Fiction/ Thriller. A prisoner is curious to live for the next day. Read in 1970s.

[John]

In the 1970s at University we read a series of books by authors like Dostoevsky and Vonnegut. I am trying to identify a book in which the scene I recall has the main character in prison, awaiting a harsh sentence and he says (not sure if to himself or to someone else), that no matter how bad his life gets, he wants to stay alive, because he's curious about what will happen next/tomorrow, That sentiment has stuck with me and was actually helpful during a period of depression. I thought it might be Vonnegut but I'm not finding the context.

[Kris]

A shot in the dark - From Here to Eternity by James Jones?

Google search of Goodreads:
site:goodreads.com "fiction" classic "prisoner" "curious" "to live" happen tomorrow

[Rose]

Could this have been One Day in the Life of Ivan Densovich or The Gulag Archipelago?