false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255700780m/2080190.jpg 98969 27 The First Circle of Dante's Hell -- where the souls of the pre-Christian philosophers are doomed to exist throughout eternity -- stands in this novel as a metaphor for certain penal institutions of Stalin's Russia. Set in Moscow during a three-day period in December 1949, The First Circle is the story of the prisoner Gleb Nerzhin, a brilliant mathematician. At the age of thirty-one, Nerzhin has, like the author, survived the war years on the German front and the post-war years in a succession of Russian prisons and labor camps. His story is interwoven with the stories of a dozen fellow prisoners -- each an unforgettable human being -- from the prison janitor to the tormented Marxist intellectual who designed the Dnieper dam; of the reigning elite and their conflicted subordinates; and of the women, wretched or privileged, bound to these men. As we follow Nerzhin's fortunes, we become familiar with the inner paths of an entire society -- one vast Inferno -- and the diverse ways in which different men and women managed, or failed, to live within it. While Solzhenitsyn portrays the exercise of moral and political authority at all levels of the hierarchy (even devoting a few chapters to a portrait of a failing Stalin), the novel's principal setting is a special prison where inmates conduct scientific research. Through his treatment of the prisoners, the secret police, and the non-prisoner Muscovites trying to lead honest lives during this difficult period, Solzhenitsyn explores the problems of complicity and conscience, ends and means. Included are many reflections on Soviet history of the sort Solzhenitsyn expanded in The Gulag Archipelago. In 1962 the publication of One Day in theLife of Ivan Denisovich brought Solzhenitsyn international fame. Two years later, The First Circle was accepted for publication in a Soviet journal. Its publication was blocked, however, by Soviet authorities; ultimately the manuscript was smuggled abroad and published in translation in 1968. A landmark of Soviet Circle is as powerful today as when it was first published. 377937 book 1968 The First Circle (European Classics) total:440|5:202|4:161|3:66|2:9|1:2| 440 1872 802 54 5 2 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1990 Thu Aug 02 10:29:51 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 02 11:00:35 -0700 2007
While typically Solzhenitsyn in style, it is appreciably less ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 06:10:02 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 06:30:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1975 Fri Dec 05 00:40:10 -0800 2008 Tue May 12 07:15:52 -0700 2009
I'm not sure how much of it is based on his own experiences. The...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 19:07:44 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 19:38:59 -0700 2008
Solzhenitsyn is able to bring to life with unbelievable clarity and insight (unlike the review I am writing) a few days in a late 1940s Russian gulag located outside of Moscow which is a special prison for engineers....more...]]> 5 0 true false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 21 19:27:34 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 10:31:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sun Feb 18 13:38:44 -0800 2007 Sun Feb 18 13:43:48 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jun 24 13:29:13 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 07:12:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 01 19:25:35 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 19:29:12 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 28 17:55:42 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 18:00:21 -0700 2009 It's just a MUST READ for every self-respecting reader. ]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 17:43:51 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 17:44:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 18:14:13 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 18:15:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jul 04 15:04:27 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 10 08:53:54 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 09 08:11:33 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 08:16:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 23 10:50:26 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 10:52:24 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Sep 12 15:44:49 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 15:52:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Jan 24 14:57:40 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 14:57:40 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Sep 10 18:57:11 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 18:57:11 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 03 12:51:26 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 12:54:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri May 01 16:51:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 16:51:00 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Nov 20 18:01:29 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 20:57:42 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2080190