Ilse’s Reviews > The Zone: A Prison Camp Guard's Story > Status Update
Ilse
is on page 41 of 177
I came to the conclusion that it is stupid to divide people into good and evil. And also into Communists and non-Party members, into villains and righteous, and even into men and women. Since the time of Aristotle the human brain has not changed. What is more, human consciousness has not changed.And this means there is no progress. There is only movement, unsteady at its foundation.
— Mar 04, 2026 09:53AM
63 likes · Like flag
Ilse’s Previous Updates
Ilse
is on page 125 of 177
Has it occurred to you that socialist art aspires to be something like magic?You draw a bison on a rock face&that evening you get something hot to eat.Bureaucrats of official art reason the same way.If you portray something that’s positive,then everyone will be all right.But if it’s something negative,the opposite result will occur.If you depict a Stakhanovite feat of labour,it follows that everyone will work hard.
— Mar 14, 2026 05:42AM
Ilse
is on page 87 of 177
You write very well about the costs of freedom,freedom as a constant goal but also as a heavy burden.Consider what is going on here in the émigré community.Driver's licenses can be bought for 100 dollars,a graduate degree for 250.It is painful to think that all this vileness is born of freedom,for freedom is equally gracious to the bad and the good.Under its rays,both gladiolas and marijuana flower with equal speed.
— Mar 12, 2026 06:22AM
Ilse
is on page 14 of 177
Everything went downhill & as a culmination of all this–guard duty in a prison camp.What I saw there shocked me completely.For the first time,I understood what freedom is, &cruelty &violence.I saw freedom behind bars,cruelty as senseless as poetry,violence as common as dampness.But life continued.What is more,life’s usual proportions stayed the he same. The ratio of good and evil,grief &happiness,remained unchanged.
— Feb 28, 2026 11:10AM
Comments Showing 1-10 of 10 (10 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Netta
(new)
Mar 04, 2026 10:48AM
I’m so happy to see you are reading Dovlatov, Ilse! He’s one of my all time favourite authors, so I’d love to know what you think of this book ;)
reply
|
flag
Netta wrote: "I’m so happy to see you are reading Dovlatov, Ilse! He’s one of my all time favourite authors, so I’d love to know what you think of this book ;)"Glad to hear that, Netta! I have been wanting to read Dovlatov since a friend on GR brought him to my attention when I joined GR ten years ago but it wasn't easy to find copies of his work. You can imagine how my heart made a little jump the moment I spotted a couple of translations into Dutch in the library after so many years :). Three years ago, I read the The Compromise, and after this will head for The Suitcase. Any of your favourites you would particularly recommend?
Ilse wrote: Glad to hear that, Netta! I have bee..."The Compromise and The Suitcase are actually my all-time favourites by Dovlatov. If, after reading The Zone and The Suitcase, you’d like to continue exploring his work, I’d recommend A Foreign Woman (but I’m totally biased — it just happens to be one of my comfort (re)reads).
The denial of progress is nicely revolutionary(or perhaps counter revolutionary 😁)
Of course the human brain changes, Ilse: It adjusts to changing circumstances. Do we bless slavery today as Aristotle did?
Julio wrote: "Of course the human brain changes, Ilse: It adjusts to changing circumstances. Do we bless slavery today as Aristotle did?"I believe she was quoting from the book rather than giving her own opinion
Netta wrote: The Compromise and The Suitcase are actually my all-time favourites by Dovlatov. If, after reading The Zone and The Suitcase, you’d like to continue I’d recommend A Foreign Woman (but I’m totally biased — it just happens to be one of my comfort (re)reads)...."The Compromise was superb, so you make me look forward even more to 'The Suitcase', thank you very much, Netta - and having such comfort (re)reads simply what we need in these confusing times. I marked 'A Foreign Woman' as 'to read', hopefully I'll be able to find a copy(It hasn't been translated into Dutch, but I see I can read it in English on the 'Internet Archive' website, where I also found an English edition of 'The Zone'.
Jan-Maat wrote: "The denial of progress is nicely revolutionary(or perhaps counter revolutionary 😁)"You perfecty capture how this narrator is in two minds about life, his work and the regime in which he is a cog that cannot stop thinking :)
Julio wrote: "Of course the human brain changes, Ilse: It adjusts to changing circumstances. Do we bless slavery today as Aristotle did?"Fortunately we don't! Thoughts and views change(d), but did the brain, Julio? This shows the risk of quoting only a part because this update box is so limited. Dovlatov points at the circumstances, which clarifies his point on the weak foundation of change:
A person changes unrecognizably under the pressure of his environment, and in a camp, especially so.
People in prominent leadership positions dissolve without a trace among the camp riffraff. Knowledge Society lecturers fill the rans of stoolies. Physical culture instructors become incorrigilbe drug addicts. Embezzlers of government property write poetry.
In critical surroundings, people change. They change for the good or the bad. From better to worse and the other way round.
Jan-Maat:I believe she was quoting from the book rather than giving her own opinion..."Indeed, thank you - by only quoting a part, I only add to confusion and misunderstanding, which I don't want to.
Het zal me leren 😢
