I post book reviews of impossibly big reads on this blog. They’re the literary heavyweights, on the older side. Don’t be afraid of a history lesson. A heavy classic book needs only a big attitude, big ideas, and more than a little bit of profundity. These books change the way people read. Some have changed the world.
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The Magic Mountain
by Thomas Mann
706 pages
Published in 1924
Does this sound familiar? There’s a respiratory illness in the world that strikes down some people but not others. This illness is not well understood. There’s no cure or effective prevention. Treatment options are, admittedly, few. For suffers, the best plan is to say goodbye to their regular lives. These people must live in a self-imposed lockdown which experts believe will aid in their recovery. How long will they need to stay apart from the rest of the world? When will it be safe?
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Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov
Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
496 pages
Published in 2000
Anton Chekhov had an enviable career. Published at a young age, he found instant success. Soon, Chekhov was winning awards and being hailed by the likes of Tolstoy. In addition to his rare talent, Chekhov was prolific. He wrote over 200 short stories and authored eight plays. Yet, he wasn’t only a critical darling. His writing was popular with the regular people he wrote about. By the time of his death at age 44, Chekhov was considered a national treasure of Russia.
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The Gulag Archipelago
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
704 pages
Published in 1976
The word ‘archipelago’ conjures up images of a restful vacation. The scattered islands of the Aegean Sea are one such setting. People want to go there. And so we realize this oddly-poetic title, The Gulag Archipelago, is laced with sarcasm. Solzhenitsyn was not sent on vacation by his utopian government, the Soviet Union. He and his fellow citizens were not protected, supported, nor empowered. At least eighteen million of them were, by the weakest of connections or for no reason at all, branded as enemies. They were arrested, coerced to confess, sentenced to a prison term that was often fatal, or simply shot. Who would be next?
Continue reading “Book Review: The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1”
Eugene Havens