Solzhenitsyn at Harvard: The Address, Twelve Early Responses, and Six Later Reflections

by Ronald Berman (Editor)

When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn gave the commencement address -- "A World Split Apart" -- at Harvard University in 1978, many Americans expected to hear their country praised by this celebrated refugee from a totalitarian state. Instead they heard some sharply critical views of their legal system, their press, their popular culture, and even their national will. The forthright and controversial speech makes up Part One of this book. A sampling of the avalanche of responses from the commentariat is included in Part Two, including newspaper articles and essays by thinkers such as Archibald MacLeish, Mary McGrory and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. In Part Three, six thoughtful scholars -- include Sidney Hook and Richard Pipes-- reflect, after the furor had somewhat subsided, on the ideas and judgments expressed by the great Russian writer. 143 pages.

Genres: History, Philosophy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s unfortunate that this book is out of print. I doubt anyone but Solzhenitsyn agrees with everything he says in the famous 1978 Harvard commencement address, but his argument that the “free world” was not fundamentally much more free than the communist world can’t be easily dismissed (as some of the contemporary journalists represented in the book tried to do). And his conviction that Western capitalism and Eastern communism shared the same essentially purposeless and degrading materialism is also not easily dismissed. I think people misunderstand him when they think he’s advocating a return to Medieval Christianity. Certainly he’s Christian, and his is a Christian critique, but he doesn’t present a particular program in response to the issues he discusses. I think people also tended to mistakenly dismiss his ideas as narrowly Russian. It’s rare that something so fresh and challenging enters our public discourse, and I think we’d benefit from the perspective and challenge as much or even more today as when the address was given.

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

an eye opener into Solzhenitsyn’s lesser known political philosophy as well late 70s american intellectual thought — i’d recommend fragments but not the whole thing

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

In June of 1978, Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn delivered a famous speech titled "A World Split Apart", sometimes called the "Harvard Address" because of where it was delivered, in which he gives a staunch rebuke of the West. This is especially interesting to today's reader when you consider the accuracy of his diagnosis.

What makes this book particularly praiseworthy is that it could very well serve as an introductory text on journalism. The address itself would be worth the price of the book, but the wide variety of responses the address provoked, and contained in this book, would give the reader a very helpful guide to understand the different ways a speech can be interpreted, criticized, and praised.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was seriously disappointed in this book. It was suppose to be a contemporary as well as a scholarly review of Solzhenitsyn's address at Harvard. Other than George Will's analysis, not one review truly understood the Eastern mind-set of Solzhenitsyn. That of his world view, or his Christian Orthodoxy. It made me realize how inept the Western person is when approaching something that differs in outlook than what they are use to, or what they purport to understand.

[Laura Phelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially relevant in this day and age. If only we had paid more attention. Critique of the press, the law, materialism, and views on morality. If Solzhenitsyn were alive today, he might be saying, "I told you so."

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a collection of reactions to Solzhenitsyn's commencement address at Harvard in 1978. About 15 percent of the book is the address itself, while the rest is made up of 18 response op-eds and essays.

There are two potential problems with a book like this. On the one hand, since the book is made up of different pieces commenting on the same text, there is inevitably going to be a good deal of repetition involved. On the other hand, to the degree that the commentaries differ in their interpretations of the address, many of them are likely to be wrong. In this case the book suffers from both flaws: the pieces are repetitive *and* offer a false interpretation of Solzhenitsyn. Of the 18, only "Up from Modernity" by Charles Kessler is worth reading in itself (ironically it is the one piece written by a recently graduated Harvard student who had heard the address in person).

Because most of the book is of little value, I give it two stars. If I was to confine myself to just the address itself and the Kessler piece, my rating would be higher - perhaps four stars.

[Erik]

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 11, as one of Eight Books on the Topic of Utopianism and Coercion.

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Intro to Part Three, as one of Schall's Unlikely List of Books to Keep Sane By---Selected for Those to Whom Making Sense Is a Prior Consideration, but a Minority Opinion.