Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Century in His Life by D. M. Thomas

by D.M. Thomas

One of the most important literary biographies of recent times, this is not only the story of one of this century's greatest writers, but the history of Russia itself. Already featured in a controversial "New York Times" article, this magisterial biography will attract attention throughout the literary world. 16-page photo insert.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Russia, Biography Memoir, Politics

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1998

About the author

D.M. Thomas was born in Cornwall in 1935. After reading English at New College, Oxford, he became a teacher and was Head of the English Department at Hereford College of Education until he became a full-time writer. His first novel The Flute-Player won the Gollancz Pan/Picador Fantasy Competition. He is also known for his collections of verse and his translation from the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova.

He was awarded the Los Angeles Fiction prize for his novel The White Hotel, an international bestseller, translated into 30 languages; a Cholmondeley award for poetry; and the Orwell Prize for his biography of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He lives in his native Cornwall, England.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read the Gulag Archipelago and August 1914, I found this book really exciting. The author of the biography has extensively researched the life of Solzhenitsyn, even going back as far as his grandparents. When you consider how much Solzhenitsyn suffered physically and mentally in the Gulags, how he overcame very serious health problems afterwards and all the problems he overcame to write his books, he was a very amazing person, devoting all his time to creating his masterpieces.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading and enjoying Solzhenitsyn's work for more than twenty years. I've read a few books about his life and work, but I had been slow to read a biography. Thomas's biography is unique in that he doesn't just write about his subject, but uses his life to tell the story of Russia.

While I was disappointed to hear how poorly Solzhenitsyn treated his first wife, and really most people in his life, being reminded of his human frailty, I can better see him as a man with failings like myself. In fact, I could see myself in him in ways that were startling and convicting.

Solzhenitsyn's life is almost mythical. It is easy to see how he translated so many of his own experiences into some of the 20th century's best fiction. Thomas leverages Solzhenitsyn's own story to skillfully retell his life, and the result is a page-turner of a biography.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the '60's and '70's, I became aware of Russia's greatest writer of that time, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and the great struggle that was his life. I read his works, and viewed him as a strong moral voice in the midst of a corrupt government and society, the Soviet Union. This biography gives the complete context of Solzhenitsyn's life, up to the late '90's. It is very well written, comparing the author's works to his eventful life. Heartily recommended to anyonw ith an interest in Solzhenitsyn.

[Theo Erasmus · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, astounding read. Momentous in scope. It taught me more about Russia, and the Russian spirit, than virtually anything I've read.
In tackling such a solemn, profound subject, D.M. Thomas made it a well-paced read, that was both dense with fact and atmosphere, and entertaining.
Now to reread Dosteyevsky and Tolstoy.

[Gabriele Goldstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating. Solzhenitsyn appears in a rather negative light with an inflated ego who was quite unfair and unkind to his first wife. I was especially curious about Solzhenitsyn's time in East Prussia during the war. The chronology at the beginning offers a useful overview of the author's life and publishing history.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is decidedly Freudian in how he interprets Solzhenitsyn which gives it a bizarre twist, but being a poet, he brings a perspective from a literary view that helps one to understand Russian writers better. The author is also an unapologetic anti-communist in his analysis of history of the U.S.S.R (which I appreciated).

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magnificient biography of a towering Russian literary figure...by a not insignificant writer in his own right...Thomas' understanding of Russian History and Literature as well as his clear affection for Solzhenitsyn combine to make this a compelling read.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazon review December 11, 2012: What would Sanya would say?

I would concur with the excellent reviews here. Without resorting to hagiography we get I think a pretty well rounded portrait of a man. A great writer no doubt, a flawed, intensely driven human being as well. Solzhenitsyn the Giant-Slayer of the USSR! This biography deserves 4 stars just for being attempted on such a great man but it is also very well-written, comprehensive and thoroughly researched so I give it 5. Not sure I would need to tackle Scammell's bio after this. Still after reading this it is hard to imagine what it might have been like to sit down and have a few beers with Sanya and talk about the good old days. Or the bad new days or whatever. Solzhenitsyn wrote a book in the 'Gulag' that without any doubt belongs on a list (top 10, 25, 50..whatever) of the most important books ever written. Maybe not the best, but name any book with more a more important subject...how you liquidate 60 million humans (and almost not get caught)! It defies all imagination in its horror. This was a very 'readable' work and I have new tremendous new insight into the author Solzhenitsyn. My next project in Russia..'November 1916'! My only wish is for a few more photos! Maybe of the various iconic locations where he wrote, dachas and even East Prussia or Estonia or the Gulag sites of his experience would have been incredible.

[Steve Comstock · Rating 2 out of 5]

200 pages in and I can't finish it. Thomas is constantly subjecting Solzhenitsyn to Freudian analysis. Clearly he places a lot of value in Freudian thought, however I do not.

I think Thomas makes some effort to be nuanced but does not succeed very well. I'm not one to normally defend the Soviets but I think constantly comparing them to Nazis is a bit of a leap. I also think if you want to make conjectures (which Thomas is doing a lot of even early one) there's a lot of room to explore how Solzhenitsyn's grandparents loss of wealth during the revolution might fuel his later hatred of the Soviets and his longing for the Russian "golden age". Finally Thomas barely even touches on the inequalities that lead to the revolution (which should be a relevant detail if you are writing about "a century of Solzhenitsyn's life" as Thomas claims to do.), though he goes into a lot of detail about the seeds of Marxism and how they came to dominate the revolutionaries.

Anyway, this far in and it's not jiving with me so I'm gonna put it down.

[Edwin Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first wanted to read "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch" as a short intro to Sanya's writing but couldn't find a copy. Strange that our local library has zero by or about Solzhenitsyn? So I started reading Vol 1 of Gulag Archepelago, but found it too detailed with things I didn't know about at all. Then I noticed my mother had this biography, so am now pleased to have finished it. Thomas does a good job explaining the times in Tzarist and revolutionary Russia, USSR, as well as the West during Sanya's life until the fall of Communism and to the mid 1990's.

Now I will try to get farther along with "Gulag" and may also buy a kindle edition of "Denisovitch".

[Michael Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book really compelling, and despite the author's personal opinions coming through strongly (many of which I agree with, but not all), I found Solzhenitsyn's really quite surreal life quite gripping. I'm not sure how much I liked him as a person but I'm intrigued to read more of his work.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read! Just as Solzhenitsyn brought a novelist's sensibility to the real-life experiences of the inhabitants of the Gulag Archipelago, so D.M.Thomas brings his novelist's craft (as well as his deep knowledge of both Russia and psychology) to this biography. With subject matter like this, who needs fiction? As the title implies, this is in part a history of the Soviet Union from the pre-revolutionary years to the post-Soviet (but pre-Putin)times. There could be no better lens through which to view this epoch than Solzhenitsyn's life. His maternal grandfather was an enterprising peasant who became wealthy but then lost everything after the revolution. Solzhenitsyn started out a naive idealistic communist whose criticism of Stalin was that he was taking the USSR away from the path set out by Lenin. This was enough to send him to the prison camps from which few survived. And it gave him the raw material which he needed to find his voice as one of Russia's greatest writers, alongside Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Pasternak.

The sheer scale of the human tragedy that engulfed the territories of the Soviet Union is mind-numbing: the millions who died in two world wars and the civil war; the millions who died of hunger in the man-made famines of the 20s and 30s; the millions more who perished in the slave camps of the Gulag Archipelago. D.M.Thomas brings these horrors alive with many vignettes which reveal both the humanity and the inhumanity behind the numbers.

Another level which makes this a deeply satisfying read is the presentation of Solzhenitsyn's evolving political and moral philosophy. You get a sense that this man was a great and original thinker who has much to say to the present era. It's sad that in the West he is largely seen as a relic of the Cold War. In a world which simplifies every political issue to whether it is Left or Right, Solzhenitsyn was neither. He believed in democracy, but a genuinely participatory and grass-roots one. He believed in individual responsibility, but also in compassion and solidarity. His view of what it means to be human was ultimately a spiritual one, in this he stands in a great line of Russian thinkers including Berdyaev, Semyon Frank, Solovyev and Dostoevsky.

One last thing to note about this biography. It is not by any means a hagiography. Solzhenitsyn is presented with all his flaws - his tortured first marriage and his falling out with many loyal friends as his fame and importance grew. Yet the flaws are presented in a balanced overall picture.

All in all, the best book I've read in the last 12 months.

[Vanjr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting supplement to those who are interested in Solzhenitsyn. Not a book to read before you read AS, but one to read after a heavy dose of Solzhenitsyn. The biography covers up to the last 10 years of his life, which appear to be relatively quiet (from what wikipedia suggests anyway).
It is interesting how this author evaluates Solzhenitsyn's later work-The Red Wheel, which only has two of four knots published in English I found outstanding and fascinating. I literally thirst for the publication of the final two knots in english. Yet based on Thomas they do not appear to be well received-However I get the impression Thomas has not read them.
I will not give any spoilers, but so find this work a healthy addition to those, like myself who still think highly of this great Russian writer.

[Andrew Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extensive Biography of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Broken into 5 parts of the author's life, I dislike the opening and the closing, but perhaps because these were the least interesting of AS life. I found the biographer D.M. Thomas inserting his own opinion a bit too much during these sections.

Still, I found Thomas to be a good biographer, especially how he dissected each moment of AS life as it pertained and created the major novels in AS life. I was pleased to see this directions to his works. This almost allowed me to give it 4 or 5 stars, but in the end I didn't love this biography and thus I only liked it.

I am thrilled now to know more of AS life and I am actually immediatley diving into my first reading of We Never Make Mistakes: Two Short Novels Matryona's House, yay!