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The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956 (Part 1) [Paperback]

Alexander Solzhenitsyn , Thomas P.Whitney
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 660 pages
  • Publisher: Fontana; Reprint edition (Jun 1974)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0006336426
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006336426
  • Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 3.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 224,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

This is Solzhenisyn's masterwork extraorinary in its litary power and historical vision in structure,scale,multiplicity of incident and characters,emotional range,and above all in the staggering magnitude of its underlying concept.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting 4 Sep 2010
I was a bit surprised that I ended up liking this book so much. I have owned it for probably close to ten years without reading it, and I have only recently read "Cancer Ward" by the same author without having been terribly impressed. But there is something about the way he writes in this book that not only makes it interesting, but also quite entertaining. I admire him for being able to take such a wealth of information, from such a variety of sources, and condensing it down to something which has some semblance of continuation and coherence. If it is not known to the prospective buyer, this is a non-fiction book, and it is basically about the history of the prison system in the former Soviet Union, and more specifically about the exaggerated cruelty and impossible conditions of the same system under Stalinist rule. It describes how and why people were arrested, the interrogations used for information and sentencing, the day to day life and conditions of various prisons, etc. Another thing I like about the way it was written is that the author very rarely becomes emotional, and how it is clear that he still loves his country (and possibly even communism) despite its many faults. He allows himself to look at various situations from the side of the "powers that be", and his objectivity is a welcome alternative to a constantly whining tone, which he could have very easily adopted, what with his personal experience.
Just one note on the translation: As far as I can tell, it was done well - there were very few parts where something was unclear, and even then it was only a word or two - all in all it flowed very well.
The main thoughts I had while reading this book were: Has there ever been a (white) country as screwed up as Russia? and: How have Russians survived through such merciless times? I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Soviet history, and especially to anyone who claims that Nazi Germany was the cruelest and most senseless government/nation to date.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 2.1 out of 5 stars  39 reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept, but Lee a Weak Link 5 Jun 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Having thoroughly enjoyed Clarke's solo works, especially Rendezvous with Rama, I thought I would give Cradle a shot as that story idea looked interesting. I would soon be disappointed however as I began sinking in the quicksand that is Gentry Lee. If you are looking for a really good science fiction book, you should pass on this one and continue your search.

The first few hundred pages are filled with more-or-less pointless character development, clearly written by Lee, that would be perfectly at home in a Harlequin romance novel. A few pages of sci-fi, clearly written by Clarke, are interspersed so that the reader may be reminded that they paid $6 for a Clarke novel and not $2 for a grocery store romance tome. To be fair, I will admit that the general character interaction and background does come into play later on. But it just drags on and on and is littered with unnecessary sex scenes. I fail to understand Lee's obsession with writing about sex in the middle of a science fiction novel. Once would be OK, but after about the 4th time I found myself dropping the book and thinking "again?!" In addition, Lee's obsession with race, with each character being introduced as being black, white, Arab, Mexican, etc. is very annoying. The way that the race is then portrayed in the most cliché way is increasingly so. Lee may be an able and accomplished scientist, but his writing does not belong on the same pages with that of Arthur C. Clarke.

For some reason, probably because I had paid 900 yen for the book, I decided to stick with it and see the story through to the end. Around page 250 (of 408 total) the book got interesting. From that point forward I found myself wanting to continue to see what would happen next. But 250 pages is a lot to plod through before hitting something worth reading. In the end, the book wasn't that bad. The story could have been rather good had Clarke gone at it alone and focused the book on the sci-fi. As is stands, the bulk of this novel has very little to do with! sci-fi. So all-in-all, Cradle disappoints. The back cover says basically that something terrifying lies at the bottom of the ocean and could mean the extinction of the human race. This whole concept lasts maybe a dozen or so pages at the end of the novel and is never terrifying. The "scary" part is introduced and resolved so quickly that there is hardly time to assimilate it. And as the final words were read, I found myself wondering if the duo had just grown tired of the story as it seemed to suddenly end with several issues unresolved.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Gentry Lee begins his sabotage of Arthur Clarke 15 Aug 2005
By Aaron Lawrence - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I remember receiving this book with excitement. Arthur C Clarke was up until then a consistently good read: capturing, like few others, a real sense of wonder without belabouring his points.

This book was his first "collaboration" with Gentry Lee, and from here on his books completely lost me. Lee seems to be obsessed with rubbing our noses in the lesser qualities of humanity while Clarke always made me feel there was something better about us. In this respect I consider that Lee sabotages and subverts Arthur C Clarke's original style and visions. Likewise, he emphasises religious topics where Clarke was always refreshingly free of this.

He did the same thing with Rama, taking something wonderful and piling it up with low-grade human dross. In some respects his writing is realistic, but he is too pessimistic and seems to be fundamentally at odds with the genre he is in; he wants to write basic human drama but for some reason insists on doing it within science fiction trappings.

As others have said he is unfortunately not all that great at human drama anyway. There is a lot of effort expended, but characters somehow fail to convince me.

At the end of Cradle I was left feeling flat and uninterested, and I can't really remember much of the story.

The politest way to view this "collaboration" is that the "marketing department" simply chose to use Arthur C Clarke's name to boost a less-than-average writer. Clearly, Clarke has lost interest in the mechanics of writing, or at least no longer has the time for it. As a result I consider that he stopped writing some time ago and discount Cradle and the Rama sequels entirely.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars A Weak Effort! 9 Nov 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I generally love Arthur C. Clarke, but I have never felt a book I paid for was so worthless.

This book is far more about character development poorly done than the normal Clarke modus operandus of sci-fi well done.

Spend your dollars elsewhere.

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