I wonder how many readers of this fine blog know who he is? Or know or have heard of the barren steppe.
Your post sparked the memory of his book Gulag Archipelango,read at least 20+ years ago in high school.
It blew my mind at the time to think that a country could and would do such things to it's own. It was almost unbelievable to me at that time.
Now I not only believe it, I see the land I live in doing pretty much the same thing to IT'S OWN AND OTHERS AS WELL.
I remember in the 90's reading about his huge disappointment that most of the russian people hadn't even read his books,and I see it happening here as well: no one paying attention to the lives and happenings around them.
We really never learn. At least some of us will be left(God willing) that prepare,and think,that such atrocities are possible and can indeed happen!
RIP. He wasn't one of us, proving it in spades with his later writings as a "free" man and his realization that not all folks are ready for a USA-type living situation. We're quickly proving that we are not ready for that, either.
But he got me going. "One Day...", "the Gulag...", "the First Circle", plus whatever else I've been able to find on how that place worked to sustain itself for so long. Some of the drama from AR's "We the Living" can be tranferred to how life might be if the Messiah gets voted in.
There's not many new ways for people to behave. It's good that AS wrote a few good books. Armed with what he showed the world, we can make better decisions regarding the plans of our latter masters.
To "Pragmatist" readers: Buck up. "The First Circle" is about a much better camp than "Ivan" was about. Hope abounds, keep on keeping on.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1911-2008)
I wonder how many readers of this fine blog know who he is? Or know or have heard of the barren steppe.
ReplyDeleteYour post sparked the memory of his book Gulag Archipelango,read at least 20+ years ago in high school.
It blew my mind at the time to think that a country could and would do such things to it's own. It was almost unbelievable to me at that time.
Now I not only believe it, I see the land I live in doing pretty much the same thing to IT'S OWN AND OTHERS AS WELL.
I remember in the 90's reading about his huge disappointment that most of the russian people hadn't even read his books,and I see it happening here as well: no one paying attention to the lives and happenings around them.
We really never learn. At least some of us will be left(God willing) that prepare,and think,that such atrocities are possible and can indeed happen!
Rest in Peace indeed.
Oh yeah! CIII
ReplyDeleteRIP. He wasn't one of us, proving it in spades with his later writings as a "free" man and his realization that not all folks are ready for a USA-type living situation. We're quickly proving that we are not ready for that, either.
ReplyDeleteBut he got me going. "One Day...", "the Gulag...", "the First Circle", plus whatever else I've been able to find on how that place worked to sustain itself for so long. Some of the drama from AR's "We the Living" can be tranferred to how life might be if the Messiah gets voted in.
There's not many new ways for people to behave. It's good that AS wrote a few good books. Armed with what he showed the world, we can make better decisions regarding the plans of our latter masters.
To "Pragmatist" readers: Buck up. "The First Circle" is about a much better camp than "Ivan" was about. Hope abounds, keep on keeping on.