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lenas_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
tittypete's review against another edition
3.0
More ghastly shit from Soviet Russia. This is part two of a fairly snarky analysis of the political terror and prison labor stuff that went on there for a super long time back in the day. This chunk of words covers the evolution of the prison camp system, a bunch of executions and some day to day color of what it was like to survive in super cold, foodless workfarms. People got grabbed and next thing they have to dig a canal from the White Sea to the Baltic or dig in a gold mine or something. Mostly you died. Starved then died. Or had dysentery along the way.
There were some interesting bits about how women and kids fared. (Spoiler: they fared shittily.) The part I found most fascinating was the description of commie loyalists who were steadfast in their belief that the commie system was perfect and there just must have been some mistake that got them there. True believers. Brainwashed and taking it on the chin for the party. History is fucked up.
Makes sense still why Russians are so scary. They went through a lot of miserable crap. Kids that get hit grow up to hit their kids and so forth. If ye catch my dangd drift.
Reading!
There were some interesting bits about how women and kids fared. (Spoiler: they fared shittily.) The part I found most fascinating was the description of commie loyalists who were steadfast in their belief that the commie system was perfect and there just must have been some mistake that got them there. True believers. Brainwashed and taking it on the chin for the party. History is fucked up.
Makes sense still why Russians are so scary. They went through a lot of miserable crap. Kids that get hit grow up to hit their kids and so forth. If ye catch my dangd drift.
Reading!
thebrianbug's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing stories. At this point, the mystery of the Gulag feels to almost completely fall away.
It's a long road, but worth the knowledge.
It's a long road, but worth the knowledge.
zantyu2's review
I got extremely tedious. I know that its a historical account but it was still boring.
davehershey's review
5.0
Wow.
The first volume of Soltzhenitsyn's book was fantastic, this one is so much better. Yes, part 3 (which consists about 597 of the 672 pages) drags after a while. In it he takes the reader through the Gulag, with chapters on the overseers, the children and pretty much every other aspect of the camps. We know it is vital to never forget the horrors of 20th century totalitarianism, and this book ought to be required reading to help us never forget.
But it is the short part four where the best of the book comes in. Soltzhenitsyn talks about how the camp brought out who people really are. People, he argues, did not become evil in the camp. Rather, they were already evil and this brought it out. This reminds me of Jesus' teachings about those faithful in small things will be given more. Who are really are when you're poor and insignificant will be amplified if given the chance. At the same time, Soltzhenitsyn reminds us that it is not just that some are evil, for that dividing line runs through each of us (fun fact, that is the one quote you may be familiar with, and he says it twice, having said it early in volume 1).
How does that work? How is it both true that people in the camps who became corrupt already were like that, as opposed to those in the campus who persevered? Soltzhenitsyn speaks about a moral core, a nucleus, and I think that's it. We are all capable of horrific things. If I look at those camp guards, the people who performed horrible acts, and recognize they are part of the same human race, that has to be humbling. I'm just as human as they are. I am just as capable of evil, for that line goes right through me. We need to be honest with who we are and discover that moral nucleus that would enable us to persevere in the worst circumstances.
As our culture leaves some of its traditional foundations for morals behind...its easy to think we're in trouble as a culture. May we not be too quick to leave the wisdom of the past behind. This brings me back to Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, which I read recently. If the Gulag is too intimidating in its length, check that one out first. Then come back here.
So slog through the first 600 pages and read closely the last 80. Its worth it!
The first volume of Soltzhenitsyn's book was fantastic, this one is so much better. Yes, part 3 (which consists about 597 of the 672 pages) drags after a while. In it he takes the reader through the Gulag, with chapters on the overseers, the children and pretty much every other aspect of the camps. We know it is vital to never forget the horrors of 20th century totalitarianism, and this book ought to be required reading to help us never forget.
But it is the short part four where the best of the book comes in. Soltzhenitsyn talks about how the camp brought out who people really are. People, he argues, did not become evil in the camp. Rather, they were already evil and this brought it out. This reminds me of Jesus' teachings about those faithful in small things will be given more. Who are really are when you're poor and insignificant will be amplified if given the chance. At the same time, Soltzhenitsyn reminds us that it is not just that some are evil, for that dividing line runs through each of us (fun fact, that is the one quote you may be familiar with, and he says it twice, having said it early in volume 1).
How does that work? How is it both true that people in the camps who became corrupt already were like that, as opposed to those in the campus who persevered? Soltzhenitsyn speaks about a moral core, a nucleus, and I think that's it. We are all capable of horrific things. If I look at those camp guards, the people who performed horrible acts, and recognize they are part of the same human race, that has to be humbling. I'm just as human as they are. I am just as capable of evil, for that line goes right through me. We need to be honest with who we are and discover that moral nucleus that would enable us to persevere in the worst circumstances.
As our culture leaves some of its traditional foundations for morals behind...its easy to think we're in trouble as a culture. May we not be too quick to leave the wisdom of the past behind. This brings me back to Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, which I read recently. If the Gulag is too intimidating in its length, check that one out first. Then come back here.
So slog through the first 600 pages and read closely the last 80. Its worth it!
fyodor_bavinck's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The idealist shattered by some of the darkest reality known to man is still an idealist. His very human portraits of life at the prison camp are heartbreaking and clear-eyed. He writes with an urgency that is sorely lacking in modern writing.