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sisimka's review against another edition
5.0
I am left speechless and quite emotional. Am I crying because it is finished or because it happened?
tittypete's review against another edition
4.0
So this is the third 600 pager in a set of three 600 pagers. So I gotta be upfront and say I probably suffer from significant “gulag musings” fatigue. Book three carries on the literary snark of the first two and tells us a about a bunch more horrible shit the Russians did to each other. Things like Katorga. Katorga was when people didn’t like you so much that they were positive you were unfixable by normal prison stuff and had to be worked all the way to death. So that what they did. Made you dig gold or cut trees or dig a pointless canal till you died. Lesson learned.
There’s a section titled “Why did we stand for it?” To which AS says, ‘we didn’t! That’s why there were so many of us in the damn thing.’ He talks at length about escape attempts. Dudes running around in the freezing cold trying to get different clothes and fake papers but then getting caught and having to go back to shitsville. Evidently after you arrest everyone it’s hard to find guards for the camps so they had kids do it. And this turned the kids into amoral sadists. Another reason Russians are terrifying.
Solz digs into the Kengir uprising. This was a supposedly meaningful bit of ‘tude sporting that changed the scene. Meanfulness part one: there was an unusual alliance between normal criminals and political criminals. Usually the normal Russian criminals were people that preyed on the more bookish political and tried to sex them up the buns and stuff but this time they both decided it sucked to be slave laborers in Kazakhstan. Meaningfulness part two: The Kengir uprising was ‘noted for its pragmatism and thoughtful propaganda.’ For a prison revolt, it was sort of a humble request. Rather than going all in on “damn the man” rhetoric the prisoners were more like “hey we’re cool with the man but could we just get back the rights the man wrote in the constitution a while back?” Meaningfulness part three: The heavy handed response of the state. So these poor fuckers lived it up for 40 days of freedom till the goddamn Red Army came in with tanks and killed the shit out of everyone. Like 500-700 people according to the people that didn’t get killed. Of course the authorities said it was only a couple dozen, no biggie. Therefore his became an event that help show the Soviets that Stalinism wasn’t super functional.
A few more snarky asides and we hear about exile and how awkward it is. And how life is not a whole bunch better on the outside because people are so scarred and their families didn’t even know they were alive. Soviet life seems to suck on both ends.
Then … Stalin is dead and everybody reflects back is like, shit that was fucked. But in a more literary style.
This was an exhausting push. But when I finally got the turd out, I nearly had an orgasm. It’s a lot to digest but the style and the subject manner keep it worthwhile.
Bear down and get splashy with snarky Russian history.
Yours in Christ,
Mitch
There’s a section titled “Why did we stand for it?” To which AS says, ‘we didn’t! That’s why there were so many of us in the damn thing.’ He talks at length about escape attempts. Dudes running around in the freezing cold trying to get different clothes and fake papers but then getting caught and having to go back to shitsville. Evidently after you arrest everyone it’s hard to find guards for the camps so they had kids do it. And this turned the kids into amoral sadists. Another reason Russians are terrifying.
Solz digs into the Kengir uprising. This was a supposedly meaningful bit of ‘tude sporting that changed the scene. Meanfulness part one: there was an unusual alliance between normal criminals and political criminals. Usually the normal Russian criminals were people that preyed on the more bookish political and tried to sex them up the buns and stuff but this time they both decided it sucked to be slave laborers in Kazakhstan. Meaningfulness part two: The Kengir uprising was ‘noted for its pragmatism and thoughtful propaganda.’ For a prison revolt, it was sort of a humble request. Rather than going all in on “damn the man” rhetoric the prisoners were more like “hey we’re cool with the man but could we just get back the rights the man wrote in the constitution a while back?” Meaningfulness part three: The heavy handed response of the state. So these poor fuckers lived it up for 40 days of freedom till the goddamn Red Army came in with tanks and killed the shit out of everyone. Like 500-700 people according to the people that didn’t get killed. Of course the authorities said it was only a couple dozen, no biggie. Therefore his became an event that help show the Soviets that Stalinism wasn’t super functional.
A few more snarky asides and we hear about exile and how awkward it is. And how life is not a whole bunch better on the outside because people are so scarred and their families didn’t even know they were alive. Soviet life seems to suck on both ends.
Then … Stalin is dead and everybody reflects back is like, shit that was fucked. But in a more literary style.
This was an exhausting push. But when I finally got the turd out, I nearly had an orgasm. It’s a lot to digest but the style and the subject manner keep it worthwhile.
Bear down and get splashy with snarky Russian history.
Yours in Christ,
Mitch
linaleigh's review against another edition
5.0
The language often makes it difficult to read, but I've always been fascinated by Russian history, especially the Revolution and Stalin and the gulags. It was incredibly informative regarding methods of torture and coercion, conditions of prisons, and the lives of those exiled. A fascinating read.
dikmax's review against another edition
Невероятная книга. Трудно представить, каких усилий потребовалось от Солженицына чтобы написать её. Постоянно ловил себя на мысли, что мне все равно сложно представить себе всю описанную действительность. Книга покидает с мыслью, что советский союз - это чуть ли не худшее, что могло случиться с человечеством.
rees_aidan741's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
davehershey's review against another edition
5.0
Well, finishing this one was a big accomplishment. I have to admit, I was wearing down as I got to the end of this book. This volume has some of the more exciting stories and moving sections, as Solzhenitsyn talks about escapes from the camp. As Solzhenitsyn talks about his own release from the camp, his time in exile and some of the reactions to his first published work, his own honesty was both sad and convicting. He talks about how easy it was to forget life in the Gulag and how even he had to be reminded that what he had experienced was still going on! The death of Stalin was celebrated, the Gulag seemed to be dying, but it didn't. The book does not end with triumph, but the sad recognition that evil persists. Even Solzhenitsyn says there is so much more to say, more stories to tell, but he is exhausted. The story of how this book came to be, partially told in the end, is a beautiful story itself.
Overall, these three volumes are not an easy read. The word "tedious" keeps coming to mind. Its not a fast-paced history, there are certainly better, or at least more concise, histories of the Gulag. Yet, such histories probably couldn't exist without the exhausting work of someone like Solzhenitsyn. This book is brilliant in its depth and brutality. It is a book, and a story, that cannot be forgotten.
Overall, these three volumes are not an easy read. The word "tedious" keeps coming to mind. Its not a fast-paced history, there are certainly better, or at least more concise, histories of the Gulag. Yet, such histories probably couldn't exist without the exhausting work of someone like Solzhenitsyn. This book is brilliant in its depth and brutality. It is a book, and a story, that cannot be forgotten.
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.0
Overview:
The death of Stalin did not end the Gulag. The political regime was no longer able to survive without the Gulag. Absolute power over people was not enough, the system required slander and propaganda as well. Perjurers, those who bear false witness, were supported. A culture was developed to serve oppression.
Gulag officials did not mind when guards killed prisoners. Instead, the guards were rewarded. This was a security system that needed death to operate. Without death, the guards would have been seen as not vigilant enough. Or, there would have been claims that those who they portrayed as savages were docile prisoners. Guards would have been embarrassed to show leniency to those they considered savages. The guards showing leniency would have been informed on.
Escapes from Corrective Labor Camps were seen as an unavoidable aspect of an overextended economic system. While escape from Special Camps were not possible, as these escapes would have been politically damaging. Should the prisoners survive and serve out their long sentence, they would be released. But after that many years, the individual would have been changed. They would have become unrecognizable to those who knew them before. Only their name remained the same. This made reunions not a necessarily welcoming event. Those who they would reunite with, have become strangers or even enemies.
Caveats?
This book is very difficult to read. Contains poor organizational structure. Most of the book is composed of examples, without much systematic analysis.
vanjr's review against another edition
5.0
The whole triology is unbelieveable. I highly recommend it.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
4.0