Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago

If you got past that title, I'm impressed. Takes a few swallows, anyway. Hullo, waiter! Can we have some definitions please?

Solzhenitsyn (sōl'zhə-nēt'sĭn):
Soviet writer and political dissident whose novels exposed the brutality of Soviet labor camps

gulag (gōō'läg):

system of prisons and labor camps, especially for political detainees, in the former Soviet Union; rough acronym from Rus. Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel'no-trudovykh lagerei "Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps," set up in 1931

archipelago (är'kə-pěl'ə-gō'):
a large group or chain of islands

So we see that my title roughly translates to A Russian Historian's book about a System of Prisons in the former Soviet Union. I suppose that wasn't so bad after all. Now for the story.

The Gulag Archipelago is a finger in the dike of Russian history. Counting executed persons per published paragraph, the Soviet travesty is spread pretty thin. As Solzhenitsyn says, "Peasants are a silent people, without a literary voice, nor do they write complaints or memoirs." (24)

The cold brutality of the Soviets, no doubt a large part of what Gulag is known for, is real. Still, it is not the main fabric of the book. Though the story cannot help but be sensational, this element is not overemphasized and deliberate space is granted to philosophical reflection.

The metaphor used by Solzhenitsyn of an archipelago is quite suitable. The camps and prisons were scattered all across Russia; it was a country within a country, with its own economy, transportation, and citizens. Here, away from the public eye, mock trials, torture, interminable interrogations, and executions to the tune of a thousand per month* could continue unhindered. "Heave the corpses into the water, and pretty soon the surface is all smooth again and no one's the wiser." (437)

Solzhenitsyn writes in a continuous tone of dry sarcasm, without being bitter. He knows the pen will outmaneuver the sword eventually, and sees no reason to hurry it. The stories roll on, line upon line, precept upon precept, irony upon irony.

In a footnote, the author boldly answers the question all readers are anxiously asking: "Here is what is most surprising of all: one can be a human being despite everything!" (20) Though from time to time Solzhenitsyn deplores the failure of himself and his countrymen to offer any substantial resistance against injustice, he never misses an opportunity to showcase the astonishing resilience of the human spirit. "'Hands behind your back! Line up in pairs! No talking! No stopping!' Such were the commands, but they forgot to forbid us to throw back our heads. And, of course, we did just that." (211)

This is by most standards a rather long book, and possibly best left to tedious people like me, unless you happen to be interested in 20th century Russian history, and why people do bad things, and what the two might have to do with one another. If you choose to read it, be forewarned: once you start, finishing becomes almost like a duty to mankind.

To the ones left behind who are picking up the pieces
of planes, bombs, and buildings - of innocence and evil
‘Cause when the news and noise and flowers die,
and you still wake up alone
There is a God who knows every tear you cry
and this world is on His shoulders

-Sandra McCracken, Best Laid Plans, "Age After Age"

*Page 435. All quotations from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago (New York: Harper & Row, 1974)
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