One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Depicts how the human spirit prevails - for readers that were moved by ONE DAY, I would also recommend A BEAUTIFUL WORLD by Gregg Milligan

ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH takes readers through life in a Russian prison camp during the days of Stalin. The character and story are based on the author's real-life experience as an unjustly held political prisoner. Beatings, starvation and cruelty were the staples of existence for the prisoners, who carved out their daily life through exhaustive work camp labor in sub-zero temperatures. Driven to the edge of survival, readers witness the subtle means by which the lead character maintains his sense of humanity. From simply hanging on to a secret spoon to eat with that he made himself as a means of small hope, to the end of the book where he shows care for his fellow prisoners - the main character's focus is not on things that were lost, such as his former life of freedom with his wife - but instead on things within the camp that he finds to keep him going, such as a pair of felt boots or a small piece of bread he hides to eat later. Such perspective embodies the courageous qualities of the human spirit.

For readers who enjoyed this book, I strongly recommend reading an intense journey that chronicles incredible perseverance in the face of adversity - a memoir by Gregg Milligan called A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. As a young boy subjected to severe physical, mental and sexual abuse, Gregg finds ways to keep his hope alive - such as finding a stray dime to purchase a fruit pie from the corner store, taking refuge in a quiet field at the end of the block, and caring for a kitten rejected by its mother. Readers will be struck the pure innocence of a child's heart prevailing in the depths of evil. The love he has for his siblings and even his abusive mother is a testament to its endurance. An unforgettable story, exquisitely written in a searing visual style, A BEAUTIFUL WORLD will ever remain with those that read it.

The strength and resilience of those that suffer encourages all of us to stay the course, no matter what difficulties in life we may face. Look no further than ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH and A BEAUTIFUL WORLD for proof.

And in the words of Gregg Milligan, "Few rise above all the decadence done unto them. Those blessed few leave a great influence of a better day filled with clean hope and blossoming opportunities. We are all capable of leaving this mark - no matter what we've been through."

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

if you are looking for an eBOOK! don't buy it

like i said if you came here to buy the ebook don't purchase it. In the title of the ebook it says student handbook and ebook in parenthesis which leads you to believe it is the actual book with a guide. Even the student bookstore touted it as such!! go and buy the printed version!!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One Long Day

Solzhenitsyn literally takes us through the day of prisoner in a concentration camp under Stalin's regime. This novel is different from most other novels about concentration camps for it is under Stalin's regime instead of the usual, Hitler's. The book starts out very slow and nothing is really happening that makes one want to continue reading. The first half of the book atleast could be summed up into a few phrases; its cold, I feel sick, I want food, and life is hard. I think making the book so repetitive and slow adds an affect what the prisoner's life is like and how long their day is. "They didn't know they were living," said the foreman when he was talking about some girls he met on a train. The prisoners in the concentration camps in a sense are not really living. They have been stripped of everything and most importantly of their homes. Even when they are out of the camp they are exiled to an unknown place. Shukhov's persona is inspiring for even after this long day that I consider extensively harsh he is able to think of almost 10 things that he is happy about and goes to sleep content. His optimism in inspiring and manifests a sense of appreciation for what I have. Shukhov even worries as to whether its better to be in the camp or exiled to an unknown place away from his family. In the camp the men have created bonds and are brotherly. Their foreman is like a father and he protects them as well as treats them as best he can with respect. Their bunks to them were like home and I think that even though they are in miserable conditions they create a brotherhood and stand by each other's sides. The novel has more suspense in the second half for instance when Shukhov is getting frisked and he has a blade hidden in his glove the reader is anxious to find out as to whether or not he is going to get caught. Solzhenitsyn does not create even an essence of there being a rising action, climax, or falling action through out the entire novel. The novel just goes through the day and talks about the hardships. Solzhenitsyn did include a lot of literary devices such as metaphors, similes, and allusions that could make the book a great read for a student. For a reader who enjoys historical novels, this book could be extremely interesting. Never the less, I did not find this book enjoyable except for some parts that did have some action and suspense. I found the book to be very slow moving and not really that exciting. Perhaps Solzhenitsyn could have created some kind of climax where men try to escape or the blade is found hidden in Shukhov's glove and he is put in the hole, leaving it up to others to try to save his health. I would recommend the book only to people who enjoy historical literature.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

thought-provoking novel with a strong message

Alexander Solzhenitsyn manages to do what I thought was impossible. As I first read the summary for this novel, I was uninterested in the fact that I would have to read an entire book about one day in the life of a war prisoner. I anticipated detailed descriptions about everything that made up a prison camp, leading me to be "bored." Yet once I read the Introduction, I became in awe of the hardships the author had encountered throughout his lifetime. It was then that I began to understand why Solzhenitsyn had written "One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich." This novel is a way for the author to articulate the feelings he had while in prison camps. By creating a novel based off of one day, Solzhenitsyn's is able to elaborate on all the decisions the main character, Ivan Shukhov Denisovich, chooses to make. This method of descriptive detail aids the reader in understanding who Shukhov is as a person, as well as growing to truly admire him. Solzhenitsyn is able to describe every occurrence that happens in a typical day for Shukhov and his comrades. The author takes you through conversations between prisoners and officers, what hard work really is, as well as how to survive. Shukhov exemplifies the epitome of a true survivor. His ability to think clearly never fails him, even when he is at his worst. Although he takes chances, leaving the reader on the tips of their toes, he is quick to know how to get out of difficult situations. Throughout his day, Shukhov's choices exhibit his many meritorious personality traits. He has such a wide range of positive characteristics that anyone can relate to: tactful, precise, keen, resourceful, honest, dedicated, optimistic, generous, and sympathetic. It is incomprehensible how someone who has been suffering in a war camp for eight years can still have such an inspiring spirit. At the start of the novel, you are ready for him to give up but there is no point at which he does. He teaches you how to continue having that same inspiring spirit. "One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich" taught me that even in the most desperate times, you have to keep looking forward. Shukhov is definitely someone of great substance who everyone should read about. Even if historical novels are of no interest to you, this novel goes beyond that. This novel is an easy read and kept me hoping that Shukhov would survive his day. I found myself rooting for him and his squad throughout the entire novel. It is difficult not to fall in like with the protagonist and his fellow comrades. They sacrifice themselves for one another, over and over, just so that they will see each other on the other side. This novel is one that I will have on my mind for quite sometime. It would be extremely difficult to forget this one day of such great human spirit.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not what I expected

What I expected, a complicated novel that wrote like the several other hundred novels about the concentration camps in Stalin. What I found was the twist of the novel in that it emphasized on "one day". This emphasis on Shukovs life brought out how long and painful each day was. If he wrote like every other aurthor on the ten years in camps or 25 you would miss the point of how long each day was and all the pain suffered from the wind and cold. Alexander Solzheinstyn writes in depth about the small things in the day because that is what the book is about the small things. If a man recieved an extra piece of bread or how that the joy of a every single bite of food they eat is savored. The nights that they can keep warm at night and now wake up sick all brings the men joy. The men are so desperate for that etra food they risk servere punishement in the can for ten day in witch they will recieve very little food just to sneek in a metal stick. The stick only to be hopefully carved in to a knife.... just to get more food. Like i said the novel mainly emphasizes on the small things in "one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich" but overall I could not truely appreciate what the novel was trying to grasp because of the slow moving plot and climaxing at a small peak with no jumping out of my seat excitement. The book is not meant for all.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Nice Short Read

"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", in my personal opinion, was a short novel that was worth the read. When I first started reading I was a little confused and uninspired to continue, yet as the novel progressed I understood why the author described everything from the boots the men wore to the things they could not keep, even each bite they took of the little food they got. What I believed was insignificant description led to an understanding of those men and their day-to-day life. While the beginning starts out slow and the details progressed on for pages, it creates the perfect mood and imagery for the reader to truly understand what the protagonist feels. The unusual narrative style interests me as the reader, being able to see not only the surroundings but moreover what Ivan reflects on his situation. The use of diction and metaphors created the right tone, and just made the story easier to understand. Solzhenitsyn understood what to say to make the reader like or dislike a character. By the end I felt myself routing for Shukov while he worked endlessly at the Power plant, I felt the hatred and fear he had for the guards and other prisoners, I connected to a prisoner that I thought I had nothing in common with. When I came to the end of the book I was mostly pleased with everything I had read. The length was the perfect amount for simply one day in a Russian labor camp. The only part that I felt was lacking throughout the novel was the character development from the beginning of the novel to the end. It must be difficult to show the change in characters when describing simple one day, but I felt the author lacked the description of the characters personality pre-war and camp. He did include some flashbacks, yet not detailed enough for me to truly comprehend how the characters were before. I was surprised to find the least detailed part of the entire story the background. The detail continued on about how hungry and tired the prisoners were, yet simply a page or two was dedicated to the life of Shukhov before he was accused of committing treason. A better understanding for his life in the past would have shown the character transformation he went through while being in the labor camp. I understood the change in his relationship with his family from being close to being strangers, yet I thought Solzhenitsyn could have done even more. A description of how Ivan interacted with others previous the his incarceration would have created a better understanding of the evolution of his character while being in these camps for ten years. Overall I enjoyed, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", and would recommend it to other students like me, especially if they are interested in history and other cultures. I not only read an excellent work of literature, but also learned about another society in a different time.

Excellent story, a must read

Although at first a bit skeptical about having been told to read this book, I was soon rather intrigued. I thought to myself, "what could possibly be interesting about the life of some guy in a Russian prison camp?" Apparently, a great many things. I started the book having very little knowledge on this subject and as I read, I found myself learning of some of the truly terrible crimes that were committed there. What I had discovered was very shocking. Ivan Denisovich goes through a day as a wrongly prosecuted man in a communist prison camp, incarcerated for being an ex-prisoner of war who was believed to be a spy for the Germans. The revolting way in which these men were treated allowed me to grow closer to Ivan Denisovich Shukhov as he struggled to survive just one day of his ten year sentence. Solzhenitsyn does an excellent job of conveying what happened in such a manner that the characters almost become real while at the same time he tells you to your face that it is impossible to completely understand how they felt in those camps. Reading Solzhenitsyn's account of a day in a prison camp from the perspective of Ivan Denisovich is very informative and makes you really feel for the characters. It is based entirely on the true occurrences in Russia during a period of communism under the rule of Stalin. As it was one of the first events on the subject allowed to be published at all in Russia, it was an eye-opening report of what was actually happening. I, for one, knew that it was supposed to be bad in those prison camps, but I never knew how bad. Solzhenitsyn's credibility comes from the fact that he actually had to witness most of what took place in Russia at the time. His ability to capture what was happening so accurately is what I think made his work so successful. This story is realistic and serious based on real events. I knew when I started this book that it was not my cup of tea. My usual preference is science-fiction, fantasy, horror, or anything in that general area. One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich had a way of capturing my attention in a different way that was almost unfamiliar to me. It appealed to my sense of sympathy for others and it gave a new outlook on the freedom of life that can sometimes be taken for granted. All things considered, One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich was an excellent read. I would recommend it for anyone to read at least once at some point in their life. It brings into perspective some of the things that happened in the past under communist rule and allows us to better understand why we fight it now. After reading this book, I have somewhat of a new found appreciation for some of the simple things in life. This is definitely a book worth reading.

A powerful narrative that lacks immersion

As the title implies, the narrative of Solzhenitsyn's novel covers a 24-hour span of time in the life of a fictional prisoner named Ivan Denisovhich. From the morning reveille to the moment Denisovich lays in his bunk to sleep, the novel is an unrelenting slew of troubles and tribulations for Gang 104. From the first few pages, the depiction of the cruel and inhumane treatment of the prisoners quickly sets the mood for the rest of the plot. From the apathy shown to an ill Denisovich to the unnecessary cruelty to a man out of uniform, Solzhenitsyn makes no attempts to shield the readers from the reality of the situations many men faced in Russia's many Gulags.
Solzhenitsyn masterfully crafts a 24-hour scenario in which he explicitly gets all his points across through a series of occurrences that happen to Ivan Denisovich, however, the book feels like just that, a very specific series of events. The novel suffers from this, as the transitions between scenes aren't blended very well the pacing of the novel feels as though it has a stop-and-go effect. While it can be argued the pacing is intentional as it reflects the moment by moment struggle that is life in a Gulag, it does not translate well when read as a novel. It may be an inevitable consequence of being read as a translation, however it is a hindrance none the less. Unfortunately, the pacing prevents the reader from fully immersing in the story and in some instances it makes it difficult to identify or feel a connection with some of the characters, which take away from Solzhenitsyn's humanitarian message.
Regardless, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a worth while read that drives home the reality of the cruelty man is capable of when injustice and authority rule. While the novel suffers from pacing issues and instances where the immersion is broken, it never loses focus on its subject matter or themes, and delivers a refreshingly unique tale of hardship and human resilience.

An insight to a prisoner's life

Step into the life of a POW during WWII in the Siberian Tundra in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This short but interesting novel takes you through the process a prisoner goes through every day, from waking up at reveille to covering himself up at bed time. Solzhenitsyn describes the daily process through a character named Ivan Denisovich who is serving his eighth year in a ten year term. He was caught spying during the war and was sent to prison. This was no normal prison; on the contrary, all of the prisoners are divided into divisions that rely on each other from getting work done to receiving a healthy portion of food. Solzhenitsyn describes all of the hardships Denisovich faces in the camp from trying to stay warm in the below zero temperatures to making sure he has enough food to survive through the long work day. Every day at 5 am, every zek, or prisoner, has to wake up and got to the mess hall to eat. Then they join their division and go to work. Denisovich has been there eight years and has gained the respect of most of the prisoners for his work ethic which sets an example for the rest of the prisoners. Denisovich shows that working hard has its advantages because at the end of the day, his squad leader, Markovich, gives Denisovich his bowl of kasha for his hard work earlier that day. After so many years in the camp, Denisovich has forgotten what his real home is like and knows that he will never return there. He comes to terms with himself and decides that the prison has become his new home. Everything he knows is there and he has lost all contact with the outside world and his family. He was among brothers in the camp and enjoyed their presence just as they enjoyed his. This novel is not a thriller but the imagery throughout really helps the reader actually see how much a prisoner goes through in just one day. Denisovich strives to be the best in the camp because it pays off. He gets extra food, he is liked by the guards and his squad leader which makes it easy to work, and all of the prisoners trust him. One of the most important themes Solzhenitsyn tries to relay in the novel is trust. Each team member has to have faith in one another that they will get the job done because if they are working hard, the work report will show that and it means that everyone in the division will eat a hearty meal that night and if one person does not work hard then they all go hungry. One part in the novel that shows this trust between squad members is when Markovich receives a parcel from his family, he is afraid that when he goes outside for the count, someone will steal from his parcel. Denisovich assures him that he will be the first one back from the count and he will watch over the package. Hesitant at first, Markovich ends up confiding in his bunk mate and leaves him with the food. Solzhenitsyn really captured how hard a day was for all of the prisoners in his novel and it is a great read for those who want an insight to the days of WWII.

Ivan the great

Solzhenitsyn takes us through a day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. This wonderful novel explains the cruelties in the life at a soviet labor camp where many "prisoners" suffered for 10 to 25 years of their lives. I encourage all readers to check out this book and learn about these poor peoples atrocious living conditions in this camp. After reading this novel you will definitely appreciate your life and all the advantages you have that many other people may not. I enjoyed One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich because i felt like i was Ivan while reading it. As the author explained how Ivan had to work to get some extra food, it made me suffer like he did. Also when he did succeed it brought me a sense of comfort. Having to sneak some food with a hidden spoon this poor man worked as hard as he could to get one to three hundred grams of food that day. His thoughts about being free in two years gave him something to look forward to; it was what drove him to work everyday. Being a free man was a dream to poor Ivan. Imagine being taken away from your family and thrown into a labor camp with hundreds of men you have never met. Thats what all these people experienced. After that, they had to work all day for no reason in the dreadful cold weather of Russia. you will tend to feel sympathy towards these unlucky men during their pitiful work days.Ivan gut wrenching experience during his time at the labor camp is something not many people understand because they are given everything from the beginning. Not having much clothes to keep them warm was another issue for them, and that was usually less demanding than all the other pitiful conditions they had to live under. With not too much time to sleep work felt more tiresome everyday. Shukhovs perspective is very humbling and his courageous attempt to survive everyday is an inspiration and it will help you take advantage of everything you have. The physical terror they went through in this camp is similar towards that of World War 11. Being sent to the hole was the usual punishment and it was something nobody looked forward to. This kept everyone on check and even if you faked being sick you were sent to the hole. If a it was a privilege to smoke a cigarette imagine what a week in the hole was like. It is probably something no man would want to ever experience in their lifetime. I encourage all students to take this book home and read it. So Appreciate the life you have and enjoy everything you are given because you never know when it will all be taken away from you. So enjoy it and read this humbling novel. All students should take notice all this man risked to survive everyday and what he had to do to get a small amount of extra food.

Highly Recommended

To describe this novel you must simply read the title, because what you read is exactly what you get. This type of upfront writing method is displayed throughout the book by the author (Alexander Solzhenitsyn). The historic relevance behind this book is as most people know it the Soviet Union or Soviet Russia but it took place specifically during Joseph Stalin run Russia. This time period was synonymous with World War 2, which can pretty much describe the basic condition that the characters are living in. The premise of the novel is based on a day in the life of an inmate of a Russian prison (Ivan Denisovich) and all the adversity not to mention both internal and external struggles he must fight through in order to end just one insignificant day. As far as going to logistics of how the book is written, it is one of the greatest aspects of the book. The way in which the characters speak shows their authentic uncensored language. By this I mean how the characters use Russian slang but at the same time the reader is not lost due to the fact that at the end of every slang word there is a description. This also allows the reader to assimilate and really relate with the prisoners, moreover it allows the reader to learn about basic Russian culture. Alexander Solzhenitsyn the novel prize winning writer does an excellent job of thoroughly detailing every struggling in his character Ivan's day-to-day life. His everyday life consists of many things such as cleaning, constructing, eating (very infrequently), and in many instances having multiple body counts or body searches in order for the guard to make sure everything is up to par. Through these tasks this novel gives the audience an idea to how physically demanding the prison was. But more important than the physical struggle was the mental struggle that each character (including the guards) has to deal with throughout the book. For instance, the mental stability to be absolutely cut of from the society you have always known to now working against your at every hour and day in to day out. This is how the book really makes you put things in perspective, it makes you really enjoy but more importantly cherish how good your everyday really is. In the sense that regardless of how bad your day was it just simply cannot compare, attempting to do so is like as if we are living on two different planets. This is why the book is so fascinating, it taps into a part of human existence that was know from just a general standpoint. For example, we all know how horrific of a leader Joseph Stalin was but do we really know exactly the conditions in which he imprisoned his citizens? Through this novel Solzhenitsyn has provided an anecdote for this readers particular curiosity.

I didnt like it

"Shukhov just lay there on the tight-packed sawdust in his mattress. Wish it would make up its mind: either a raging fever or an end to these aches and pains. This is neither one thing nor the other." So begins a novel full of aches and pains for its characters and its readers. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is caught in the unfortunate situation of being unjustly assigned to ten years in a Soviet hard labor camp. The workdays are long, arduous and repetitive. What is most unfortunate about the novel is that those same adjectives apply to the novel itself. I understand that the author would like to emphasize the cruelty of the camp or the harshness of the weather, but this piece of Nobel Prize winning piece of literature is cruel to the readers in its emphasis of reality. Life in a hard labor camp is not pleasant, hence the name hard labor camp, and the author attempts to prove the obvious time and time again. He strives to tell the reader the nature of the hard labor camp, what truly happens inside, and how human life is wasted by injustice. Although revolutionary in the year of it's publishing, today this information is not terribly interesting or relevant. In today's world, the novel has become a repetition of what has become almost common knowledge. Russian winters are harsh, prison guards are cruel, the hierarchy of prison relies on social politics, prisoners break rules and get killed for it. On the other hand, the novel does a good job showing the prison mentality of an exceptionally average man in Ivan Denisovich. He is the peasant, the Russian common man, and he has learned to thrive in the prison, he even enjoys his prison life at times. He stresses the value of the simple things, how life should be built on a foundation of hard work, and how the maintenance of dignity is just as important to survival as is food. This does not save the story from its lack of real substance and its ability to craft about two hundred pages of boredom. The story was not crafted to be timeless but to inform the world of Soviet repression, this leaves a present day reader with no reason to pick up the book because much is known about the nature of the Soviet Union and its work camps. In my opinion this novel is almost as repetitive and hard to get through as a real day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. As the book comes to a close the reader feels the same sense of pleasure and relief that Shukhov feels at the end of the work parade, allowing the novel to end on an appropriate note, "Shukhov felt pleased with life as he went to sleep". Much like how I was pleased with my life as I finally finished my day in the life of Ivan Denisovich.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Check out book!

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is about the average day of a prisoner in a labor camp during World War II. This was one of the first books written about the labor camps during the rule of Stalin. This book explains the ordinary routine of a prisoner in the prison camp. Ivan Denisovich is one of the prisoners who survives this camp by taking it one day at a time. He uses the simple things around the camp to create shoes, clothes, silverware, and weapons and cleverly conceals them. Ivan Denisovich survives each day because he lives to survive and concentrates only on that. I think the book shows the will and strength a person can have in order to survive such hard conditions and life threatening situations. All these prisoners in the labor camps needed a lot of pride, dignity, courage, and strength to get through each day and even though the daily routine was the same, each day brought new conditions and consequences that could have resulted in life threatening situations. Overall the book doesn't talk about any important historic events but just depicts the daily life of a prisoner in a soviet labor camp. I recommend this book because it helps you understand and also develop respect for these prisoners and what they went through to just survive a day.

Not my favorite Book, but a good literary work

Although One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn must be recognized as a book that changed Soviet literary history, since it was the first book that was openly published about Stalinist repression, I personally disliked reading it. Many Russians were ecstatic to hear about Solzhenitsyn's novel once it was published, because there are many books out there that talk about the concentration camps in Germany under Hitler's regime, but none about the labor camps under Stalin's regime. The Russians were happy to know that the world could now be informed through literature about how awful and cruel the Soviet labor camps were. Their history was brought to light and was now being shared with the world thanks to Solzhenitsyn. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is about how tough it was to be a prisoner in the Soviet labor camps in Siberia during the 1950's. Solzhenitsyn does a very good job with informing the reader of all the pain they went through daily. He does this by picking one of the prisoners, whose name is Ivan Denisovich, and describing a whole day in his life. From the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep, Solzhenitsyn explains all of the duties he must fulfill and describes in great detail all of the horrible conditions in the camp. Everything the men at the labor camps have, is taken away from them; their families, their home, their most valuable possessions.everything. The only thing they have waiting for them at "home" is their bed. Nothing else. So these men have to fight for the only thing they have left: their pride. Constantly, they are trying to prove to themselves and everyone else at the camp that they are worth something greater than what the Soviet guards believe them to be. Think about having to live the life these prisoners lived. It pretty much seems unbearable, intolerable. Well, these men lived through all that pain and suffering, and as you can probably already guess, they found immense pleasure in the simplest things in life. The breeze, the sun, a spoon, bread. The simplest things that we do not even pay attention to were the things they enjoyed most. This is the type of book that someone that really appreciates literature, likes learning about the history of countries, and loves fiction will enjoy reading. If you like reading other genres, or you are not so passionate about literature, then you will not enjoy it. Not only was this literary work boring, but depressing. Solzhenitsyn uses repetition a lot in this book, and it gets annoying. It keeps repeating how cold it was and how terrible the conditions at the camp were. It just got old. You have to have patience while reading the book, since everything is repeated constantly. After reading the book, I realized that it really was a good book, I just did not enjoy reading it. It teaches you how lucky we all are for being free, how you have to be proud of who you are, and the history of Russia in the 1950's.

Not a big fan

I recently read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Although I believe the story gives a good look in to what life was like in a Russian prison during World War II, I would not recommend the book. Despite how informative it may be, I cannot find any distinct rising action, climax or falling action. There is no suspense in the story. The title really sums up the story. It is merely a play by play of a man's life from sun-up to sun-down. I found it very difficult to stay focused on the reading because it seemed as though each page began to repeat itself. If I had to summarize each page the majority of them would have the summary; a description of how cold it was outside, how difficult it was to work in the cold and how much Denisovich wished he were still in bed. The rest I would say would be a description of the different methods and tricks the prisoners had for savoring every last morsel of their meals. I have to say, I was also pretty disappointed by the ending. The whole book was spent making the reader feel sorry for the prisoners. Some might interpret their punishment as torture. However, the story ends with Denisovich falling asleep "content." He claims it is because of the several different strokes of luck he encountered that day. I would hardly call it luck. He did not gain anything he simply avoided even worse torture. After reading the story and learning about the different ways they made those prisoners suffer, the last thing I was able to understand is how he was able to fall asleep content that night. I, myself, simply could not believe that prisoner that had been locked up for eight years for a crime that he did not commit could truly fall asleep happy with his day. Although it may have left a glimmer of hope for the reader that maybe their life was not too bad, I just could not find it believable enough to make it a good story. If I could change anything about the book, I would add some type of action; perhaps a failed escape attempt. Even a successful escape would be better. At least the reader would be able to believe that Denisovich truly fell asleep happy that night. If not an escape plot, maybe something less extreme. For example, Denisovich and his squad came close to further torture but always, conveniently, avoided it. Maybe if he and his squad had actually been faced with such conflicts, the story might have gained some rising or falling action and a climax. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book to any readers. I did not find much interest in it and I felt a lot of the story was repeating itself. I became bored of the story very quickly and it did not help that I was reading the same descriptions over and over.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Although there is plenty of documentation on different labor camps within this time period, Alexander Solzhenitsyn provides the reader with a detailed description of one particular day in one of these camps. He does this through the mind of Ivan Denisovich, a strong-willed character who does what has to be done to survive. There is no doubt that the reader will recognize the harsh times that Ivan Denisovich and other prisoners faced during their time in the camp. The novel provides plenty of imagery throughout the day for the reader to understand what took place after World War II in these camps. These prisoners were left with nothing but each other for terms of up to 25 years for some of them. While, Alexander Solzhenitsyn provides information on the conditions in the labor camp, he more importantly shows the different characteristics of the prisoners and the benefits and consequences they faced for them. He shows the importance of determination through his characterization of Ivan Denisovichm one of the hardest working individuals not only in his group, but also the whole camp. Solzhenitsyn makes it clear to the reader that although Ivan may not have been the smartest guy intellectually; he did whatever he could to survive. In response, he was a very respected individual amongst his peers and also received other benefits for his hard work. Solzhenitsyn includes a character named Alyosha who was also well respected amongst the group because he always did as told. On the flip side, there is a character named Fetiukov who is lazy and in return he is one of the most hated individuals in the group. It is interesting how Solzhenitsyn included characters of all different personalities and despite the differences they all had to come together and survive as a unit. Each individual had to hold his own in every aspect of the camp or else he would be sent to the guardhouse. Without the hard work of every prisoner in each unit especially Ivan Denisovich's "104th " there was no way that they could do what they needed to accomplish. It was explained and shown through the labor reports that there were strict labor laws and the guards wanted things done. The prisoners had no time for socializing with the outside world unless it was through letters or parcels, and Ivan received neither. Ivan had no contact with his family and he is the type of guy that understood he was in the camp and there was nothing he could do about it except work hard. The only thing Ivan ever thought about was to have that feeling of finally going home. Ivan Denisovich should be thought of as a role model to many people because of the hard work and determination he put in without complaining about his situation. Whoever reads this novel will certainly appreciate their life more after understanding what he and other prisoners had to go through in these camps. This is a great novel for anyone who enjoys historical novels that not only provide insight of the happenings in this time period, but also a life lesson.

Highly Recommended

Solzhenitsyn's book One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich is a survival book that takes place in a Siberian prison during the Soviet reign. It is not my typical relaxing summer read, but it demonstrates the inner strength and tools that a person can find to help survive even the worst conditions. One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich is a worthwhile read because even though it takes place during Soviet oppression, readers today can identify with the main character Ivan Denisovich Shukhov's struggle with faith and his goal to survive the day.
Also known as prisoner S854, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov was poor, uneducated, but an extremely hard worker, and a shrewd survivor. He was unjustly imprisoned for ten years because someone with more power thought he was a traitor against the Soviet State. When he couldn't hold out anymore under interrogation, he signed a confession. He represents the average working class Soviet who was essentially powerless.
In order to survive the harsh prison conditions in the bitter cold of Siberia, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov cleverly created or took advantage of opportunities that would benefit him and increase his chance of survival. Food consumption obsessed Ivan and he looked for any opportunity to eat. For example, he slyly grabs two bowls of oatmeal gruel and confused the prison cook during his counting. Another example is that even though he could be punished for it, Ivan brings food back to the barracks to give to a fellow prisoner because he knows that the prisoner Tsezar receives food packages from family and might later share with him. Every increase in grams of food increased his chance of survival.
The Soviet Union was a godless state and Ivan Denisovish Shukhov had to find faith in himself in order to survive his ten -year sentence. His best survival tactic was in measuring his time in one day increments. He almost had the same philosophy of an addict and Alcoholics Anonymous, one day at a time. Addicts simply try to get through a day. If he could survive each day individually, then seven of those days would become a week, four weeks would soon be a month, then a year and then finally a decade. Ivan thought that if he survived one day, this day, it would be a victory. It was his way of controlling his environment, when he really had so little control over his own destiny. If he stopped to think about all the freedoms and family that he lost, he would be destroyed and the Soviet Union would have won. Because of this, he did not even write to his wife and children. He couldn't expect them to help him, he needed to do the best he could to help himself.
One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich is about a prisoner battling the unjust Soviet prison Camp and his struggle to survive. This novel has a universal message that shows that the best tool to survive any adverse situation is yourself.

Very Fascinating - Unique Angle From The Author

To begin with, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" left me in awe. I enjoyed this masterpiece, but I thought the part that astonished me the most was the way the author wrote. Often, he employed short, but very meaningful sentences and used it to establish pathos in the reader. When I started reading this novel, I was really drawn inside the story and was able to see things from the point of view of the protagonist, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. There are a lot of things in this book that most of us nowadays would consider outrageous, and for me it was just fascinating to learn what those people went through during the reign of Stalin. In addition, I think that the existence of such a novel was already a very significant achievement in itself, considering the historical context in which it occurred. During the early stages of the Cold War, especially during Stalin's reign, nobody knew what was really going on and the reasons why certain people would disappear forever were also unknown. Alexander Solzhenitsyn uncovered this whole mystery with his masterpiece, and therefore I think that this book is not only of great literary, but also crucial historical importance. However, I got the feeling that both the novel and its author were a little bit controversial. The protagonist in the novel, Ivan Denisovich, knew all the injustice and cruelty that was going on in the gulags, nevertheless, he did not complain nor condemned it. In fact, throughout the book, Ivan Denisovich seemed to have accepted the way all the prisoners were treated and the only thing he cared about was survival. Like most prisoners, I believe that he had lost almost all of his morals and would do anything in order to survive. I found this aspect of the book particularly shocking, seeing that the prisoners were being "reduced" from human beings to primitive animals. Furthermore, I believed that this particular aspect could also be traced back to the author himself, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Having lived in a gulag himself, Solzhenitsyn effectively describes the harsh reality of being a victim of Stalin. The attitude of the author strongly influenced his writing style, which, in turn, was reflected in the attitude of the protagonist of the story. Ultimately, this book possessed a unique characteristic, which was that an "insider" wrote it. Therefore, the attitudes of the different characters, the nature of the plot, and the manner in which everything is written is different from the vast majority of the books I had read. Having said that, perhaps the most interesting thing about the book was that the reader was able to "dive" into that unique perspective, making it his own. In my opinion, it was seeing things from such a vastly different angle that made this book so fascinating to read. I would like to recommend this book to anyone who finds pleasure in reading historical fiction like I do. This book is shockingly accurate with plenty of detailed description that I am sure will have a profound impact on almost every reader.

Very good and powerful message, yet repetitive and confusing at times

The novel "One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, is very effective in showing how the lives of men in a Soviet labor camp revolved around pain and suffering, while forcing them to cherish and long for the things in life that hold little value for others. After all the men are stripped, many times unjustly and wrongly, of their lives, families, and friends, all that they have left is their honor and pride. It is a very powerful story about the constant fight that these men are forced to endure, not only for survival, but for proving their worth to others and themselves. This story, although it is fiction, educates the reader about the what really happened in the Soviet labor camps by taking one single day in a prisoner's life and analyzing every aspect of it thereby showing how they have to enjoy the small freedoms that they still have to keep their sanity in the hell that is the labor camp. The little things in their lives, such as the bread rations, or Ivan Denisovich's spoon, become the most important because of the fact that they symbolize the pleasures of the lives that have been taken away from them. The novel provides the reader with meaningful themes, wise and experienced outlooks on the importance of a man's honor and perseverance, and the unmatched emotions and troubles that the men in the labor camp struggle against every second of every minute of every hour of every day. The reader is able to look at his or her own life and value the freedom that most of us take for granted. I did find however, that there are various instances in the novel where the story becomes slow and repetitive; because it is only one day, a lot of detail is put in very plain things and that simply makes the story boring and hard to read. I also found that, because the author does not explain and clarify the characters more than briefly, understanding the personalities and motifs of the characters becomes confusing and difficult. I felt like the way the story is told does not let the reader feel like he or she is present in the plot itself, rather it keeps a distance from the emotions of all the characters, even Ivan Denisovich himself, and so prevents the reader from understanding the characters and their problems better. I do recommend this book because I feel that the theme and story that this book offers is both captivating and compelling. I do advice that one keeps an open mind and understands that some parts of the book are repetitive yet important for the greater meaning of the novel. The book is a fast read with a meaningful theme that I find could teach the reader good life lessons about pride, honor, value, and history. Alexander Solzhenitsyn did a great job in summarizing years that the men in the camp had to go through in one impacting day and, once you get passed the boring and repetitive parts, the novel proves to be a great one.

Review on the novel

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a fictional novel which has a substantial amount of real-life occurrences which had taken place in a Soviet camp regime setting. An ordinary man's life is followed through his daily activities as a prisoner in a Russian labor camp in the Winter of 1951. Ivan Denisovich, referred to as Shukohv, is an ordinary man who was put into a prison camp for an insufficient reason, as well as most of his fellow inmates. The novel is told in an anonymous voice in which the speaker talks in third person.
The common tasks and responsibilities are demonstrated by the protagonist, Shukohv. He is seen to be a typical Russian man in the working class whom does not follow any particular religious aggregation. Throughout the years, Shukohv has lost all feeling and sympathy towards his loved ones he has been separated with. This can give the reader an idea of the harsh working conditions he must endure. Although being uneducated, Shukohv can be considered to be one of the most dedicated and diligent workers in his gang. Receiving almost a nonexistent portion of food, Shuhkov and all of his prison companions must overcome and satisfy themselves in order to work through the harsh winters in the Siberian camp. Throughout this sentence which seems to be endless, Shukohv has encounters with guards and fellow inmates. They must battle the hardships of this camp regime together in order to avoid the cruelty and distress that is faced daily. Proceeding through his day convinced he will be sent to the solitary confinement, also known as "the hole", for sleeping in, Shukohv works diligently to complete his daily tasks on a construction site. Fighting to stay warm and fed, the reader will follow the main character and his colleagues in a fight for survival and safety from punishment.
On a personal level, the book seemed to be slow which left an apathetic feeling when being read. The themes and idea of the book are interesting, but since it is fiction the events in the novel could have been portrayed in a more exciting and adventurous manner. Additionally, one day's occurrences were put into an entire novel which gave the author the opportunity to give every slight detail as well as past incidents. If one is looking for a book which gives a taste of the daily activities of a prisoner in a Soviet Union prison camp in the 1950's this one would be the right pick. However if being considered by a reader just wanting to invest time into a historical fictional book, other books would be recommended instead. This novel seems to have a monotone tone throughout which does not allow the reader to feel excitement. Personally, I could relate to this book because I am of Russian decent and it was interesting to see what events past incidents had to manage.