The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation [Hardcover]

Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn (Author), Thomas P. Whitney (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1974

[This is Part 1 of the 2 part - Audiobook CASSETTE - Library Edition of VOLUME 2. It is presented in a vinyl case.]

**Time Magazine's Best Nonfiction Book of the 20th Century**

In this masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn has orchestrated thousands of incidents and individual histories into one narrative of unflagging power and momentum. Written in a tone that encompasses Olympian wrath, bitter calm, savage irony, and sheer comedy, it combines history, autobiography, documentary, and political analysis as it examines in its totality the Soviet apparatus of repression from its inception following the October Revolution of 1917.

This SECOND VOLUME in Solzhenitsyn's narrative chronicles the appalling inhumanity of the Soviets' ''destructive-labor camps'' and the fate of prisoners in them--felling timber, building canals and railroads, and mining gold without equipment or adequate food and clothing, and subject always to the caprices of the camp authorities. Most tragic of all is the life of the women prisoners and the luckless children they bear.

Once again, this chronicle of appalling inhumanity is made endurable by the vitality and emotional range of the writing. In one truly remarkable chapter, a parody of an anthropological treatise, Solzhenitsyn achieves new heights of sardonic wit. In the final section the music changes, and he provides a magnificent coda on the possibilities of redemption and purification through suffering.

Part 2 of this 2 part AudioCassette edition of Volume 2 is ISBN: 9780786103355

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

''Best Nonfiction Book of the Twentieth Century'' --Time magazine

''The greatest and most powerful single indictment of a political regime ever to be leveled in modern times.'' --New York Review of Books

''Written by a man whose courage, whose integrity, and whose experience will give it overwhelming authority throughout the world. It is a truly exceptional work: for in it literature transcends history, without distorting it.'' --Saturday Review

''An extraordinary achievement . . . Solzhenitsyn's reconstruction of this secret 'country' within the country is itself a heroic accomplishment under Soviet conditions. The main sources are his own prison experiences from 1945 to 1953 and those related to him by 227 other survivors. Their testimonies are supplemented by information from official, samizdat, and even several Western publications. They are assembled in a powerful narrative which combines the prose styles of epic novelist, partisan historian, and outraged moralist, interspersed with Russian proverbs, black humor, prison camp language, and parodies of Soviet bureaucratese.'' --New York Times Book Review

''What distinguishes this account is its particular quality of moral outrage. Precisely because of his moral vision [Solzhenitsyn] has been able to probe the underbelly of totalitarian society and he has limned it perfectly.'' --Christian Science Monitor --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 660 pages
• Publisher: Harper & Row; 1st edition (June 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060139145
• ISBN-13: 978-0060139148
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A voyage through hell, January 15, 2005

By 

George Coppedge (Czech Republic) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956 (Paperback)

"The line between good and evil runs through the heart of every human being."

This abridged edition of Solzhenitsyn's hauntingly intimate portrait of his own arrest, interrogation, imprisonment, rebellion, and eventual release during Stalin's purges is a book like no other. This book, written by a constantly watched and persecuted dissident - bent but not broken by the brutality of Stalinist work camps, shares the author's (and his other inmates') personal experiences falling into this dark, usually fatal, abyss. Solzhenitsyn's original work was published in 1971 and produced an absolutely damning indictment of communism in Russia. Indeed, the stunning quality and importance of his writing earned him a Nobel prize.

Besides his own experiences, Solzhenitsyn collected personal stories from hundreds of his fellow inmates. The sadism of interrogators, the cruelty of guards, the indifference of neighbors, the paranoia of the public, the betrayal of stoolies, and the true comradery of innocent inmates are presented in vivid, factual detail. In addition to this, the author also presents an encyclopeadic knowledge of the entirety of the gigantic Stalinist security apparatus (normal labor camps, special labor camps, transfer camps, railroad transfers, prisons, holding cells, interrogation cells, NKVD, SMERSH, commissars, exile communities, and still more).

But at the heart of it all, the book remains an unforgettable journey through man-made hell. Stalin meant to destroy every man, woman, and child arrested, regardless of their innocence, and he largely succeeded. But survivors like Solzhenitsyn did truly 'tear down the wall' and made this world a far better place to live in. We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I have read in years! A real eye-opener., May 22, 2008

By 

John David Young (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Gulag Archipelago Volume 1: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (P.S.) (Paperback)

For any who have any nostalgia for the Soviet Union, this book should put it to rest. This book is hard to categorize; it is more than one man's opinion, but less than an objective history. It is, as Solzhenitsyn puts it, "an experiment in literary investigation": a combination memoir and dissertation on the evils of Communism and its inevitable product, the forced labor camp. Some have criticized Solzhenitsyn as an anti-Communist/pro-Western polemicist, but that is not an accurate description. He is a realist, showing not only the faults of Communists, but also those of the West and Western leaders. This should be required reading for European and world history classes. Volume 1 (of 3) describes the arrest and interrogation procedures, as well as life in the Gulag.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Important Nonfiction Work of the 20th Century, February 3, 2004

By 

David A Jones (Gurley, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956 (Paperback)

How thin is the veil we call Civilization!! This book is indeed a tedious read by virtue of its length. However, Solzhenitsyn's history is written with the prosaic style of a Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Captain in the Soviet Army as it charged through Nazi occupied Poland when he was arrested on trumped-up charges in February 1945. Thus began his odyssey through Gulag, "the country within a country". The perpetually weak economy of Communism could not survive without the forced labor of millions of is own citizens who became prisoners for one reason or another, or no reason at all. Solzhenitsyn relates his own experiences as well as those of other prisoners with whom he became acquainted while incarcerated. He relates how ordinary Russians were arrested and charged with fraudulent charges (if charged at all), interrogated, tortured and forced to confess under extreme duress, and sent off to labor for the good of the Motherland.
Throughout the book, Solzhenitsyn asks the reader incredulously, "how did we let this happen?" That is no doubt one of the most important questions posed in all of human history. If we study history in order to prevent the repetition of our mistakes, then Solzhenitsyn's work should be required reading of all residents of Planet Earth.