We Never Make Mistakes: Two Short Novels

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Paul W. Blackstock (Translator)

In "An Incident at Krechetovka Station," a Red Army lieutenant is confronted by a disturbing straggler soldier and must decide what to do with him. "Matryona's House" is the tale of an old peasant woman, whose tenacious struggle against cold, hunger, and greedy relatives is described by a young man who only understands her after her death.

Genres: Fiction, Russia, Short Stories, Russian Literature, Classics, Literature, Historical Fiction

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

also known as
Alexander Solzenitsyn (English, alternate)
Αλεξάντρ Σολζενίτσιν (Greek)

Works, including One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) and The Gulag Archipelago (1973-1975), of Soviet writer and dissident Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, exposed the brutality of the labor camp system.

This known Russian novelist, dramatist, and historian best helped to make the world aware of the forced Gulag.

Exiled in 1974, he returned to Russia in 1994. Solzhenitsyn fathered of Ignat Solzhenitsyn, a conductor and pianist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksan...

Reviews

[Paula Mota · Rating 3 out of 5]

#JulhoNobel

3,5*

“A Casa de Matriona” é um retrato da verdadeira miséria humana, ou seja, material e espiritual, onde impera a cobiça e a mesquinhez dos que nada têm.

Não zelava pela casa… Não se matava a trabalhar para comprar coisas e depois cuidar delas mais do que da sua vida. Não corria atrás de adornos, de roupas, que enfeitam os monstros e os facínoras. Incompreendida e desprezada até pelo marido, tendo enterrado seis filhos, mas sem perder o seu carácter sociável (…) não juntou bens para a hora da morte. Uma cabra de um branco sujo, um gato coxo, algumas plantas...

Talvez se tenha perdido algo na tradução, mas sendo um dos títulos mais famosos de um autor agraciado com o Prémio Nobel, a escrita de Soljenitsin não brilha o suficiente para mim.

*********************
DNF @15%
“Incidente na estação de Kotchetovka”

[Nercs · Rating 2 out of 5]

دوستش نداشتم. نویسنده با بال و پر به داستان اوج می‌گرفت و جذبت می‌کرد، اما یهو با مخ می‌کوبوندت به زمین و با یه پایان هول هولکی و مسخره داستانش رو تموم می‌کرد.

[Alireza · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب شامل دوتا داستان نسبتا کوتاه از سولژنیتسین میشه. خیلی همه چیز معمولی هست توی این کتاب.
نویسنده که خب معرف حضور همه هستش و با مجمع‌الجزایر گولاگ شناخته میشه. شاید اگر نویسنده روس نبود یا شخص ناآشنایی بود امتیاز بیشتری میگرفت ولی خب انتظارات که از اول بالا باشه، باعث میشه به اون چیزی که توی ذهن ساخته شده نرسید.
بزرگترین مشکل کتاب اینه که از زبان انگلیسی ترجمه شده و توی این دوره زمونه که چندتا مترجم روس تراز اول در حال کار هستند، دیگه پذیرفتنی نیست که بعضی اسامی با تلفظ نادرست نوشته شه یا یه سری لغات اول از روسی به معادلی انگلیسی تبدیل بشه و بعد از اونیه معادل فارسی براش پیدا بشه. به همین دلیل بعضی جاها کلمات عجیب هستند که با یه ذره فکر کردن مشخص میشه به خاطر خطای تغییر زبان هستش
در مورد داستان «خانه ماتریونا» توی کتاب خودش می‌نویسم و اینجا فقط از «واقعه ایستگاه کرچی توفکا» میگم. داستان در مورد یک ایستگاه قطار هستش و مسئول اون ستوان زوتوف که شخص منضبط و قانونمندی هستش ولی همچنان درگیر رویاها و فانتزی‌های کمونیستی هستش و با اینکه وسط‌های جنگ جهانی دوم هست، هنوز نمیتونه یه سری واقعیت‌ها رو تشخیص بده. داستان در کل داستان خوش‌خوان و خوبی هستش و یه بخشی از شرایط زندگی مردم، سختی‌ها و آوارگی‌شون تو اون دوره رو به تصویر می‌کشه.

[Mehmet]

Tren vagonlarının altından üfüren karın bütün soğukluğunu okurda hissettiren, bir lokma ekmeğin açlığını, hayal kırıklığını, şüpheyi, korkuyu, tedirginliği insana iliklerine kadar hissettiren iki ayrı kitabın ve hikayenin yer aldığı bir kitap bu. Küçük hacmine aldanmayın. Genç Bir Doktorun Not Defteri gibi insanın hafızasında yer edinecek bir eser.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still surprised that Solzhenitsyn was such a good writer.
Of these two short novellas I particularly liked the first which out of very unpromising material weaves an elegant and moving story about the confused state of mind likely to have existed here and there in the Soviet Union in 1941. The country had been drawn into war and the novella sucessfully and interestingly dissects the thoughts of just one young man. However, through his work and circumstances we learn so much about confusion in the whole country. It was Solzhenitsyn's literary genius to make the man work for the railways.
The other novella is good too, maybe more readily and universally understood, about human greed. In a way it is shocking to realise that even in the 1953 Russia material possessions counted for something.
The only thing marring this slim volume is the translation. My copy was published in 1974 when the fashion was evidently to add translator's comments in square brackets - very distracting.

[Smith Winston · Rating 3 out of 5]

4/3

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gem of a book that I found in a second hand bookstore. These were early stories before Solzhenitsyn became (in)famous with his later publications that landed him in jail. He captures the cold, greed, gridlock of Soviet-era bureacracy and the struggle for survival amidst deminished resources with dexterity. I had difficulty with some of his dialogue, as he refused to identify who was speaking (even when there were more than two people in the scene) and one had to make some intelligent guesses - these parts read like a play to me. Yet his emerging objectivity and detachment, that was later to blossom in Ivan Denisovitch, The First Circle and Cancer Ward is evident in this early work.

[E8RaH!M · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتابی با دو داستان نیمه بلند هست که سولژنیتسین، نویسنده‌ی معروف روس نوشته. به شهرت کتاب‌های دیگرش نیست اما نگاه انتقادیش به جامعه‌ی روسیه‌ی بعد از انقلاب اکتبر همچنان برقراره.

سولژنیتسین در این دو داستان شما را وارد یک محیط معمول با رفتارهای معمول می‌کنه. هیچ نکته‌ی متمایزی وجود نداره تا این که یک اتفاق نامعمول رخ میده. تنش ایجاد میشه، یا به قول داستان نویس‌ها، قطار از ریل خارج می‌شه.

از اینجای داستان که معمولا میانه‌های هر دو داستان هست جذابیت به داستان رو میاره و خواننده جذب می‌شه.
اما این خروج از ریل برای شخصیت‌های داخل داستان چندان نامتجانس و غیر عادی نیست. کاملا در کالبد داستان تعریف شده‌است. یعنی رفتارها برای اشخاص داخل داستان‌ها کاملا عادی و طبیعی است.

نویسنده کمی بعد، اندکی از محیط داستان فاصله می‌گیرد. مثل نقاشی که چند گام دورتر می‌ایستد تا نمای کاملی از اثرش را ببیند، و نمای مشمئز کننده‌ی رفتارهای شخصیت‌های داستان- که همان جامعه‌ی روسیه است- را به خواننده نشان می‌دهد.


به شخصه از این طراحی/نقاشی لذت بردم.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não me foi fácil atribuir as estrelas a este livro. Oscilei de 3 a 5. Estabeleci as 4, sentindo que numa segunda leitura poderia tanto dar-lhe 5 como 3. É um belíssimo livro, sem dúvida. Soljenítsin arquitecta as narrativas de modo interessante e algo invulgar. Tem um ritmo que talvez esteja mais próximo da peça de teatro. Os acontecimentos não se antecipam, nem se revelam como um todo, mas vão-se revelando. É esse o ritmo. A casa da Matriona é uma das belas novelas que li. O Incidente na Estação de Kotchetovka vai ganhando dimensão. Em ambos os casos, a preocupação em revelar uma Rússia em que cada um procura encontrar o seu lugar entre a revolução e a guerra, e em que, nessa procura, as vidas se cruzam das formas mais inesperadas, mas definitivamente marcante. Os episódios são autênticos, trazendo uma outra leitura ao que é narrado.

[Arian Fouladiasl · Rating 2 out of 5]

ناراحتم، واقعا فکر میکردم از تک تک آثار سولژنیتسین خوشم بیاد و عاشقشون بشم ولی واقعا نتونستم این کتابو بخونم نمیدونم مشکل چی بود، ترجمه‌ش سخت و بد بود؟ نمیدونم ولی ممکنه ولی در کل حیف شد که اینطوری شد

[diario_de_um_leitor_pjv · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A Casa de Matriona" 5⭐️
Uma história carregada de simbolismo e de memória de um tempo que se perdeu.

"O Incidente na estação..." 3⭐️
Escapou-me algo? Que história estranha...

[Murat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rus edebiyatının gerçekçi tadını, "sıradan" insanlara dair anlatıları özlemişim.

Amerikan edebiyatındakiler insan değil mi? İnsan tabi. Ama Rus edebiyatındaki karakterleri, evrimsel olarak türüme daha yakın bulduğumdan olsa gerek, daha bir bağ kuruyor, daha bir seviyorum. :)

(Privyet Deyzem, Matriyona Deyzem, padades mi yaptın yine?)

[Onur · Rating 5 out of 5]

80’li yılların sonunda, çocukken evdeki Gulag Takım Adaları’ndan ismini hep hatırladığım Soljenitsin tarafından yazılmış, birbirinden güzel iki novella! Her ikisinde de kendinizi bir anda öykünün içinde hissediyor, keyifle okuyorsunuz.

[Becca Loo · Rating 4 out of 5]

first of all, one of the most bad ass titles everrr. the first story, "an incident at kerchetovka station" follows lieutenant zotov. the short novel is only 60 pages and not very eventful. we meet zotov in october performing his rather mundane task of overseeing certain trains through the station. it's obvious we're in russia during wartimes against germany. as a lieutenant he's not supposed to know too much about which trains go where and which echelons do what. late one night 4 soldiers are sent to him to be dealt with. they haven't eaten in 11 days but the rations office closed at 5 and cannot be opened. these soldiers are en route to the front lines with a large shipment of shovels packed in factory grease. why they are sealed in grease i have no idea but it makes for interesting imagery and sounds kinda kinky if you ask me. these men had the unfortunate luck of arriving at ration points at night, since the ration offices are open from 10-5 and regulation strictly denies rations to be given any other time these men have starved for 11 effing days. now they are refusing to go on with or without their cargo. these men are obviously kind of retarded for not asking even civilians for a handout. zotov allows them to stay the night til the office opens in the morning and their cargo is postponed. as a parting zotov reminds them how important their shovels are to men on the front line digging trenches not that they really care in the state theyre in. next a straggler who accidentally got separated from his echelon when at a station where he tried to sell some of his clothes for food comes in to zotov for help. since during wartime they never used train whistles in case the enemy heard them the straggler had no warning of his train leaving. zotov questions the straggler, tveritinov, asking him why he has no papers and how he got all the way to this station without any. apparently a man without papers is as good as dead because there's no proof that he isn't an enemy so according to russian logic he must be one. tveritinov hid on trains hoping to catch up with his group but now is so hungry and unsure of the direction he's headed that he had to get off and be at the mercy of whichever commanding officer on duty. at first zotov completely believes him and even feels sorry for the guy until the man reveals that he doesn't know where stalingrad is since zotov can't imagine a soviet citizen not knowing this he assumes he's a spy. he escorts the man to be arrested just in case. since this is soviet russia any suspicion is almost a sure indicator of guilt or at least punishment. when zotov inquires about the mans fate in december he is told, "we'll take of your tveritinov. we never make mistakes." shit, sonnnn, sucks to be tveritinov.

the second short novel, "matryona's house" is even shorter coming at a perfect 40 pages. the main character is ignatich a man who was recently released from a prison camp after 10 years labor for suspicion of subversion (apparently there's a lot of this going around at the time and solzhenitsyn is the go to guy for these stories). he longs to leave the desert outskirts where his gulag was situated and return to the woodlands of mother russia. he buys a ticket to vysokoe pole or high fields where he's assigned to torf produkt or peat products. fortunately he gets a job as a math teacher and goes around to the izba's (one room peasant huts) trying to find a place to stay. life is hard here and it's customary for people to take in lodgers to help with the work. he decides to stay at mattryona's because she lives alone. her place is unkempt and she is often sick but the old woman is kind. they live together for awhile getting to know each other. matryona is thought of as odd by the other villagers. her husband left to war and never returned, all of her six children died young, and more than anything she enjoys work. she helps many of her friends and relatives without compensation because she really doesn't mind. stuff happens and i'm too tired to write it out but she dies. after her death ignatich finds out more about her life particularly that everyone thinks she's kinda stupid for not taking money for her helping others. she never wanted much or kept many possessions and for that she was thought of as strange. solzhenitsyn ends the story with this: "we all live beside her, and never understood that she was that righteous one without whom, according to the proverb, no village can stand. nor any city. nor our whole land." that pretty much sums it up. even her name reminds me of the word martyr. her old fashioned ways are rare and the new russia doesn't even see the value of sacrifice until it is gone. the whole book is 100 pages, really easy to read and i liked it. although now that i told you the whole story it might be kind of boring. but it your a first timer i'd recommend "one day in the life of ivan denisovitch" to pop your solzhenitsyn cherry.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The two novellas which make up this book were originally published in 1963, just after his highly acclaimed One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962), which was one of the first fictional accounts about the repressive stalinist regime allowed publication in the Soviet Union. It is interesting to see how both novellas prefigure some of his later work.

An Incident at Krechetova Station, while set during the second world war recalls the later August 1914. Its graphic but quiet depiction of the logistic shambles of a railroad station under military control is masterful. It is in this context that overworked, concientious and naive lieutenant Zotov´s tragic decision to arrest a straggler as a spy is set. Solzhenitsyn shows Zotov as a sympathetic character, well-meaning, struggling manfully to remain true to himself, his absent wife and small child of whom he has not heard since the German army occupied his home town, and the Revolution. He is nice, kindly and essentially and fatefully faithful, in spite of his growing doubts about the conduct of the war. To his credit, his decision to arrest the straggler haunts him as he feebly and ineffectually attempts to find out whether his suspicions were well-founded without drawing unwelcome attention to himself from the secret police. In short, the novella points at how easy it is for common human decency to succumb, at a key moment, to the cold, paralyzing State-induced machinery of repression.

There is a russian proverb, that stretches back to the biblical story of Lot, to the effect that without a righteous person, no village can stand. In my opinion, Matryona´s House, written in 1959, gives a highly original and poignant twist to this proverb by marrying it to the very russian conception of the holy fool. In this story, a detached outsider, a former Gulag prisoner observes how in the debased and corrupt soviet village life, the truly meek and righteous is treated as a contemptible fool who must be taken advantage of. The novella prefigures Solzhenitsyn´s later writings on the need for civilization to return to spiritual values:

Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened." Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened. [Ericson, Edward E. Jr. (October 1985) "Solzhenitsyn – Voice from the Gulag," Eternity, pp. 23–4)]

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krechetovka evokes the sinister darkness of the USSR. Matryona evokes an ages-old Russia still found in it.

[Rita Moura de Oliveira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Na boa tradição russa, Aleksandr Soljenítsin descreve na perfeição o ambiente opressivo de uma aldeia de meados do século XX. Através de Matriona, uma viúva pobre, generosa e de hábitos simples, retrata a restante sociedade, onde o egoísmo e a inveja predominam. Matriona é, no fundo, uma «simples», alguém a quem ninguém liga mas que acaba por fazer falta a todos. Até que um dia isso se torna bem evidente.

Como o próprio conto esteve para se chamar, «sem um simples não há aldeia que se aguente».

A segunda história fala-nos de um tenente responsável por um entroncamento de caminhos de ferro durante a guerra, e de como se deixa fascinar por um estranho que um dia por ali aparece. Gostei também, pelo ambiente, apesar de por vezes me ter perdido pelo nome das muitas personagens para um conto tão curto.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

HELLO is this the dispatcher?
UH?
Who is this, Dyachikin?
UH?
Don't give me UH, I'm asking you, is this Dyachikhin.

The old man smacked his thick pale lips and didn't answer right away - his words never came right away. It was as if they arrived limping on crutches from wherever they were born.

[Juan Hidalgo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soy un fan incondicional de solzhenitsyn, aunque este no es uno de sus mejores libros sí está muy en su línea habitual.

[Emre · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Akıl almaz savaşın sürüp gidişinden duyduğu eziklik ve hüngür hüngür ağlayamamaktı asıl sıkıntısı." Sf:11

"Cepheye giden bir askerciğe acınmaz da kime acınır?" Sf:39

[Shatterlings · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting pair of stories that it’s possible to read in an afternoon, the first one is about the bureaucracy of war and the second about an old lady. They are both kind of sad and bleak.

[Jon Howlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up - neither were especially interesting

[rosshalde · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this book I remember why I love Soljenitsin. His expressions and subject which were choosen by him are just adorable.

About book; Both stories are cool but I especially amazed by "Matryona's House". Relations between russian villagers have remarkable determinations. I think Soljenitsin was tried to explain the concept of humanism through Matryona and I found it very impressive.


Kitap 2 öyküden oluşuyor. İlki idealist bir sovyet vatandaşı olan Zotov'un gönüllü olarak orduya katılması ile görevlendirildiği Kreçetovka istasyonu üzerinden savaş dönemi sovyetleri anlatmakla beraber istasyona gelen bir yabancı üzerinden hümanizm-idealizm çelişkisi içerisinde kalan Teğmen Zotov'un kısa hikayesini de anlatıyor diyebiliriz. Sadakat, savaş döneminde insanları birbirine yakınlaştıran diğer insani duygular ve kişinin konumunun getirdiği görev bilincinin çatışması durumu ile meydana gelen olaylar ve düşünceler üzerine Soljenitsin'in alışıldık akıcı ve yalın anlatımına sahip bir öykü.

Bir diğer öykü olan "Matryona'nın Evi" ise uzun zamandır Soljenitsin okumadığıma beni pişman etmiştir. Öyküden etkilenmemek mümkün değil çünkü tamamen insani duygular üzerine yazılmış, bu apaçık ortada. Öykünün ilk bölümü 1950'li yılların Sovyet Rusya'sında köylülerin haklarının göz ardı edilmesi, çektikleri zorluklar üzerine iken 2. bölümünde karakterlerin ikili ilişkilerine daha çok ağırlık vererek dönemin hümanizm anlayışını sorguladığını düşünüyorum. Spoiler olmayacağını düşünerek şunu da eklemek isterim ki; Soljenitsin'in öyküyü bitirirken;

"Bir atasözünün de dediği gibi onsuz hiç bir köyün ayakta duramayacağı o dürüst insandı Matryona. Ne köyün, ne kentin, ne de tüm yurdumuzun" demesi öykünün nasıl bir mesaj vermek istediğini açıkça ortaya koyuyor. Aslında bu kadar açık bir şekilde bazı mesajları belirtmesi şaşırtıcı olabilir ama bu dönemin gerçekçi rus yazarlarının genel olarak kullandığı bir yöntemdir. Hatta bunun ilk örneklerinden biri aynı döneme ait olmasa da yaklaşık bir 100 yıl öncesinde yazılmış olan Çernişevski'nin "Nasıl Yapmalı?" sıdır da diyebilirim.

Benzer eserlerle ilgilenenlerin kesinlikle beğeneceğini düşündüğüm bir Soljenitsin eseri, okuma fırsatını bulursanız es geçmeyin derim. :)

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contrary to what one might expect, I actually read "Matryona's House" for a History course, rather than a literature one. As a fan of Russian Literature, I've been meaning to read Solzhenitsyn for quite a long time now ("A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch" is sitting in my to-read pile, waiting for summer when I have free time). Overall, I found "Matryona's House" a worthwhile read, which manages to say a lot in its few pages. Though I usually prefer writers who employ a bit more description than Solzhenitsyn does, I still found his portrait of life in "the heart of Russia" during the Soviet Union to be well-drawn. I found myself wishing for more character development, especially of the narrator, who mentions his time spent in prison. Solzhenitsyn never elaborates on this, so I was unsure whether his narrator was meant to be a fictional version of Solzhenitsyn himself. I think more understanding of the main character's past and reasons for wanting to live in the simplicity of rural peasant life would have satisfied me more.

That being said, I found the story's ending immensely powerful, understated in its tragedy, and truly worthy of reflection. Solzhenitsyn forces us to question the minute ways in which we use people, without even realizing how much we need them until they're gone.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Solzhenitsyn I ever read. I checked it out of the library on a "whim" (haha) and enjoyed it thoroughly. It is the reason I kept reading his books and therefore, helped me discover one of my favourite authors. He is just so readable yet relevant at the same time.

[Emirhan AVCI · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ne varsa Rusya'da, Rus toplumunda var, gerisi fasa fiso.

[Metin Yılmaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yazarın okuduğum ilk kitabı. Her iki öyküyü de beğendim. Çevirisi de oldukça iyi ve akıcı.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of boring but worth it for the icon of a Matryona

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really vibe with the writing style. The narrative didn't make sense in my head and I found it to be quite confusing.

The first story was more engaging, while the second didn't grip me at all. Even though it was short, I found it dreading. Perhaps the writing style didn't suit me.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most entertaining short stories, at least for me, though some will enjoy them. I seem to have trouble enjoying the Russian writers for some reason, not sure why. This piece even had an "older" feel to it, and I had the feeling they could even have been shorter. I know he is considered a great writer, and I liked Gulag, but I finished this with a "ho hum." Hopefully I will not be cornered by any of Putin's men or hacked by Russian operatives.