The Nobel laureate evaluates Russian history as the century ends, encouraging Russians to overcome their exhaustion and rebuild spiritual and political development by taking their future into their own hands and developing a moral and independent culture and society.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
The Nobel prize winner looks at Russia's current dilemmas in the context of four centuries of Russian history. The text was written shortly before Solzhenitsyn returned home for good.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian
Original Language: Russian
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's the American Question Too,
This review is from: The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century: Toward the End of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)
"The Russian Question." At first this seemed like this would be ultra boring. The small book began by slogging through Russian history of 500 years ago, mentioning names and places that were unfamiliar, heavy with footnotes.
Then a pattern began emerging-the squandering of the nation's resources on foreign ventures "veering off into the interests of others" with no benefit the Russian people. I was unable to put it down. I read the whole thing in an evening. This could be titled The American Question-there's much we in the USA could learn from the experience of Russia. Much of what Solzhenitsyin says is not politically correct. He sees "how harmful it is for the dominant nation in a state to create a multiethnic empire. Whoa, boy! They'll take your Nobel prize back! Solzhenytsin predicts that, "Circumstances will arise therein [in the 21 st century] when all of Europe and the United States will be in dire need of Russia as an ally." "Today, looking at the growing stream of refugees bursting through all European borders, is difficult for the West not to see itself as something of a fortress-a secure one for the time being, but clearly one besieged. And in the future, the growing ecological crisis may alter the climatic zones-leading to shortages of fresh water and arable land in places where they were once plentiful. This, in turn, may give rise to new and menacing conflicts on the planet, wars for survival." Solzhenitsyn has incisive (negative) comments on attorneys, Western courts, the liberal press, Gorbachev, and the US State Department. I learned something about serfdom, something of Russian Bolshevism, and a lot about idiotic foreign policy and bad government.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book on Russian history,
By Igor Biryukov (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century: Toward the End of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)
Winner of the Nobel Prize for literature Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia in 1918. He has experienced World War II, labor camp, internal exile, and expulsion from the Soviet Union. He spent 18 years in seclusion in rural Vermont. In this book he explores Russian history in search for answers for Russia's decline. This book was born and distilled through Solzhenitsyn's many years of experience of struggle with the Communist state and exile... In the same time he is not someone who just have an ax to grind, but rather a thinker who attained understanding to the question "Why?" or at least someone who knows where to look for answers...Solzhenitsyn doesn't spare criticism to rulers of Russia starting with the biggest figure - Peter "the Great". He calls him "a man of mediocre if not savage mind" with appetite to the European grandeur, squandering national resources and wasting lives of Russian people. From Peter up until now it was "...three hundred year period ...of missed opportunities for internal development, and ruthless squander of national strength on the pursuit of external aims of no benefit to Russia: we troubled more about European "interests" than about our own people." "The Russian Question" is an honest and thought-provoking book, written by someone who criticizes, but really loves Russia and her people. It would be a great book to read as a counterbalance to academic books on the subject. This is a real gem that shouldn't be overlooked by anyone interested in Russian history, philosophy and politics.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unclear conclusion,
By
This review is from: The Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century: Toward the End of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)
Solzhenitsyn's writing is interesting and cohesive, but his conclusion is unclear. He leaves no doubt that neither bourgeois-democracy nor dictatorial communism are remotely acceptable to him, but does little to make concrete the third way he envisions. His ideal state seems to be built upon Slavophilism, a vague spirituality, and certain aspects of democracy, and I would like to learn more about that than his rants against the modern and historical US and Russian forms of government.
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