#one day in the life of ivan denisovich

[moonofiron]

“Come on, paw me as hard as you like. There's nothing but my soul in my chest.”

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, tr. Ralph Parker

[unlikelysaintdelele]

I’ve been thinking about “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.”

i’m not usually the type to read Russian literature. The most famous examples of it incite trembling fear (/j) in me due to the sheer size of their texts. These texts being Anna Karenina and War & Peace. But this book, Ivan Denisovich, was part of a required reading for one of my classes. Not this semester, but it remains on my mind nonetheless.

As to why I’ve been thinking about Ivan, I’ve always felt something about it was edited. In the sense that something had been written there but was taken out or covered up. Or more so somewhat avoided? It’s like the author was told to remove it but, instead of completely doing away with it, he chose to stubbornly beat around the bush.

There’s two characters that stand out to me. I will be using their original spellings rather than the altered westernized versions. Mind you, it’s been a hot second since I read the book so I don’t remember who was who, but I believe they were Tsezar and Buynovsky. This seemingly rich man and the guy he seemed to… like? Dote on? I don’t know, but it was definitely some type of favoritism.

Something about their relationship, especially near the end of the book, felt more intimate than the author was letting on. I remember talking about it with a classmate, how their relationship was different from everyone else’s. While everyone based their relationships on favors and opportunities, the relationship between Tsezar and Buynovsky was based on… enjoyment of each other’s company?

This is a bit difficult to explain as I don’t remember the second guy as clearly and I haven’t read the book recently. Maybe I’m looking too deeply into it, but their relationship felt vaguely queer coded to me (and at least one other person as far as I’m aware) while reading it. That’s all I really wanted to say. Not to take away from the very important themes and takeaways from the book, of course.

[lythrontiro-argestes]

How can you expect a man who's warm to understand a man who's cold?

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

[softboiledwonderland]

"In our village, folk say God crumbles up the old moon into stars." "What savages!" The captain laughed. "I've never heard that one. Then you believe in God, Shukhov?" "Why not?" asked Shukhov, surprised. "Hear Him thunder and try not to believe in Him." "But why does God do it?" 'Do what?" "Crumble the moon into stars. Why?" "Well, can't you understand?" said Shukhov. "The stars fall down now and then. The gaps have to be filled."

—One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

[healthyboom]

Day in the Life: Finding Joy in the Little Things

Experience the captivating journey of 'Day in the Life' as it unfolds through an eclectic mix of tales and scenarios. From the iconic lyrics of The Beatles' 'A Day in the Life' to the introspective world of Ivan Denisovich, each depiction brings a unique perspective. Witness the triumphs and challenges of professionals like software engineers, lawyers, and real estate agents, or delve into the realms of musicians, actors, and nurses. This anthology explores the essence of daily existence, the pursuit of dreams, and the complexities of human emotion. Brace yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions in this masterful exploration of life's intricate tapestry

[josephconrads]

Title: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Rating: 5 out of 5

Review: I honestly had no expectations and no knowledge really of the content of this novella before reading it. I was absolutely blown away by this, it's intense and a brilliant look at Russia post-revolution. It's intense and beautifully written. I think that if you're curious about Russian literature it's a great intro into more modern classic Russian lit. So good. Truly I wish I had more words to say about this but it left me speechless then, and now.

[thedalatribune]

© Paolo Dala

Folklore About Stars

In our village, folks say God crumbles up the old moon into stars.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

[metamorphesque]

best reads of 2023

"pharmacy ani", "years lived and unlived" by vardges petrosyan

"the meek one" by fyodor dostoyevski

"small things like these" by claire keegan

"one day in the life of ivan denisovich" by aleksandr solzhenitsyn

"nocturnes: five stories of music and nightfall" by kazuo ishiguro

"idol, burning" by rin usami

"crying in h mart" by michelle zauner

"1q84" by haruki murakami

"the complete poems of anna akhmatova" by anna akhmatova

"a part of speech" by joseph brodsky

[rogloptimist]

HUNGER OF THE AUTOCANNIBAL

congrats to my favorite flesh eater’s third win! credits under cut

tadej pogacar and jonas vingegaard - stage 11 tour de france 2024 // hunger in my soul - paul eneche // tadej pogačar-- hungry for more! - road bike mag // tadej pogacar // hunger, freshness, faith: how tadej pogacar and uae emirates plan to raid the grand tour history books - Jim cotton // 'the hunger is still there'-- pogacar looks for more at amstel gold race - Barry Ryan // tadej Pogačar and jonas vingegaard // hunger for the flesh - Howard Jones // tour de France winner tadej pogacar is cycling's 'new cannibal' - by French press agency // tadej pogacar takes tour de France lead after dominant stage four victory - Ian Parker // fine young cannibal: has tadej pogacar won the tour? - Edward pickering // this is how you lose the time war - amal el-mohtar and max Gladstone // tdf stage 19 report: pogacar is all alone at the top joe Lindsey // one day in the life of Ivan denisovich - aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn // the cannibal - Kim s. // tadej pogacar - tour de france // tadej pogacar - tour de France // tadej Pogacar - strade bianche 2024 // what happens to the body and mind when starvation sets in? - Susan brink // tadej pogacar - stage 17 tour de France 2023 // the cyclist as cannibal - Richard poplak // tadej pogacar - post race interview, stage 17 tour de France 2023 // erysichthon - Ovid // the trouble with being born - emil m. cioran // tadej pogacar and jonas vingegaard - stage 20 tour de France 2024 // tadej pogacar - stage 17 tour de france 2023 // the prisoner's throne - holly black // tadej pogacar - stage 9 tour de France 2024 // do not eat your friends - Sarah bian // crane your neck - lady lamb // tadej pogacar and jonas vingegaard - tour de France 2024 // making sense of cycling's self-destruction - John bradley // tumblr user @inkskinned // torn - Kim karr // tadej pogacar - tour de France 2024 // the extreme - Katherine applegate // crane your neck - lady lamb // tadej pogacar tour de France //

[hornyforpoetry]

Winter Reading Challenge

Every season I like to give myself a challenge to read. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to finish almost any of the ones I had in the autumn challenge (I'm not a procrastinator, I swear, I just have very little free time). This time, I tried to include in the list books from several fields, from prose to poetry, philosophy, theater and theater theory, biographies. There are many Russian authors in this list, it seems to me that they fit very well with the cold season. Let's hope that this time I will stick to reading more. Wish me luck!

From December 1st - February 29th (European calendar)

Leo Tolstoy – ”Childhood. Boyhood. Youth”

Leo Tolstoy – ”War and Peace”

Fyodor Dostoevsky – ”The Double” (1846)

Fyodor Dostoevsky – ”Demons”

Ivan Turghenev – ”Rudin”

Nikolai Leskov – ”Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and other short stories”

Anton Chekhov – ”Novellas and novelettes by Anton Chekhov”

Nikolai Gogol – ”Dead Souls”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn – ”One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”

Mikhail Bulgakov – ”The Master and Margarita”

Maxim Gorky – ”Mother”

Vladimir Nabokov – ”Lolita”

Marguerite Yourcenar - "A Coin in Nine Hands"

Marguerite Yourcenar - "A Blue Tale"

‌Franz Kafka - "The Metamorphosis and other stories"

Edgar Allan Poe - "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket"

John Edwards Williams - "Stoner"

Ovid - "Metamorphoses"

Dante Aligheri - "The Divine Comedy - Inferno"

Giovanni Papini - "Gog"

Plato - "Phaedo"

Aristotel - "Metaphysics "

Marcus Aurelius - "Meditations: Thoughts to Myself"

Immanuel Kant - "Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics Article Talk "

Niccolo Machiavelli - "The Prince"

Emil Cioran - "The Trouble With Being Born"

Peter Brook - "The Empty Space"

Jerzy Grotowski - "The Poor Theatre"

Antonin Artaud - "The Theatre and its Double"

Martin Esslin - "The Theatre of Absurd"

Salvador Dalí - "Diary of a Genius"

Vaslav Nijinsky - "The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky: Unexpurgated Edition"

August Strindberg - "The Ghost Sonata"

William Shakespeare - "Titus Andronicus"

William Shakespeare - "Coriolanus"

Maxim Gorky - "The Lower Depths"

Racine - "Britannicus"

Goethe - "Gotz von Berlichingen"

Frank Wedekind - "The Spring Awakening"

Aeschylus - "The Oresteia" (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides)

[maxer-blaster]

Fucked up Short Stories

Links:

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl

The Landlady by Roald Dahl

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Guts by Chuck Palahniuk

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

No is Yes by Paul Jennings

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Urusula K. LeGuin

A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger

The Rocking Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

The Strap Box Flyer Paul Jennings

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

To Build a Fire by Jack London

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury

A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka

The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs

The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft

Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe

Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin

A Company of Laughing Faces by Nadine Gordimer

The Lamp at Noon by Sinclair Ross

Note: some of these are really fucked up. Others might be fucked up in racist/sexist/homophobic ways due to when it was written/views of the author.

Reader Discretion is Advised.

[inthemirrordorkly2]

Inspired by @cardassiangoodreads

[sovietpostcards]

This is a very strange, specific question so I apologize in advance, but there's a part in "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" where I think he's reading a letter from his wife and she says that they are painting rugs back home to sell on the side. This is described as putting stencils on "sheets" and painting on the decorations as opposed to weaving them.

I've always wondered if the translator meant "sheets" as in bed sheets or as in "sheets of fabric." Do you know of this and do you have any images?

Hi! That's an interesting question! He means regular bedsheets. "Any old bedsheet that they're given."

I don't think there are any pictures of that. It was something made for poor people who couldn't afford real woven carpets, so I imagine they wouldn't be able to afford cameras either.

[softboiledwonderland]

Why did I set my Goodreads challenge to 36 books this year what was I THINKING

[bethanydelleman]

Would Jane Austen have liked Bukowski?

I dislike it when anyone claims to know what Jane Austen would have liked or disliked. We just don't know enough about her unless she mentioned it in her letters. Here is what I can say:

I tried reading Ham on Rye last year, I personally found it depressing, angry, and anti-social. I didn't finish it because I couldn't stand living in the narrator's head. And for context, I had just read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn about a man imprisoned in a Russian gulag, so it's not like I'm only reading about sunshine and roses.

As far as I can tell, there is almost no overlap in the subjects covered by Austen and Bukowski, he wrote about poverty and his works are described as transgressive fiction. Austen wrote about the rich, did social satire, and was interested in women's autonomy.

According to Wikipedia, One critic has described Bukowski's fiction as a "detailed depiction of a certain taboo male fantasy: the uninhibited bachelor, slobby, anti-social, and utterly free" which is about as anti-Austen as one could get.

That said, it's clear that Austen read a lot, she had a mastery of tropes and novel structure that can only come from being a voracious reader. I imagine she would read a great variety of fiction if she had access to it.

Anyway, I am not very familiar with this author, so if there are any experts around I'd love to hear your opinion! Also, while Charles Bukowski is definitely not for me, I don't know enough about his writing to be a real critic, so don't take this as a condemnation of him as a writer.

[mattydemise]

fave writers:

kafka, schiller, camus and matty

hehehehehe

I’m honoured to be included on that list of genuine literary and philosophical icons.

I originally answered this by demeaning my own work (comparison is the thief of joy, after all) so instead I’m going to recommend some amazing books.

Eye Scream by Henry Rollins

I Pass Like Night by Jonathan Ames (my favourite book of all-time and the candour and earnestness of which moved me in a way very few written pieces have been able to)

Grace Beats Karma: Letters From Prison by Neal Cassady

One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich or The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn