The Gulag Archipelago — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — Highly Recommend
The first thing to note, I did the unimaginable and listened to the abridged version. Am I not hardcore enough for the full three volumes? In a word, no. This was still a 22-hour read and only demanded 1 audible credit though, so I feel somewhat justified. Moreover, this abridgment was authorized by Solzhenitsyn specifically for a western audience. This book is something like a blend between Dante's "Divine Comedy", Victor Frankl's " Man's search for meaning " and a 'from the belly of the beast' diagnosis of Marxism. I will depart from my usual short-form analysis because this book hasn't been treated with the attention it deserves. It's due a long-form summary and analysis. During his time in the gulag, Solzhenitsyn composed 10's of thousands of lines drawing from his own experience and the stories he exchanged with other prisoners. Lacking the ability to write anything meaningful down, he devised a system using prayer beads to memor