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This is a low pick for me. It‘s not that the story isn‘t impactful, being autobiographical fiction about a day in a Russian prison camp in the 40s. It‘s more so that the writing style made the story drag, even though it‘s only 140 pages. Nonetheless, I do feel that this was intentional. After all, time must be experienced differently in a prison camp like this, especially when one expects exile at best upon release. In the end, strong stuff.

Solzhenitsyn introduces the reader to Shulkhov, an inmate of a Siberian work camp. How much does ones survival depend on learning how to live with minimal food and clothing in the bitter cold? Even as he struggles, Shulkhov finds joy and satisfaction with the little triumphs he experiences even as he despairs over ever really being free again. Gorgeous writing and a great character. Much more hopeful than his nonfiction.

“Just one of the 3,653 days of his sentence, from bell to bell. The extra three were for leap years.”

This book follows Ivan Denisovich Shukhov for a single day while he is serving a term in a Stalinist labor camp. Definitely recommend wearing a jacket and having a hot beverage nearby because it‘s gonna be cold! I could feel the chill of the Siberian winter when reading this from the warmth and comfort of my own house! 🥶

First line: “The hammer banged reveille on the rail outside camp HQ at five o‘clock as always.”

I think it was a big thing when originally published and it still good but I did'nt learn any new thing from it.

#readtheclassics #russian

Although this is a fictionalized account of a day in the life of an unjustly imprisoned man in a Soviet forced- labor camp, the author drew from his personal experience in the Gulag. It‘s astonishing that this novel was ever published — at one point in the 1970‘s it was banned. The book is short but dense and a somewhat difficult (though worthwhile) read, especially given the historical significance.

One of these days, I‘ll tackle The Gulag Archipelago, but this short novel is a good introduction to the horrors of that tome. It‘s dark and sad, but Solzhenitsyn is one of the Russian authors whose writing I can get through (*shakes fist at Dostoyevsky). This is my pick for the bridge country of #Russia for #ReadingAsia2021.

Shocking, like a horror movie. it's the punishment of Gulag Archipelago rolled into one punch to the stomach. The images are stark and stay with you for the rest of your life. Read this and take nothing for granted again.

It seemed fitting to follow Wild Swans with this short memoir. A day in a soviet gulag. Insightful, human, strong and full of perspective. At times I felt physically cold while reading it. Highly recommend.

Picked this up at the bookstore today.

Thank you for the tag @Buechersuechtling

#Two4Tuesday
@TheSpineView

1. I just recently read the tagged book. I also tend to read a lot of Scandinavian mystery novels. My theory is that if they weren't good, no one would bother translating them.

2. Yes. French. But I have been trying to relearn Spanish so I haven't been doing that lately. Anyone else hooked on Duolingo?

I'm adding this to my list of recommendations for books to read when you need some perspective. Things might be bad right now, but you're not in Siberia in a forced labor camp. Actually, this is surprisingly upbeat.

I still don‘t understand a damn thing about how Russians go about naming each other. But this is a good book.

Going back a little to last year‘s Read Harder (which I never finished): a book written in prison. I‘ve always had a hard time with the Russians, so we‘ll see how this goes.

Probably would have been better read in Russian like the OG..

It only took me a day to read this short little book, but this chronicle of a single day in a Siberian labour camp is going to stay with me for much longer. Quiet and understated and very, very human, this is a tale of how the gulag changes the people inside it and how the prisoners struggle to retain their dignity and self-respect in whatever ways they can.

#RedroseSeptember
#adayinthelife

A short, powerful and oddly hopeful book about one man‘s day of survival in a Soviet gulag. Highly recommend!

This book was assigned to me at the beginning of my Freshman year of high school, and was a very eye-opening read for me. I've read it a number of times since and may be due to pick it up again soon. #ADayInTheLife #RedRoseSeptember
@Cinfhen @arlenefinnigan

Alexander Solzhenitsyn is a former Soviet battery commander and is a survivor of the notorious Soviet Gulag. The story is fictional but clearly written by someone with first hand knowledge. The story expressed the challenges prisoners went through just surviving the day especially in the Siberian cold. Bread is an important component of this story and I will never look at a piece of bread in the same way especially the crusty bits. #1001books

We had to read this book in Junior High (about 20 years ago) and I didn't enjoy it at the time. I found it painfully descriptive and it just didn't hold my interest. Although, I did gain some understanding of how hard life could be in Russian camp and I felt for the character. I find myself wanting to re-read this book - as I feel with age I might gain more from the book.

#LetsTravelJuly #Russia @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

#wanderingjune prompt 12: #russians @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB
I have read all of these with the exception of Maidenhair. All impactful reads.

#readingtheworld #Russia It‘s so short that it feels like a chapter from some of the other Russian classics 😂

good story. I can tell you one thing, I would never commit a crime in Russia.

These are the new additions for my 20th-Century #Classics Display, have you read any of them? This one may be the best performing of my January displays, turn-over is massive, which is very heartening since only several books were borrowed off of it last year. 😁👏🏻

#LitsyLovesLibraries #MrBooksDisplays

1. Librarian Meme
2. Computer tower
3. I have no idea how to classify this genre? Political fiction?
4. Not sure but there are some in my freezer.
5. Noooo!
#humpdaypost @MinDea

This book just wasn‘t my thing, but it did hold my interest for its short runtime. :)

Such a grueling and miserable life, but Ivan hustles and takes pride in his work and find joy in the littlest things. Simple yet powerful. That last paragraph, man.

#russianlit #nobelprize

# 12 of 100 Classics Challenge

Tells of a 24 hour period in the life of Ivan Denisovich, in one of Stalins forced labor camps. Ivan's crime was not against another person, his crime was speaking out the communist oppression . His sentence was 25 years.
This is sad, and hard to believe there are people who feel ok or justified treating others so poorly. The discrimination will never end.
Recommended!

# 12 of 100 Classics Challenge

This looks like a quick read....another from TBR pile. This challenge is chipping away at the pile....

“The end of an unclouded day. Almost a happy one. Just one of the 3,653 days of his sentence, from bell to bell.”

IB

The work of the prisoners is described in minute detail. Survival strategies, the experience of hunger, food, freezing cold, and the toll all of this takes on the body, make it a very oppressive read. I did not enjoy this book, it is hell. However, as a document of Stalin's atrocities it has to be read, in the hope that we learn from history's worst moments.

In an emotionally barren and physically cold Soviet camp, he managed to maintain his humanity and find virtue and happiness.

👍🏼

A favorite of Soviet literature. A perfect example of the era, and a masterpiece of literature.

#numbertitles #riotgrams
I read this decades ago and it still stays with me. State sanctioned cruelty should be read about.

"a day without a dark cloud, almost a happy day"
Is surviving resistance? Definitely a book i need to reread and see the film again.
#junetunz #resistance

I read this in school and it left a huge impression on me. It's a look at Stalin era labor camps, and it's intense. I've reread it a few times, and it's got punch every time. #backintheussr #rockinmay

This was a fascinating little story! Set in Stalin's Russia in a prison camp, we follow one single day in amazing detail! Seeing how they controlled the prisoners and how the prisoners reacted/what things really mattered in such circumstances. Also really interesting whilst reading it to know that the writer spent 8 years in these camps! But it's surprisingly and beautifully up beat at the end! A very good translation. Thoroughly recommend 📚😊

"How can you expect a man who's warm to understand one who's cold?" This quote is very poignant in the world today ??

This is literally an account of one day in the life of a man in a labor camp in Siberia. It's a straight-forward, this-is-life story. Solzhenitsyn himself spent time in the gulags and it is clear he knows what he's talking about. 58/1,001 #1001Books #RoryGilmoreChallenge

A terrifying yet fascinating insight into life in the Gulag under Stalin. But I find myself needing to know more, so will have to pick up the seven volume collection of The Gulag Archipelago

Such a great, profound book. Short, but will have to read again.

Ivan's day in a soviet labor camp with strong emotional impact, where inhumanity, humiliation and struggle for survival are brought to the limit and fellow man becomes the enemy and when a piece of bread (200 g) becomes everything.
The story made me to think about my own attitude towards life and how grateful I should be for all the things that I don't need in my life, but I have them and I take them for granted.

My reading buddies has only one rule - the one that comes first, can lie on my head and because of that I am grateful for the Kindle, it is easier to read with device than with a physical book.

#photoadaynov16 #readinginbed

Back from the library. I went for one book and came back with a bunch of them. And a little story - father with daughter (probably under 3yo) and she didn't want to return the book with kitty. Librarian couldn't tempted her with another book. And I thought, while listening to an explanation how the library works - baby I know how you feel, sometimes I don't want to say goodbye to books too.

#readingwithoutwalls

Titles translations 👇

A day in the life of a Gulag inmate #politicalfiction #photoadayNov16