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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, H.T. Willetts (Translation)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 37,569 ratings · 1,557 reviews

The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforget...more

Paperback, 182 pages

Published March 16th 2005 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published January 1st 1962)

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Feb 20, 2012 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction, distant-lands

it's all about perspective.

yeah, ivan denisovich shukov is in a soviet labor camp, where he is freezing and has to work at bullshit tasks and is being punished for something he didn't even get to do (because being a spy is cool, while being punished for being a spy when you didn't even get to have the fun of being a spy is lame), and it's all terrible with no end in sight, but come on.

he got to sleep late. his punishment for oversleeping is he had to wash some floors - indoors - instead of work...more it's all about perspective.

yeah, ivan denisovich shukov is in a soviet labor camp, where he is freezing and has to work at bullshit tasks and is being punished for something he didn't even get to do (because being a spy is cool, while being punished for being a spy when you didn't even get to have the fun of being a spy is lame), and it's all terrible with no end in sight, but come on.

he got to sleep late. his punishment for oversleeping is he had to wash some floors - indoors - instead of working out in the russian subzero nightmare. he got extra food time and time again,he didn't get caught with his secret contraband, he networked and got some karma for future favors in his karma bank, he got some smokes and was recognized for his hard work, and he had a fever, which had to be good for keeping him a little warmer than those people who didn't have fevers.

pretty good day all around.

me, i am not in a russian gulag, but i didn't get to sleep late. it is nearly 7 pm and i have not had any food today, nor any cigarettes, i have not been praised for my hard work, even though i did indeed work very very hard today (you try keeping your composure when someone yells "hey" at you from across the floor and with no preamble thrusts his sweaty cell phone at you so you can talk to his friend who wants books about russian icons, but doesn't have any titles, but commands you to just "type it in" and he will "memorize" the list. this man has very optimistic ideas about the search capabilities of the computers at barnes and noble) after work i had to go to staples because my power strip exploded, then to the hardware store and the organic market, even though all i wanted to do was go home to have the pleasure of working on my ALA presentation for the rest of my friday night. i did not network. i have no future karmic payload coming. as for the contraband... well, that's my little secret.

still and all - i feel like karen brissetova's day was more exhausting and less rewarding overall.

and i don't even get to see any snow.

snow, sausage, and cigarettes sound pretty good to me, man.(less)

70 likes · like · see review

Apr 02, 2011 G rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary

Dear Mr. Solzhenitsyn,

I am not a Russian scholar, not even in the armchair variety. But you have done something magical in ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH that eclipsed this reader's ignorance: you have transmuted what it was like to live a life day-in and day-out in much the same fashion. Think about it: Morning, the same as yesterday. Afternoon: the same as yesterday's afternoon. The night: yep, the same. And this made me yearn for a day when Ivan would awaken and see that it would be d...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Mariel rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: don't get your honey where you make your money

Recommended to Mariel by: penguins

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's novel is over wrought like a fence. (It would have to be a barbed wire fence guarded by guards with hard-ons for injustice and big drooling trained guard doggies. One inmate stuck his tongue to the frozen pole on a dare and another can't get his head out because there is no butter.)

Heaven exists in the gulag in the shape of snow angels. Arms flapping hopelessly in the snow shapes of angels. We'll lay side by side and look up at the frost cracks in the ceiling tracing the...more Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's novel is over wrought like a fence. (It would have to be a barbed wire fence guarded by guards with hard-ons for injustice and big drooling trained guard doggies. One inmate stuck his tongue to the frozen pole on a dare and another can't get his head out because there is no butter.)

Heaven exists in the gulag in the shape of snow angels. Arms flapping hopelessly in the snow shapes of angels. We'll lay side by side and look up at the frost cracks in the ceiling tracing the stellar patterns of true north shapes. How could this happen, I ask through my frozen tears (it looks like Johnny Depp's single tear drop in Cry Baby if it were a diamond instead of a tattoo)? All I did was make one lousy joke and the audience sent me to prison. The star stays in the same place, guiding to the same exact same spot of toiling in place. Tomorrow is today.

No two snowflakes are alike (still, they are all cold). Alexandr Solzhenitsyn wrote about the gulag a lot. He pretty much only wrote about prison (his cancer book must be prison inside your own dying body). I'd read some years ago a condensed (shhhh) part one (shhhh! My street cred... keep it down!) edition of his The Gulag Archipelago (a library book sale purchase. Feel free to brag I got it for a quarter). I recently read another gulag book. I've read a lot of books about prison these days (I remember when it was my empathetic nightmare. I'll read about skydiving next because I'm fearless). Why would a man who spent an inarguably formative chunk (a chunk like a bread ration! Hey, read enough of these and you'll start thinking in terms of food rations too. Pounds of flesh and ounces of bread. It's my bread and butter, man) of his life in prison want to eek out his mental life in the same cold place? Yesterday is today.

I keep reading these because I want to know how each day of the same, that can only end one way, can be different (Eskimos do have a ton of different words for snow). Ways to get through not as much as retaining your own life force beat in a tide you cannot swim against. Something like "Hey, they stole less of my food ration this time" is a good day. Losing your rag to protect against the arctic chill is a bad day. I feel like I know more about the inside of the eyelids day view from that than a big picture. I keep reading the same for the differences. Differences are hope for change. The big picture is too much the same if you view it from outer space (Hi, Laika! We love it here on planet Earth). Can you slow it down enough to tell time?

If Solzhenitsyn didn't rule his day like an iron fence... I feel like I know the big picture already. I know it sucks. I know what is probably most likely going to happen (making it out is like a cancer patient beating the odds. You still have to go through cancer and chemo and then spend the rest of your life in the debt to its memory). If there's an eye chart on the wall (It says Stalin! Communism! I can't see the big E for Eternity. Too big) to keep the place like all of the rape scenes in after school specials. "I shut my eyes and waited for it to be over! Teacher had a coffee stain on his tweed coat in the shape of the virgin Mary." The eye charts are the observations based on every other day to determine how this day is going to be exactly the same or slightly better or worse in some slightly different way. The future and the past should be heavier, not THAT day, not the whole damned wall (er, fence). Solzhenitsyn couldn't resist bearing down, I guess. Every day is today. Yesterday. Er, tomorrow. Shukhov's day was less patterns in a snowflake and the sound it makes under boots (if you're lucky enough to have boots). I'm miserable! Weeks turn into months. What's today?

They probably had hundreds of different words for shit. There was all different kinds of way to be shit on. It's still shit.

Solzhenitsyn must've stewed a lot. I bet he remembered every guy who ever stepped on his toe. (Is it wrong that I was happy he dissed a fake med student inmate who gave injections to helplessly ignorant inmates? Burn, Janusz Bardach! If he knew him specifically, anyway. And he dissed himself? The guy who spent all his time writing about the gulag because it was "important" to document.) Now we'll shoe them! (I swear, that was an honest typo. I really meant to type show.)

Pity party contest! Round one:

Solzhenitsyn versus Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky only served four years in Siberia under the Tsars. They had it so much easier under the Tsars! There was much less lice, a bit more leg room and less slave labor and control. The dogs weren't as good at sniffing out hard-ons yet. Dostoyevsky was such a pussy by comparison. Solzhenitsyn wins!

Round two: Solzhenitsyn versus inmates of the Pitesti prison. They'd torture them psychologically as well as physically. Sometimes they'd tell them it had all been a huge mistake and they could go home now. They'd walk them out the front gates and then there would be a guy with a gun to lead them back inside for another prison term. The guards pissed their pants laughing over the hopeful looks on those inmates faces (then they made them clean the pants). The Romanian gulag put the Soviet gulag to shame. Solzhenitsyn was a total pussy by comparison!

The winner gets a picket fence.(less)

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Mar 08, 2011 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, russian-lit, classic, notorious, to-read-again

I want to appreciate life the way Ivan Denisovich Shukov does.

I want to take pride in my work; I want to taste every bite of sausage, suck the marrow out of every fish bone, enjoy every puff of every cigarette, bask in a sunset, watch the moon cross the sky, fall asleep content; I want to focus on the necessities of living; I want to focus on life, but I have too much. It's not much compared to most everyone I know, but it is still too much.

And because it is too much I can't appreciate life the...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, iron-curtain-lit, soviet

I'm slowly getting sucked into the world of audiobooks and loving them more and more, but I nearly abandoned this one. I am glad I didn't, though.

This Blackstone edition suffers from one of the most painful voices I have ever heard -- some guy named Richard Brown. He has a nasally, whiny, smoke-too-much voice that grates the ears the way skin grates when a thumb slips off a carrot and gets shredded. He makes no attempt to offer performance of any sort, opting instead for straight reading. No var...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, the-russians

This book reminds me of my own life, the constant rationing of weed like jailhouse smokes, and how Shukhov would hold onto those few precious minutes each day that he could call his own, just like when I'm sitting in my car before work listening to the last song on the radio before I have to walk in the door, not that my life is just like a Russian gulag, but close.

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Nov 24, 2012 Aubrey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-06-12, nobel-prize-people, 1000-guardian, translated, 4-star, reviewed, russian

4.5/5
Ivan 'Shukhov' Denisovich, I ask. How do you function?
You have spent eight years in a total of two prison camps, consigned to backbreaking amounts of work in some of the worst environments known to man.

If it went down to forty-two below zero they weren't supposed to be marched out to work.

Ivan! What could you have possibly done to deserve such a fate? Ah, that's right. You were a POW in WWII, so obviously you collaborated with the Germans as a spy. So you were sentenced to ten years in pr...more 4.5/5
Ivan 'Shukhov' Denisovich, I ask. How do you function?
You have spent eight years in a total of two prison camps, consigned to backbreaking amounts of work in some of the worst environments known to man.

If it went down to forty-two below zero they weren't supposed to be marched out to work.

Ivan! What could you have possibly done to deserve such a fate? Ah, that's right. You were a POW in WWII, so obviously you collaborated with the Germans as a spy. So you were sentenced to ten years in prison camps, but they could always tack on some more years to that. Just for kicks. After all, you've been in there for a while. Now the standard sentence is twenty-five years, for believers in the wrong religion, for receivers of casual letters from the wrong side, for those in the wrong place at the wrong time in a whole host of arbitrary conditions. So they extend your sentence, to make everything line up. You know how it is.
So what do you do in this camp? You're helping to build a compound, one of many workers. But you're not just any old worker. You were a carpenter, before, and if you ever get out, you will be a "free" worker employed as a carpenter "outside". But that's not a likely thing to happen, so now you block up walls with roofing-felt and lay down brick walls and all sorts of things. You only worked with wood outside, but hey, it's easy enough to switch around. All that matters is you get the work done so your gang boss, who looks out for you and gets you larger work rates, doesn't get in trouble. Because there's lots of things to get in trouble for, they want you to do the job but they don't give you anything to do the job with. It's an odd arrangement, but some stealth and threatening posture can go all the way.
You can apply the 'odd arrangement' statement to the entire thing, really. All around there are punishments in the 'cooler' that will cripple you with tuberculosis for life, murderers that accidentally slit the wrong persons' throat in the middle of the night, complaints sent to the higher ups that either never make it or come back marked 'Rejected'. And everyone needs to be paid their due if you want your letters delivered, your packages somewhat whole, your beard shaved, with the little you get and the little more than you're not supposed to have.
And yet:

Shukhov went to sleep, and he was very happy. He'd had a lot of luck today.

Such small things you were grateful for. A little extra food, no extra work, no consignment to the cooler. And not only that, but you even felt sorry for your other prisoners, felt a sort of comradeship with them, and helped out when you could. You even looked out for your family, never mind the barbed wire, miles of frozen wasteland, and the unknown amount of years you have left to work that separates you from them.
What was your story? How did it come to this, that you observe the abysmal and tortuous conditions around you, the tragic fates of your fellow prisoners, the fact that there is an ache in your body that comes and goes with the passing days, and feel nothing? What did you have to suffer between the time you began and the time now, to stamp you down into a man who feels happiness and maintains a sense of honor, but when it comes to atrocities:

He didn't mind. He was used to this sort of business and it would soon be over.

I suppose that's too many things to ask. Let's rephrase that into a single cohesive statement.
What is your secret to your existence, Ivan 'Shukhov' Denisovich, or perhaps it is Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn? What is the meaning of your life?

The clouds roll over the cold light of the moon, and the wind whistles through the barbed wire. The long abandoned compound is silent and still and dark, no prisoners in the barracks and no guards to operate the searchlights. I turn and trudge away, as bundled up as I could possibly be and still shivering in the cold. I've received my answer. (less)

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Jun 13, 2008 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

My copy of the 1963 novel that won Alexander Solzhenitsyn the Nobel Prize is thirty-six years old, and it looks it--not just because it is dog-eared and the pages tinged yellow, but because the jacket copy is thick with Cold War fever.

This copy, for example, is "THE COMPLETE, UNEXPURGATED TRANSLATION BY RONALD HINGLEY AND MAX HAYWARD." One Day is "A SHATTERING PORTRAIT OF LIFE INSIDE STALINIST RUSSA.' It is also:

"the terrifying story of an almost unbelievable man-made hell--the Soviet work cam...more

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Oct 01, 2007 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those who like Russian Literature.

Shelves: modern

I hadn't noticed how much this book had affected me until I sat down to dinner. Bear with me. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch is a fascinating story in light of its historical context. While reading the book I had a hard time reminding myself that this story didn't take place in some nineteenth century prison, but in the nineteen fifties. The life that these men live is hard, grueling, and for that Ivan describes his day as a good one. One in three thousand six hundred and fifty three da...more

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Mar 30, 2009 anca dc rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008-2009

* ma duce cu gandul la "amintiri din casa mortii//f.m.dostoievski" [inceputa, dar neterminata:], dar sunt stiluri diferite de scriere. ma bate gandul sa reincep "amintiri.." numai ca sa ii compar, sa simt pulsul fiecaruia si sa le percep perspectivele. dar inca nu sunt sigura. mai vad eu..
* suhov [sau ivan denisovici:] este tipul detinutului cu experienta, descurcaret, care incearca prin orice fel de mijloace sa'si faca viata de lagar cat mai usoara. mi'a placut ca in toate 'jocurile' de trai pe...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Ordinary Dahlia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

G gak suka perang, dan buku ini menegaskannya!!!
*cemberut*
Kegilaan manusia menjadi suatu yg lumrah2 saja bahkan mendekati normal. Bisa dibayangkan tidak, dalam buku ini yang mengambil latar belakang jaman perang antara Rusia dan Jerman, seorang tahananan di hukum 10 sd 25 tahun tanpa mengetahui apa sebenernya salahnya dia dan si penahan pun sama tidak taunya *wuidiiiih...usap keringat*

Bagaimana pun, dirikuw salut dengan perjuangan Ivan Denisovich menjalani hari2nya d penjara. Dia hidup hanya unt...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Michael Gerald rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dear reader,

Greetings! My name is Ivan Denisovich. I was wrongfully imprisoned by our "beloved leader" Josef Stalin for a crime I did not commit. But then, in my country at that time, ANYONE can be thrown into prison for ANYTHING or worse, NOTHING. And I was not alone. There were thousands, even millions, of us.

I hope you are doing great there. You are probably in your bedroom, sitting or lying comfortably while reading this. Good for you. Most of us slept on bare cells or on worn materials that...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Christina Stind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: peders-books, 1001-books-2006-edition, 2009, fiction, 1001-books-2008-edition, 1001-books-2010-edition, 1294-books-all-3-lists

Ivan Denisovich Sukhov is in prison - or rather, he is in a Siberian labour camp, placed there for a non-crime (being captured as a POW by the Germans, escaping and then telling the truth about it...). What this story is, is the account of one day of the three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days he has to spend in this place. It follows him from the morning reveille till he again lays in his bunk at night time.
What's amazing about this book is that the author has decided to write a very po...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Arizo rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is genious!

It takes place during one day in a Soviet work camp during the 1950s. Ivan Denisovich has been sentenced to work camp, accused of spying after being caught by the germans during WWII. Despite these accusations being false, he is sentenced to 8 years. The book, which is the debut novel of Solzjenitsyn, is based on his own experiences in GULAG camp.

I absolutely loved this book, and after reading about one day in the (camp-)life of Ivan Denisovich, I felt like I had read abou...more

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May 03, 2013 Dolly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Russian literature

Shelves: banned-books, 2013, historical-fiction, russia

In my current job, I have a lot of interaction with Russian people. They come here to the States and we go to Russia, too. So when a coworker recommended this book to me, I just had to check it out. It's a short story, just one day in a man's life. But it is a tough read, learning about the tragic lives of those sentenced to the gulag mainly for political or religious 'crimes.' And as one reviewer points out here on Goodreads - this is not a medieval tale or something out of the 1700s. This is a...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Mariana Orantes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es, sin duda alguna, uno de los libros que más me ha gustado y que más he disfrutado en toda mi vida. La dignidad humana, la jovialidad, el hecho de lograr una obra de arte que no sea un algo gris únicamente. Combinación de matices emocionales para cada descripción y cada personaje. Sujov se mueve por todos lados con su cuchara y su miseria, colocando entre sus dedos los gramos contados de pan y aún así comprende el valor de las cosas, el trabajo de otros, la franqueza y dignidad con la que debe...more

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Mar 03, 2009 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved it, even though I didn't give it five stars. I didn't give it five because at the end I wasn't blown away or something. The end just comes kind of natural like you'd expect, because it's the end of the day. And you know that Ivan is kind of like an animal now, and all he has are days and he doesn't think too hard about the future because if he did, he would go crazy. I've heard that Gulag is a very depressing story, this one is kind of a downer, but not like Gulag, probably. You end up l...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People appreciative of underrated works of genius

Recommended to Jeremy by: My sister and Erik

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As I read "One Day", I had a feeling I was reading an underappreciated masterpiece. Why isn't this more widely taught in high school??? Yet I'm still struggling to grasp why I feel so strongly about it.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this book is that it is exactly what it claims to be. The reader is, quite simply, getting an intimate portrait of a somehow extraordinary man's daily life. Why did I connect to Ivan as I so rarely do with literary characters?

I couldn't put my finger on it unt...more

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Erik This book is really good if I remember right. Good choice!
Jul 11, 2008 11:06pm

Jessica heeey
if you had to compare One day in the life of Ivan D.. with two other literary works, stories, artciles, poems ect
what would you do it with and w...more
Dec 21, 2009 11:55am

Jeremy Sorry I'm just now getting back to you. It's been a little while since I read them, but Hemingway's work bears some resemblance to 'Ivan Denisovich',...more
Jan 05, 2010 06:56pm

Jul 28, 2007 Kent Frazier rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of russian literature or history

Shelves: fiction, russian

This semi-autobiographical work is based on the author's times in a Soviet Gulag. It was a very good read. I really liked the fact that Solzhenitsyn set the story during the course of a day like any other. Things happen to Ivan, but none seem like something spectacular or out-of-the-ordinary. In spite of this, the story does not lag, and it keeps the reader's interest. By not making it into an adventure tale or a jail-bust story or something of that kind, he made me feel some of the hopelessness...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

"It was a good day, a happy day..." This is from the conclusion of a book about a day in the life of a political prisoner in Stalin's notorious gulag system. Pretty subversive stuff, and got Solzhenitsyn in plenty of trouble of his own...

Not a long read at all, and will make you appreciate your pampered American life, whatever condition that may happen to be in... LOL... And, hey, I've been to Siberia -- It's not so bad!!

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Nov 21, 2008 Judith rated it 1 of 5 stars

It seems mean-spirited and unkind to complain about a book of this nature: I know the author suffered greatly in the Siberian work camp prison, which is the subject of this Nobel prize winning book. I do sympathize but this book is boring and tedious. One day in one prisoner's life---that's the story. The subject matter is a fascinating one, but even his fame and significance couldn't rescue this book for me. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

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Sep 17, 2010 wally rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: solzhenitsyn

as the title says, one day in the life of...i'd read this on the recommendation of a man who tried to teach us a bit about writing, yay, all those years ago...obviously he failed, right?

most of solzhenitsyn's other stuff is thick, long...and for that reason i believe, i hesitated to tackle it...but...i've since read most of dostoyevsky, tolstoy's anna karenina, a few other long-winded and long-dead russians...

i don't recall particular details of this story, although i don't recall being bored or...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Jeremy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary, translated-from-russian, review, canon

This book is one of those marvelous ones that manages to do many things at once. You can be depressed and uplifted simultaneously. The simplicity of the narration and the ordinary-ness of this society that Ivan Denisovich Shukhov finds himself a member of is all the more chilling for it, but also warming...

It is about much more than simply the brutality of Stalinism. The way in which human beings develop and own the reality that they are presented with has an existential ring to it.

Freedom for S...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Laura Leaney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Solzhenitsyn is a master. Somehow this one day, one single day, produces the sensation of years. And this one work camp realistically represents the accordion of camps in the Soviet Gulag system. And this one prisoner, Shukhov, breaks my heart.

One of my favorite paragraphs: "Shukhov looked up at the sky and gasped--the sun had climbed almost to the dinner hour. Wonder of wonders! How time flew when you were working! That was something he'd often noticed. The days rolled by in the camp--they wer...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Julio César rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Son reveladoras las experiencias que Soljenitsin pone de relieve en este libro. Iván Denísovich cumple una condena de 10 años en un campo de trabajos forzados de la URSS. El libro nos hace evidentes la desazón e injusticia del régimen, por un lado; pero, evitando los "buenos" y "malos", nos coloca ante la perspectiva de que la "libertad", en esa URSS, tampoco significaba necesariamente algo mejor. Los pequeños disturbios entre presos y guardianes, los recuerdos del protagonista, hacen una buena...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: russian-literature

Literary brilliance captured in one book, in one day and one man's story. Evocative descriptions of a days toil in the frozen wastes of a Siberian labour camp where unthinkable hardships are subtly diminished by the joy and the triumph of surviving another day. Precise, cold, crisp, bitter and hardened like the tundra upon which the writer stood as he scribed this story. Well deserving of its place on the 1001 books to read before you die list. If you read one book from the list this year, make...more

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Apr 01, 2009 Efrem Sigel rated it 5 of 5 stars

It must be 35 years since I first read this book, and it is no less powerful the second time. It recounts a day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a prisoner in one of Stalin’s slave-labor camps in Siberia. It is an almost minute-by-minute account, from the time Shukhov first opens his eyes in his upper bunk to when he finally lies down again late at night. In between are hours of labor in the brutal Siberian winter, where a temperature of -27 Fahrenheit is not cold enough to keep the priso...more It must be 35 years since I first read this book, and it is no less powerful the second time. It recounts a day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a prisoner in one of Stalin’s slave-labor camps in Siberia. It is an almost minute-by-minute account, from the time Shukhov first opens his eyes in his upper bunk to when he finally lies down again late at night. In between are hours of labor in the brutal Siberian winter, where a temperature of -27 Fahrenheit is not cold enough to keep the prisoners in for the day. Much of Shulkov’s thoughts and schemes revolve around food: how to hide part of his morning bread ration to eat at night, how to get a portion of the extra bowls of gruel that he snares for his work group, how to befriend a fellow prisoner so he can share in a piece of sausage from a parcel the man has received from home.

The book reveals the tensions, backbiting but also the bedrock camaraderie that binds prisoners in the work group together, their affection for the foreman, a fellow zek who has tremendous influence on work assignments and food allocations, their shared hatred for guards or others who make their lives miserable. For Shukhov there is no dream of eventual liberty here, what concerns him every waking minute are food, survival and maintaining a shred of human dignity under conditions of unimaginable cruelty and privation. The political commentary is all the more devastating for its understatement. What did Zhukov do to merit his 10-year sentence? He and a fellow soldier escaped from German captivity during World War II, and when they made it back to Russian lines they were promptly arrested and judged to be spies: in the view of Stalin and his minions, what else could explain the fact that captured soldiers managed to return to their own army? No one can fully understand the barbarism and inhumanity of 20th century totalitarianism, and at the same time the unquenchable human struggle for freedom, without reading this masterpiece.

Efrem Sigel, 4/1/09, www.efremsigel.com (less)

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Mar 24, 2009 Karen Field rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn tells the story of a man sentenced to ten years in a Russian work camp for being a spy, even though the accusation is false. However, Ivan is wise enough not to make waves or he might find another ten years put on top of his existing sentence. He also knows that extra years might be slapped on him anyway, because the Soviet would never trust him again and they wouldn’t want him returning to those “bad habits”. When, or if, he was rel...more A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn tells the story of a man sentenced to ten years in a Russian work camp for being a spy, even though the accusation is false. However, Ivan is wise enough not to make waves or he might find another ten years put on top of his existing sentence. He also knows that extra years might be slapped on him anyway, because the Soviet would never trust him again and they wouldn’t want him returning to those “bad habits”. When, or if, he was released, he knew he could be sent to an even worse place, so he actually talks himself into not wanting to leave the camp. Going home was something he felt would probably never happen, so it would be better to stay where he was – in a situation he had learned to cope with and live in – than be sent to that worst place.

The story is not filled with suspense and twists and turns. This story holds a reader for another reason – it is character driven. The reader feels for this man (and his companions) and wants to get through the day with them.

The one thing that was very clear to me was how it shows humans adapt to their surroundings and learn how to survive even the most inhuman situations. When a person can find good fortune in receiving a few grams of stale bread and a ladle of something that resembles dish washing water each day, it should make the people of today appreciate what they have.

The book is just one long chapter, with not even a single scene break. At first, I found this irritating, but I got used to it. The writing is a little confusing. One moment the viewpoint was third person and then suddenly it turned to first person. The main character had two names and for a long time I wondered where Ivan Denisovich fit into the story as I didn’t realise I was reading about him because of this other name being used. (I’m not sure if I missed the connection at the beginning of the story or not. I did skim through those early pages again, but found nothing that made it clear. Maybe the confusion came about in the translation.)

Even with the confusion, I found this story interesting, which shows content is important. It made me wonder how well I would cope in a similar situation! I suspect not terribly well.

Anyway, this is a book I would not have picked up without recommendation, which proves – once again – a book cannot be judged by its cover.

Recommended.(less)

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May 12, 2013 Ioana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: eastern-block-lit, fiction

Groundbreaking at the time of its publication, "One Day in the Life" was the first work on the Gulag to be published in the USSR (by a former prisoner no less). Born and raised in Communist Romania, Solzhenistyn's world is a familiar, disturbingly dark, and utterly tragic one for me; the existential structures of eastern block consciousness, even outside of the Gulag, are eerily similar to those of the imprisoned in "One Day in the Life": the appreciation for every small detail of subsistence re...more Groundbreaking at the time of its publication, "One Day in the Life" was the first work on the Gulag to be published in the USSR (by a former prisoner no less). Born and raised in Communist Romania, Solzhenistyn's world is a familiar, disturbingly dark, and utterly tragic one for me; the existential structures of eastern block consciousness, even outside of the Gulag, are eerily similar to those of the imprisoned in "One Day in the Life": the appreciation for every small detail of subsistence related pursuits, such as scrounging for a bit of extra sugar or butter, the ways in which people are turned against each other through carefully articulated and craftily schemed policies and rules, the extensive bribery system/underground economy without which no one would survive, learning how to live in silence, barricading the soul/heart in an attempt at survival.

This work does not describe horrific abuses, does not sensationalize the terror of the Gulag, does not dwell on despair, fear, hope, or pain. In fact it's most disturbing BECAUSE of the protagonists' quiet acceptance and concrete, practical orientation. Unlike others in the camp, Ivan is neither an intellectual nor a spiritual man; he does not find peace in salvation through Christianity (as Alyosha), he does not seek slivers of hope and meaning in discussions with other political prisoners about literature and film.

Instead, Ivan focuses on survival: on procuring an extra portion of oats for breakfast, on smuggling in a bit of a rusted blade into his barracks to build a knife, on staying warm in the Siberian winter. He "does not have time" to contemplate the beauty of stars and of its promise, to engage in conversation with other members of his squad, to think about his past and present, to philosophize about his condition.

This, to me, is the scariest condition of all, essentially indicating a loss of humanity, a return to the most animalistic, basic survivalist mode of being. For after all, what separates us from animals other than the power of human hope, thought, passion? Indeed, the aims of the Gulag, and of communism itself, were to reduce human beings into mere unthinking animals, instinctually scavenging for food and other necessities while loosing sight of the powers of human intellect, artistic impulse, and initiative.

Even more disturbing is Ivan's complacent acceptance. In fact, "A Day in the Life" is a GOOD day for Ivan, he is "almost happy" by the end of the short story: that night, he "went to sleep fully content. He'd had many strokes of luck that day: they hadn't sent his squad to the settlement; he'd swipe a bowl of kasha at inner; the quad leader had fixed the rates well; he' built a wall an enjoyed doing it; he'd smuggled that bid of haksaw blade through; he'd earned a favor from Tsezar that evening; he'd bought that tobacco. And he hadn't fallen ill." (last page).

In an ironic twist, Ivan is thus born into a new humanity, one that has learned to live in, and almost find happiness, under the most brutal, demoralizing, repressive, tortuous conditions imaginable. The proof is his Survival.

And a personal side note: If I was rating this book based on how much I enjoyed it, the rating would stand somewhere around a 2. It's filled with details on construction work, much of it was inscrutable to me (there were many terms I had to look up and it was difficult to visualize what was going on in terms of the configuration of the space, the usage of tools, the process of building, etc). But more importantly, I don't understand, and am quite disturbed, at Ivan's path to survival. I clearly have never suffered a Gulag (though my family underwent its own tribulations under Ceausescu/the Securiatate), but I'd like to imagine I'd find my hope in dreams/philosophy/art if I was in Ivan's place, like the Captain.

There were very few ways to escape communism back in this era, and the main route was through art and soulful expression through the absurd, satires, magical realism, and a dark humor which is impossible to understand without having lived in such a repressive society. People read books voraciously, there was an entire culture built around going to art galleries, the opera & theater, around discussing important books (non political on the surface, usually, but of course, always subversively all political). The Gulags were filled with members of the intelligensia: in Romania, there were even jokes (again, the dark humor) about how the masters of Romanian political philosophy, art, and history enjoyed the prison camps because they got to meet each other and philosophize all day. Personally, that (obviously romanticized) version of survival sounds much more appealing & humanizing than Ivan's, with which i do not personally identify. Then again, what would I know? I've never laid bricks in the cold for 14 hour days in the Siberian winter.(less)

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Apr 28, 2013 Robert Mitchell rated it 5 of 5 stars

The words spoken and written about this novel far outnumber the millions of Soviets sentenced to the gulags it describes. It would seem, therefore, that the only possibility of saying something “new” is to describe our own personal reaction to the story. Even then, our words are not “new” in the sense of “groundbreaking,” but merely “new” in the sense of pedestrian uniqueness, much like a fingerprint.

Finishing this work is always a solemn experience for me. I believe it should be read several t...more

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About Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet and Russian novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his writings he helped to make the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, two of his best-known works.

Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. He was exiled from...more

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