He was a soldier and was captured by the Germans but escaped. Because he told them that he had been captured, he was accused of being a spy because Stalin was so paranoid. It is bitterly cold, although he describes how a prisoner is assigned to climb a pole to read a thermometer each morning, and if the temperature is below minus 40 degrees, they will not have to leave the camp to work outside. He describes every detail of his day from the boots he puts on, the lines for the food, the march to the job site, and the preparations for work. He describes the sawdust mattresses and the constant fears of making a tiny wrong step that could lead to solitary confinement which often weakens a prisoner to the point that they are not able to survive returning to work. There are little secrets to survival, unwritten rules that govern the prisoners’ lives, and the boredom, hopelessness, and powerlessness that takes over. There is even a description of how to try to eat slowly so that the food has more time to satiate one’s hunger and the joy on finding that there is a fishbone in the piece of half-rotten fish in the soup. A fishbone can be chewed up slowly to release the tiny amount of marrow inside for just a bit more nutrition that just might mean the difference in your survival.
Occasionally prisoners get packages from home and may trade them for special favors, but Shukhov never gets them. He has told his family not to send them. He knows how they are struggling already since many things are denied family members of prisoners and he knows that the guards who open the packages to check for contraband also take anything really good.
There is some drama as when Shukhov is almost late for the lineup to return in the evening, when the prisoner count comes up short, or when he decides to smuggle a hacksaw blade back to the room, but even that is described matter of factly. It just emphasizes the sameness and drudgery. Don’t think about tomorrow. Don’t hope for the future. The point is that this isn’t just one day. It’s every day. In fact, that is a good thing. In the end, Shukhov notes that the day was a good day. There is joy in drudgery, in sameness. Anything out of line might mean that you don’t survive.
The interesting thing is that Shukhov puts his heart into his work. He is a bricklayer and in the morning when he starts work he notes the careless work of the person who worked on this wall the day before and considers how the layers he adds to the wall can bring the wall better into plumb, make it straighter, make the joints more uniform. He values professionalism. He wants to do a good job even though he is a prisoner, not a laborer earning wages. He’s the kind of bricklayer that you and I would want to hire. He is almost late that evening because he doesn’t want to waste the mortar that has already been made up and keeps working until the last possible minute. The message is that, when dealing with difficulties, the way one looks at things can be the difference in survival. Retaining that pride in oneself and in one’s work is a way to retain one’s humanity in a dehumanizing world.
This is a classic and I expected to be impressed. I didn’t expect to be so moved. I didn’t expect to say that I liked it, not that I enjoyed it because it’s not an enjoyable topic. I prefer not to find bones in my fish and I like interesting days. But, I liked this book. It made me think and it moved my soul. It certainly made me feel more content. Now I’m considering whether I should read “The Gulag Archipelago” or another of his works.
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