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4.0 out of 5 stars
very interesting commentary surrounding story, 23 Aug 2008
Interesting short story reflecting Solzhenitsyn's preoccupation with Soviet bureaucracy. More interesting, though are the letters and editorial opinions at the end demonstrating the brief intellectual ferment that flourished in the early 1960s, albeit within the confines of Soviet assumptions, before Khrushchov's ouster gave way to the dead hand of Brezhnev and the imposition of cultural as well as political uniformity.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting dissection of a goood short story, 26 Sep 2004
'FTGOTC' contains a single of Solzhenitsyn's short stories, and it wasn't until after buying the book that I realised it was one that I had read elsewhere, in 'Stories and Prose Poems' to be precise. However, this wasn't as much of a disappointment as you might think, because the introduction and appendix gave me a whole new perspective on Solzhenitsyn and his struggle in post-Stalinist Russia, and the story itself.
The story is very simple, as with all his prose that I have read. A group of schoolchildren have worked tirelessly to build themselves a new technical college, because the old one has become cramped and dilapidated. However, as they finally prepare to move in, they find that the local government have reassigned the new building to a new national institute instead. There is some implied shady dealing from Khabalygin, the man who has promised the building to the technical college, but stands to gain from the institute. There is also the appearance of block-headed bureaucracy in the shape of Knorozov, a local official.
The story was written and set in the USSR after Kruschev had renounced Stalinism in favour of less centralised government. However, Solzhenitsyn's story suggests that these reforms hadn't been entirely successful, and contrasts the Leninist approach of the teachers and Grachikov (which could be summarised as being for 'the good of the people') and the more Stalinist approach of Knozorov and the bureaucrats ('for the good of the cause'). It was for this assertation, that Kruschev's USSR was not as Leninist as it claimed, and had failed to repudiate its Stalinist heritage, that Solzhenitsyn got into trouble with the authorities.
The introduction to the story gives a brief outline of Solzhenitsyn's life and work, before giving a historical sketch of the controversy surrounding this story in particular, including reference to a printed debate about it in the Soviet literature. The appendix actually reproduces these letters. I found this valuable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it helped put the story in perspective, giving a contemporary Soviet perspective view of how literature and ideology interact. Secondly, it shows how the debate was carried out in public, which wasn't quite as draconian or secretive as I had imagined.
In short, the story itself is a very well written comment on 1960s USSR. If you want to read it along with other of his classic short stories, then buy 'Short Stories and Prose Poems', and not this book. If, however, you prefer a single short story to be very nicely explained, dissected and put into context 'For the Good of the Cause' is a very good place to go.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
perhaps not just for fans, 17 May 2004
The edition of this book that I read had a fantastic section on the life of the author which was longer than the story itself. However, this is because it is only a short story. Whilst it has all of Solzhenitzin's rich characterisation, it isn't nearly long enough to get to grips with the characters.
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