One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Signet Books)

by Alexander SOLZHENITSYN | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0451523105 Global Overview for this book
Registered by tabby-cat-owner of Bellingham, Washington USA on 4/2/2008
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by tabby-cat-owner from Bellingham, Washington USA on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
I still remember my tenth grade English teacher reading this book to us. It was supposed to be an English Composition course. Go figure. Anyway, the part about the book that I remember the most is the amount of time Ivan spent eating a meager bowl of watery soup. Mostly I remember my teacher going on about how much time the author spent describing this experience. Enough already, I got it!!! That is my sixteen-year-old mind answering her back in class.

Journal Entry 2 by 1001-library from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Tuesday, April 8, 2008




Thanks so much for your donation tabby-cat-owner!



This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.

Journal Entry 3 by tabby-cat-owner at a RABCK, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases on Monday, May 17, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (5/17/2010 UTC) at a RABCK, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book has been mailed to totje2 of Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.

I hope you enjoy this book, totje2.

Journal Entry 4 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Friday, May 28, 2010
Thank you, Tabby-Cat-Owner for sending this book to me. I read it long years ago in Russian, but have no access to that book anymore. In my local library I can't find it, so i am really happy with this one :-)

The book mark you sent with it has the most frightening for me animal on it... spiders... I think this one will be put in the collection and not really be used in a book.

Thank you!

Journal Entry 5 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Friday, May 20, 2011
Reserved to be read and put in Soffitta1's 1001-VBB.

Journal Entry 6 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Thursday, June 9, 2011
I loved this book.
Read it in Russian a long time ago and I wanted to re-read it. And I don't regret doing so. This book describes one day in the life of a ZEK, a prisoner in one of Stalin's special camps. And despite nothing spectacular happens, the author catches the atmosphere very well, the 'taking care of yourself, the way people look after each other to get some advantages here and there that may help them get through the many years they have to stay there.
Very impressive, especially because of its normal, every day language (simplicity is not the right word here, but it reflects the way I was able to read this book about a subject that I've only read about: like I was part of it).

Strongly recommended!

Journal Entry 7 by Boekentrol at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands on Thursday, June 9, 2011

Released 12 yrs ago (6/9/2011 UTC) at Leeuwarden, Fryslân (Friesland) Netherlands

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book will be on its way to the organiser of the 1001 VBB: Soffitta1. I loved the idea, thank you very much!
It took me a bit longer to read it than I expected, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Journal Entry 8 by soffitta1 at Ávila, Ávila Spain on Friday, June 17, 2011
Thanks so much for sending me this.

As the title says, this is a day in the life of a man in a Gulag, from reveille to bedtime. Taking us through the daily struggle to make food last and even get your hands on more, the work they must do and the complicated structure of the camp itself. Most of the time, the main character, Shukhov, is preoccupied with food, the lack of it, how to get more of it, and if that is possible, how to safeguard it from other hungry inmates.

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is a good character to follow, just an average Joe caught up by the regime, 8 years into a 10 year stretch. He knows the ropes, the scams, the arbitrary punishments, he is castigated falsely within the first few pages, and how to weigh his meagre ration of bread without scales. He is a practical man, seemingly apolitical, his experiences aren't coloured by an agenda. He is practical, not writing home much nor expecting his wife to send him many letters or indeed food parcels, as he knows what a sacrifice that would be for her and that little would remain of them by the time it got to them. Instead, he makes himself useful with his carpentry skills learnt on the outside, as well as the masonry skills he has leant on the inside. Adding those to his camp savvy, he has found his niche, a man that others can turn to and trade with. He also cleverly racks up favours with others, helping out the squad leader in the canteen, collecting people's parcels or keeping an eye out for them.

From the outside, especially sitting outside at a café in the Spanish sun, it is amazing that anyone could be resigned to such a fate without losing hope, but Ivan takes each situation as it comes, taking advantage of opportunities to his favour when he can. It's his resignation that gets him through the days, even though he does note that days can pass quickly, while the year never seems to change. There are other characters in the early days of their sentence that get angry and try to fight the system, but Shukhov knows they are the ones that won't make it.

The fact Shukhov doesn't see this as a “bad” day, despite such hardship, gives the reader quite a jolt, especially when you know that the author spent time in a similar camp. Shukhov does show up the ridiculousness of both the regime that has punished him and the system he has to live under in the camp, with paranoia and strange decisions being taken all the time. He has learnt how to survive without losing his humanity.

I would highly recommend this, both for the style of prose and also for the study of man in such a harsh situation.

Journal Entry 9 by 1001-library at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Saturday, September 10, 2011


This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing soffitta1:)

If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.

Journal Entry 10 by rem_IUM-600892 at Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thanks for sending me this soffitta1. It looks interesting, and short!

Journal Entry 11 by rem_IUM-600892 at Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, August 8, 2012
I read this a month or so ago and forgot to journal. I remember it as being an extraordinary tale of humanity enduring in the midst of dehumanising conditions.

Journal Entry 12 by 1001-library at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Friday, August 10, 2012

This book is now back on the 1001 library bookshelf and can be borrowed by PMing jaynereader:)

If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the library bookshelf.

Journal Entry 13 by rem_IUM-600892 at Sheffield, South Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, May 16, 2020
I'm releasing this book as I am deleting my bookcrossing account after several years of these books lying dormant on my shelves.

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.