Comments on: A Quick Roundup http://www.edrants.com/a-quick-roundup/ a cultural website in ever-shifting standing Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:18:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Christopher Price http://www.edrants.com/a-quick-roundup/comment-page-1/#comment-246559 Christopher Price Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:28:33 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=8077#comment-246559 Yeah, Gulag is only really interesting if you really want to read about it. I guess I was since I read all three volumes. At that time I also read 1984. Twice. It's a wonder I'm still alive. And though Solzhenitsyn was influential in me becoming a Russian major I don't quite understand how "Gulag" became popular in the West, since it's a combination of "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" and "Politics of the English Language," and so it's specifically targeted at a Russian audience, and challenging their false memories, and showing how he believed the Communists destroyed the Russian language. And I agree with you that it's more important that he's judged as a writer and not for his prison camp experiences. After all, he's not the only writer to live in the camps or to emerge from them. Unfortunately, it was difficult for him to even escape those times. And for his merits as a writer, I'd recommend reading his short fiction and prose poems. Matthew is my brother's name, but he's off at summer camp. Yeah, Gulag is only really interesting if you really want to read about it. I guess I was since I read all three volumes. At that time I also read 1984. Twice. It’s a wonder I’m still alive. And though Solzhenitsyn was influential in me becoming a Russian major I don’t quite understand how “Gulag” became popular in the West, since it’s a combination of “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and “Politics of the English Language,” and so it’s specifically targeted at a Russian audience, and challenging their false memories, and showing how he believed the Communists destroyed the Russian language.

And I agree with you that it’s more important that he’s judged as a writer and not for his prison camp experiences. After all, he’s not the only writer to live in the camps or to emerge from them. Unfortunately, it was difficult for him to even escape those times. And for his merits as a writer, I’d recommend reading his short fiction and prose poems.

Matthew is my brother’s name, but he’s off at summer camp.

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