joecmgis's review
Obviously a very important book. Looking forward to eventually reading the next two volumes.
rachelsbookstack's review
This was a very hard read in terms of material and density alike. The Gulag Archipelago is both a nonfiction historical, and a personal account of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn details his own 8 years spent in the Soviet prison camps, as well as the history of the camps starting with their inception after the Russian Revolution.
mdewit's review against another edition
4.0
Read this book to understand what freedom means. Every letter of every 600-odd pages.
vanjr's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book everyone should read. Maybe not as an idealistic youth but certainly by age 30. I am almost speechless at its contents.
firerosearien's review against another edition
3.0
I got up to "The Law Matures", and then realizing that I've been on the same book for a month, had to put it down. Solzhenitsyn is brilliant, but the lack of breaks makes it incredibly hard for me to concentrate. I still plan on giving Vol 2 a go because it discusses day-to-day life in the camps, which is my real interest.
vincentreadswordsandletters's review against another edition
5.0
I'll never pity myself or others anymore. There is no need to since our lot is always good compared to people in history. Gulags are terrible invention of empathy(sacrificing yourself for others IE demanding equality when inequality is freedom. Inequality let's us deserve what were worth in society, but communism = equality.) and I guess this is what happens when "we" becomes more important than "I". Also protecting property rights is also important, since we don't want thieves to take someone elses hard earned property.
extragravy's review against another edition
4.0
I did not expect humor. It took a bit, but this book may be teaching me to appreciate Russian humor. Also, I had no idea how badly these people were treated.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
4.0
An essential read for anyone interested in Soviet history, economic theory, or communism.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
"Own only what you can carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag."
"It is clear enough that those men who turned the handle of the meat grinder even as late as 1937 are no longer young. They are fifty to eighty years old. They have lived the best years of their lives prosperously, well nourished, and comfortable, so that it is too late for any kind of equal retribution as far as they are concerned. But let us be generous. We will not shoot them. We will not pour salt water on them, nor bury them in bedbugs, nor bridle them in a “swan dive,” nor keep them on sleepless “stand up” for a week, nor kick them with jackboots, not beat them with rubber truncheons, not squeeze their skulls in iron rings, nor push them into a cell so that they lie atop one another like pieces of baggage—we will not do any of the things they did! But for the sake of our country and our children we have the duty to seek them out and bring them all to trial. Not to put them on trial so much as their crimes. And to compel each one of them to announce loudly: “Yes, I was an executioner, and a murderer.”"