One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0141184744 Global Overview for this book
Registered by bookowl1000 of Wuhan, Hubei China on 8/26/2012
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by bookowl1000 from Wuhan, Hubei China on Sunday, August 26, 2012
Have you ever picked up a book and wondered where it had been before, well welcome to the world of bookcrossing!

Bookcrossing is a wonderful place to share your love of reading with people all over the world and follow a book as it continues on its travels.

Please journal this book, describing where you found it, and then if you want to, what you thought of it. You can remain anonymous if you want to, though if you create a screen name you will be able to get notification each time someone else journals this book in the future.

When you have finished with it please release the book by leaving it somewhere where it will be found (please make a journal entry stating where you left it), and let it continue its journey.

Help keep its journey alive!Following this books travels can be very fun.

Journal Entry 2 by bookowl1000 at Guangzhou 广州, Guangdong China on Sunday, August 26, 2012
I bought this book in the UK; it did a long ocean voyage to join me here in China. Hopefully I will get around to reading it soon.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a novel written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first published in November 1962 in the Soviet literary magazine Novy Mir (New World). The story is set in a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s, and describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.

Its publication was an extraordinary event in Soviet literary history—never before had an account of Stalinist repression been openly distributed. The editor of Novy Mir, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, wrote a short introduction for the issue, titled "Instead of a Foreword," to prepare the journal's readers for what they were about to experience.

Ivan Denisovich Shukhov has been sentenced to a camp in the Soviet gulag system, accused of becoming a spy after being captured by the Germans as a prisoner of war during World War II. He is innocent but is nonetheless punished by the government for being a spy.

The rest of the day mainly speaks of Shukhov's squad (the 104th, which has 24 members), their allegiance to the squad leader, and the work that the prisoners (zeks) do—for example, at a brutal construction site where the cold freezes the mortar used for bricklaying if not applied quickly enough. Solzhenitsyn also details the methods used by the prisoners for survival; the whole camp lives by the rule of survival of the fittest.

Journal Entry 3 by bookowl1000 at Foshan 佛山, Guangdong China on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Entered into the First Sentences VBB.

First sentence: "As usual, at five o'clock that morning reville was sounded by the blows of a hammer on a length of rail hanging up near the staff quarters".

Journal Entry 4 by bookowl1000 at Foshan 佛山, Guangdong China on Saturday, January 5, 2013
You can't use the word enjoyable when describing a book like this. It is harsh, though in a matter of fact way. There is no sensationalism, and there is very little politics. It is a description of everyday life. To me it really did feel like the author had had first hand experience of such conditions and there was realism. The brutality of a cold winter came across and at time I could feel myself being physically cold.

Humans have the capability to overcome such harshness. There is a strength in spirit, and shows us how the pleasure can be found in the most simplest of things..a bowl of hot soup for example.

Journal Entry 5 by bookowl1000 at Foshan 佛山, Guangdong China on Sunday, March 10, 2013

Released 11 yrs ago (3/9/2013 UTC) at Foshan 佛山, Guangdong China

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to Haugtussa who requeste dit from the Virtual Book Box.

Journal Entry 6 by wingHaugtussawing at Stavanger, Rogaland fylke Norway on Monday, April 1, 2013
Interesting.

I look forward to this one, thanks for sending it half way across the world.

Journal Entry 7 by wingHaugtussawing at Stavanger, Rogaland fylke Norway on Saturday, November 19, 2016
I can't believe this book has been on my shelf for three and a half years! It didn't deserve that.
I have to agree with the previous reader, the book is not enjoyable, however it is well written and captures the reader. A tough life descirbed in a beautiful way.

Journal Entry 8 by wingHaugtussawing at Stavanger, Rogaland fylke Norway on Friday, May 12, 2017

Released 6 yrs ago (5/12/2017 UTC) at Stavanger, Rogaland fylke Norway

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The April book - enjoy!

Journal Entry 9 by book-a-neer at Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia on Monday, June 12, 2017
Thank you for sending this over. Seems that this might be quite a "serious" book. However, it's not thick so that's a plus.

I read the excerpt at the back and it has intrigued me and made me want to read it immediately.

Journal Entry 10 by book-a-neer at Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia on Monday, January 30, 2023

Released 1 yr ago (1/30/2023 UTC) at Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off to a new reader in NSW.

Journal Entry 11 by catsalive at Rooty Hill, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Thanks, book-a-neer.

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