A review by davehershey
Súostrovie Gulag III. by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

5.0

Well, finishing this one was a big accomplishment. I have to admit, I was wearing down as I got to the end of this book. This volume has some of the more exciting stories and moving sections, as Solzhenitsyn talks about escapes from the camp. As Solzhenitsyn talks about his own release from the camp, his time in exile and some of the reactions to his first published work, his own honesty was both sad and convicting. He talks about how easy it was to forget life in the Gulag and how even he had to be reminded that what he had experienced was still going on! The death of Stalin was celebrated, the Gulag seemed to be dying, but it didn't. The book does not end with triumph, but the sad recognition that evil persists. Even Solzhenitsyn says there is so much more to say, more stories to tell, but he is exhausted. The story of how this book came to be, partially told in the end, is a beautiful story itself.

Overall, these three volumes are not an easy read. The word "tedious" keeps coming to mind. Its not a fast-paced history, there are certainly better, or at least more concise, histories of the Gulag. Yet, such histories probably couldn't exist without the exhausting work of someone like Solzhenitsyn. This book is brilliant in its depth and brutality. It is a book, and a story, that cannot be forgotten.