One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Another relatively quick read with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.  The book was published in the late part of 1962 and is set in a Russian (Soviet) labor camp after World War II.  There was a movement by the Germans to turn over Russians and claim they were spies. If the captured man, whom was normally innocent, refuted the claim, he was shot on the spot.  If he agreed and said he was a spy, he would be given a ten year term at the camp, though it could usually turn into many more years than that. The prisoners rarely had the chance to inform their families, who would think their missing family member was dead.  This story describes one day of a prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, and the routine that occurs among his squad of prisoners. This is a good “psychological” realism story that exposes the depths in which a man is pushed, especially in the winter in the far reaches of the Russian deserted lands.  The men are asked to go to extremes in building a structure for the captures. The author shares the various lengths at which they will go for bread rations and other small items that will keep them warm or having a full stomach. It is the same routine everyday with only the hope for freedom that keeps the men from going crazy.  The story created some controversy when it was released at the beginning of the cold war.  If you like a lot of action, this one may not be for you, much more on the character development side of storytelling.  Well written and captures the challenge of the day.