It seems this year is shaping up to have a bit of a Russian theme, in wider society and in my book list. Three of my 20 books are by Russian authors, which is an interesting coincidence considering all that’s playing out at the moment. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is the first of my three Russian books and I must admit this one had me hooked from the start.
Plot summary
This book covers one entire day for Gulag prisoner Ivan Denisovich. It opens with him awakening on a freezing winter day to the sound of reveille, and closes with him going to sleep after a day of forced labour in the camps.
The reader follows Ivan and his work team through their day, picking up all the details of prison camp life in 1950s Russia. You learn that Ivan and many other prisoners are there for 10 to 25 years for crimes against communism that they didn’t commit. The life they lead is brutal, working in harsh conditions at the mercy of corrupt guards. While there is no ‘plot’ to speak of, just learning about the men in this prison and how they keep sane is enthralling.
The book is based on author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s own experiences of being in a labour camp for remarks he made against Stalin in the late 1940s. A Nobel prize winner for literature, Solzhenitsyn wrote on the evils of communism in Russian, which later lead to his being exiled for 20 years.
What I liked: a compelling picture of humanity under strain
I read this book in one day. Granted, it was the day after my surgery so I had nothing else to do. But I was so hooked by this story I couldn’t put it down. The writing was sharp, drawing clear and compelling pictures of each of the characters. Nothing about it felt contrived. I lived that day with Ivan and his work crew of the 104th.
Not only did it show the horrors of the gulags, but also the amazing ability of humanity to rise in suffering. This book is based on the lived experience of someone who survived such a camp. Reading what just one day was like, I don’t know if I could have survived even a week. But people did. Their spirit, their routines, their strange and hardy friendships kept them going.
It was a timely reminder of how easy we have it today, compared to those who lived through such atrocities. But it was also a stark reminder that we cannot let such things happen again.
What I struggled with: this book contains the suffering of so many
I didn’t struggle with anything in this book from a technical standpoint. I loved it. It gripped me and pulled me in. But it was hard to fathom, lying there on my couch in the air conditioning, how such a thing could have existed. How could we treat other human beings like that?
This book brings you to the scary reality that everyone has the ability to act like a prison guard in communist Russia. All of us could be the Nazis who didn’t acknowledge the Auschwitz on our doorstep. You have to acknowledge that we all have this ability to do atrocious things unless we control ourselves and strive for virtue.
That’s a lot to take in. But I think it’s important. I think that’s partly why Solzhenitsyn wrote. He wanted people to realise what was happening. He wanted people to realise it could only be stopped when we all made the well-being of our neighbour our responsibility.
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