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A review by extragravy
Sketches of the Criminal World: Further Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov
4.0
Book Four: Sketches of the Criminal World
I found this to initially be the most interesting book in this volume; loved the deeper dive into the Kolyma gangster scene. There is some familiar stuff here but a lot more depth and detail on the gangsters. Shalamov clearly hated the gangsters, deeply. He did not see them as humans, and from his accounts he had reason to make a distinction. Towards the end of book four I was ready for a change of topic: quite dark.
Book Five: The Resurrection of the Larch
Never having heard of a larch before reading Russian history, I have become fascinated with them and especially appreciate the poetic use Shalamov makes of this tree. His focus on the tree has meaning and is worth thinking about in depth. I have many lingering scenes of the outdoors, of surveying excursions and trips to gather mushrooms. I think these will remain tied to my internal image of northern russia.
Book Six: The Glove, or, Kolyma Stories II
This book was in some ways the weakest and most repetitive of the entire effort. There were some great entries though and it ends with a well chosen chapter. It felt like a long journey through Shalamov's Kolyma tales, but it was worth it. His take was darker and grittier than Solzhenitsyn's, they don't contradict, they just expose the variety of experience that was possible in the chaotic and inhumane situations of northern prison camps, or extermination camps as Shalamov would call them.
I found this to initially be the most interesting book in this volume; loved the deeper dive into the Kolyma gangster scene. There is some familiar stuff here but a lot more depth and detail on the gangsters. Shalamov clearly hated the gangsters, deeply. He did not see them as humans, and from his accounts he had reason to make a distinction. Towards the end of book four I was ready for a change of topic: quite dark.
Book Five: The Resurrection of the Larch
Never having heard of a larch before reading Russian history, I have become fascinated with them and especially appreciate the poetic use Shalamov makes of this tree. His focus on the tree has meaning and is worth thinking about in depth. I have many lingering scenes of the outdoors, of surveying excursions and trips to gather mushrooms. I think these will remain tied to my internal image of northern russia.
Book Six: The Glove, or, Kolyma Stories II
This book was in some ways the weakest and most repetitive of the entire effort. There were some great entries though and it ends with a well chosen chapter. It felt like a long journey through Shalamov's Kolyma tales, but it was worth it. His take was darker and grittier than Solzhenitsyn's, they don't contradict, they just expose the variety of experience that was possible in the chaotic and inhumane situations of northern prison camps, or extermination camps as Shalamov would call them.