A review by markgoodyer
The Gulag Archipelago, Abridged Edition by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

4.0

Life in a Gulag, told first hand. The writing was brilliant and this is possibly one of the mist important books ever written. Serving as a warning of unchecked powers, leaders without accountability. The Russian people were decimated by their own leader seemly at random at certainly at will.
This book is a catalogue of suffering and systematic abuse but also a story of the strength of the human body and mind. The way various people kept their minds free and occupied and thus helped a broken body hold on and endure was inspiring.
From one prisoner meticulously measuring out every room and open area of his camp then upon release drawing detailed maps. To the author composing and memorising poems and books, line by line in his head.

It is a great reminder that our minds can never been taken from us, or dulled down, until we allow it.