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A review by vidhi26p
Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov
3.0
“We understood that death was no worse than life, and we feared neither.”
This was quite the adventure. I started reading this novel because my Russian History Professor recommended it as a supplemental book to our course, and I’m really glad I picked it up. Detailing the daily life and struggles of convicts in Soviet Russia during the Great Terror, it’s filled with harrowing stories illustrating there really are things worse than death in this world. It’s awful to read this and then suddenly realize, no, this isn’t fiction I’m reading, although I guess that’s the point the author is making. It’s terrifying what people can do to others with whom they have ideological differences, after all that’s what political prisoners are, right? They haven’t committed traditional crimes, and in this case many are convicted on false testimonies, but either way this makes you ask, what people really deserve to be incarcerated like this? I really enjoyed this read, and while it was tough to get through at times, I’m very glad I had this incredible insight into the prison camps of the Soviet Union.
This was quite the adventure. I started reading this novel because my Russian History Professor recommended it as a supplemental book to our course, and I’m really glad I picked it up. Detailing the daily life and struggles of convicts in Soviet Russia during the Great Terror, it’s filled with harrowing stories illustrating there really are things worse than death in this world. It’s awful to read this and then suddenly realize, no, this isn’t fiction I’m reading, although I guess that’s the point the author is making. It’s terrifying what people can do to others with whom they have ideological differences, after all that’s what political prisoners are, right? They haven’t committed traditional crimes, and in this case many are convicted on false testimonies, but either way this makes you ask, what people really deserve to be incarcerated like this? I really enjoyed this read, and while it was tough to get through at times, I’m very glad I had this incredible insight into the prison camps of the Soviet Union.