Galloping Gypsy
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • About
  • Music
    • Repertoire
  • Events
  • Links
  • Gallery
  • Blog 2

The Solzhenitsyn Centennial

11/12/2018

6 Comments

 
“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
 
That’s my favorite quote from Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. Although I could choose many others, I think this one reflects his understanding of both human fallibility and the misguided attempts of totalitarian systems to “cure” society.
 
The Russian writer and Nobel laureate was born on this day in 1918 in Kislovodsk, a spa town of the North Caucasus. Although a decorated officer in World War II, he was arrested near the end of the conflict on spurious charges of anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation, and spent eight years in prisons and labor camps, followed by internal exile, before being exonerated under Khrushchev. His fictional work One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, about the struggles of prisoners in penal colonies to merely survive, was published in 1962. It received official approval, as the new regime sought to expose the horrific abuses of Stalinism.
 
But after Brezhnev removed Khrushchev in 1964, conditions again became repressive, and Solzhenitsyn not only was unable to publish, he also had to hide manuscripts from the KGB. He was kicked out of the Writers’ Union in 1969, meaning he could no longer publish (except by samizdat or “self-publication,” which was illegal). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970 but could not receive it in Stockholm. In 1973, his three-volume Gulag Archipelago was published in France. The work documented the atrocities of the Soviet prison system under Stalin, in large part through the personal experiences of 227 victims. It seared the term ‘gulag’ into the conscience of humanity.
 
As a result, authorities expelled him from the Soviet Union the following year. (Poet Yevgeniy Yevtushenko, whose death I covered in April 2017, suffered reprisals from the authorities for his moral support of Solzhenitsyn at the time of his expulsion, something I failed to mention in that article.) He picked up his Nobel in Stockholm later, when the 1974 prizes were awarded. He eventually settled in the U.S. in a small town in Vermont. He became increasingly isolated (a local gas station at one point posted a sign: “No directions to the Solzhenitsyns”), as he refused to temper his criticism of the West as well as that of the Soviet Communist Party. He caused quite a stir with his 1978 Harvard commencement address condemning American materialism.
 
He continued to work on various books from his Vermont residence. His Soviet citizenship was restored in 1990 under Gorbachev, and he finally returned to Russia in 1994, after the disintegration of the USSR, when he famously took a train journey from Vladivostok across the country.
 
When I made my first trip to Russia for language study in the summer of 1995, I was curious about the author, having read parts of Gulag Archipelago in college. As I was living year-round in Slovakia at the time, I told one of my students (I taught English a couple of hours per week) I'd chosen to go to Czechoslovakia in 1990 in large part because of the presidency of playwright/political prisoner Vaclav Havel. My student couldn’t resist asking, “So if Solzhenitsyn becomes president, you will move to Russia?”
 
Back then Solzhenitsyn had a twice-monthly TV program, which I watched with my host mother. She would interpret his political commentary into simplified Russian when necessary, as well as fill in the background. I could understand things like his parody of tendentiously worded referendum questions: “Do you want this wonderful, brilliant [measure] – ili nyet, or not.” My host mother explained the cronyism in the sale of previously state-owned factories, using the then widespread term priskhvatizatsia, a blend of ‘privatization’ and the verb meaning ‘snatch up.’
 
Solzhenitsyn became a backer of Putin in the early 2000s, a position from which he never swayed before his death in 2008. While he is associated with the Russian right’s emphasis on Orthodoxy and other traditions, he lambasted the far right’s obsession with conspiracy theories involving Free Masonry and world Jewry. Some commentators have found latent anti-Semitism in his works, yet Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Elie Wiesel claimed the man was "too intelligent, too honest, too courageous, too great a writer" to be an anti-Semite.
 
Whatever his faults and controversies, he should be celebrated for his contributions to literature and history.
 

For a somewhat more detailed treatment of Solzhenitsyn's life, I suggest this commentary from Dr. Angela Brintlinger of The Ohio State University, whom I had the pleasure to know in my years of graduate study there.
6 Comments
Hailey Garcia
8/7/2024 08:15:30 am

My name is Hailey Garcia and I am from New Jersey. My herpes virus turned to war after 2 years of living with it. I have tried different medical procedures to cure my herpes but to no avail. Most people think herpes is only a minor skin irritation of which herpes has long term effects on health and passes through the bloodstream and can be easily contracted through sexual intercourse. I knew I had herpes from the first day I started feeling itchy in my pubic area and the pain was very unbearable. I couldn't stand it anymore. After 2 years of trying other means to get rid of it, I had to contact Doctor Odunga to help me with a permanent cure. I saw his email and whats-app number from a testimony I read online from a lady who was also helped by him in curing infertility problems, I had faith and contacted him. He assured me of his work and I ordered his herbal medicine. Within 5 days, I didn't feel any pain anymore and within 2 weeks, my skin was all cleared and smooth. I am very grateful to you sir and I write this testimony as others have done to bring those having faith to you sir. If you have herpes or other similar disease and you want it cured, kindly contact Doctor Odunga, Whats-App (wa.me/+2348167159012) OR Email [email protected]

Reply
it support manchester link
6/8/2024 03:41:23 am

This ease of management can significantly reduce the workload on your IT team and improve overall operational efficiency. Cloud hosting services provide exceptional global accessibility, allowing users to access their data and applications from anywhere in the world.

Reply
nano ceramic coating for cars link
6/8/2024 03:57:22 am

It can be a decisive factor in achieving a favorable resale outcome. Therefore, car detailing not only enhances current enjoyment but also benefits future financial returns. Car detailing services can effectively restore a vehicle’s original luster and shine.

Reply
sunset homes for sale link
6/8/2024 04:27:41 am

Navigating the paperwork and legal aspects of buying a home can be daunting, especially for first-time buyers. A real estate agent helps by managing the complex documentation involved in the process.

Reply
find the reality of dating app privacy link
6/8/2024 04:39:34 am

When users have verified their identity, customer service representatives can quickly access their account information and resolve issues more efficiently. This eliminates the need for lengthy identity confirmation steps during support interactions.

Reply
circle diamond pendant link
6/8/2024 09:42:52 pm

The balanced design, with a larger central diamond flanked by two smaller ones, offers a blend of elegance and sophistication. This necklace can be customized with different diamond shapes and settings, allowing for a personalized touch.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2023
    December 2022
    December 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Musical & Literary Wanderings of a Galloping Gypsy

    Mark Eliot Nuckols is a travel writer from Silver Beach Virginia who is also a musician and teacher.

    Categories

    All
    Austria
    Birthday
    Central Europe
    Czechoslovakia
    Czech Republic
    Folk Music
    Francis Ferdinand
    Grand Budapest Hotel
    Hungary
    Martin
    Mozart
    Music
    Pécs
    Prague
    Requiem
    Sarajevo
    Slovakia
    St. Cecilia
    Stefan Zweig
    The World Of Yesterday
    Vienna
    World War I

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly