One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich

Man this is a slog fest. I went into it completely blind, expecting nothing, so maybe that's my problem. Not much happens, it's literally just a day in the life of someone in a gulag. The (translated) prose is really good, and it made me finish a book I really didn't care about.

This book was fantastic in the author’s ability to show the reader a realistic portrait of living through the hell of a Siberian labor camp in the Stalinist Soviet Union. The narrative follows a single day in the life of a labor camp prisoner, Ivan, as he accepts his circumstances with grace and clarity. Ivan articulates the very best aspects of human nature—endurance, willingness to survive, to show compassion and kindness in the most trying circumstances, and to hold unfailingly to hope.

Zweitlektüre, aber das erste Mal ist sehr lange her, und eventuell wusste ich damals noch nicht, wie selten das ist, dass jemand auf diese Art erzählen kann, sparsam im Stil, kompetent in den Details, ohne dramatische Handlung (also keine, die über das grundsätzliche Drama der Situation hinausgeht) ... Lieblingssatz: "Und im Dezember waren die Filzstiefel gerade zur rechten Zeit gekommen; ein behagliches Leben, man brauchte nicht zu sterben."

Die Kindle-Ausgabe ist allerdings nach dem Einscannen schlampig oder gar nicht korrigiert worden.

This book did more to open my eyes about tyranny than any other.

First off, I will warn: This book can be slow at times. Solzhenitsyn spares no words at describing the plight of the GULAG prisoner. The title is quite literally One Day in the Life of (Titular Character and GULAG prisoner) Ivan Denisovich.

Solzhenitsyn's work is a beautiful work looking into the real life struggles of the citizens of Soviet Russia.