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Title: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by H.T. Willetts, Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn ISBN: 0-374-22643-1 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: January, 1992 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00

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Average Customer Rating: 4.42 (106 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Amazing.
Comment: If you liked "Brave New World," or "1984," you'll like "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." The main character, Ivan, is imprisoned in a Soviet Labor camp, where he works everyday. It shows how their lives are run in a totalitarian manner. It shows how they must survive under totalitarian rule. There are things in this camp that are accepted, where in normal society they would be morally rejected. People have no second thoughts towards stealing and bribery. They do what they must to survive. When near nothing is given to them, they do what they must in order to live. The Soviets place no value on their lives for they are expendable. Ivan's day of survival will move you and make you happy that you're not in a Soviet Labor camp on the steppe.

Rating: 5
Summary: Magnificent
Comment: There are some books that stay etched in you're memory and "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is one of them. The first major breakthrough in the Solzhenitsyn repertoire is a powerful, moving account of the everyday struggles a prisoner of the Gulag faces. This vivid account that Solzhentisyn effortlessly conveys, details the experiences, motivations and practicalities of life that Ivan Denisovich encounters within a Russian labour camp.
The truly remarkable and gripping feature of this account is that it comes from a man who has lived and breathed the exact struggles that is reflected in Ivan Denisovich's character.
Tvardovsky, the Russian editor who founded this great literary work noted that "not a drop of falsehood" existed in this account and did everything possible to see it controversially published in the face of strong opposition. For this reason alone it I thought it was deserving of a read and I wasn't disappointed.
This book does not concern itself with the wider implications of life in the Soviet union because these wider issues do not effect the character. What the character is concerned with is managing to survive another day in this typically unforgiving labour camp and how he draws upon his extensive experiences and instincts developed from his years in prison.
Although this book is primarily focused around one man, there is a huge amount of insight into the variety of different prisoners that are prevalent in labour camps, ranging from the beaten up scroungers to the over privelleged slackers. This gives the reader a fresh perspective some idea of how much so little can be worth and what is vital to basic survival.
Anyone who has a fascination with life in Russian labour camps in the Stalinist era or who just wants to lose themself in a moving account should pick up this wonderfully written, flowing piece of literature. Solzhenitsyn truly pours his soul into this work.

Rating: 4
Summary: be more accurate
Comment: hrrr grumble grumble grumble. He's refered to as Shukov because THAT'S HIS LAST NAME. Ivan Denisovich Shukov. Anyone who takes a second to look at Russian names would realise that Denisovich is a patronymic, meaning that his father's name was Denis, and a lot of Russian last names end in -ov (-ova for the women). And Lorina, he didn't escape alone, but most of the others were shot trying to get back, he's not stopped on the way to the mess hall but for not getting up on time, and he doesn't have 3653 days LEFT. That's the total sentence. 365 times ten plus 3 for leap years. He's gone through a bit more than 8 years. God, next time think before you write.

But seriously, other people, read it. I found this one of the best books I've ever read (not really but it seemed so at the time). It's a pessimistic book, about the barbarity of man, and the price of freedom, and so on, though I'm sure Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote it to reveal the truth to post-Stalinist Russia. It made me really question what matters in life etc etc all that other stuff.

Worth the read