Solzhenitsyn: A Pictorial Autobiography

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

English, French, Russian (translation)

Genres: Biography, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

88 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

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

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quiet book that collects Solzhenitsyn's writings (both personal and from his fiction) to give a brief portrait of his life. The photos are rare (some from his days in the gulag, one taken with a handmade camera) and are arranged chronologically. We can trace the lines on his face as he ages. His eyes have a stolid dignity that is fascinating. I say this is a quiet book because it really needs to be read slowly and in the solitude of a quiet place. It was interesting to read the pieces of his fiction that directly related his own life. After finishing this book, I now have a strong desire to delve back into his writing and pick up the works I haven't had a chance to read.

[Scott Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We almost never can evaluate and, through consequences, immediately become fully conscious of events which have already happened to us; all the more unpredictable and surprising for us is the course of events to come.” This is a very concise autobiography of the famous Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The words that describe his life come to life with the accompanying photographs.

[Shaun Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw another review that said this is a "hasty, informative book." This is fairly short, less an autobiography and more a few pages written by Solzhenitsyn in explanation. The book is full of bleak images, beautiful in the same simple way as the writing. I found this at an antique store for 5$, and as a random treasure found, this was worth finding.

[Jeff Pavlick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hasty, informative book that included many interesting photos

- "During all the years in exile I taught mathematics and physics in a rural school, and given my austere and solitary way of life, secretly wrote prose"

- "There I was under open surveillance, reported on every fortnight, and for a long time, the local police headquarters had not even allowed me, a dying man, to go away for treatment. I could not talk about all this to the free patients around me; had I done so they would not have understood"

- "Which place on Earth should you love more? The place where you crawled out of the womb, a screaming infant, understanding nothing, not even the evidence of your eyes and ears? Or the place where they first said to you, "All right, you can go without a guard now, you can go - by yourself"? on your own two legs. "Take up thy bed and walk!"

- "Works which draw on truth and present it to us in live and concentrated form grip us, compellingly involve us, and no one ever, not even ages hence, will come forth to refute them."

- "Throughout the years up to 1961, not only was I convinced that I would never in my life see a line of mine in print but I also did not dare read anything to most of even my close friends for fear of divulgence."

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting pictorial autobiography; felt as if I were going through his family album of photos. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn deserves a much wider readership; to me he represents the 'cog' a man becomes in a totalitarian state. Even if that 'cog' 'works' as the system dictates it can still be replaced - one overheard conversation, one letter found or even shaking the hand of someone who has been branded 'suspicious' - and you are ripped out and thrown on the junk heap of the state. Powerful and haunting.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and informative in a very elementary way. Just what I needed to gain a little bit of knowledge about the history before I begin reading the literature.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this at a small library bookstore. I'm glad I did.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10