The Oak and the Calf: Sketches of Literary Life in the Soviet Union

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Book Overview

In this autobiographical work, Solzhenitsyn tells of his ten-year war to outwit Russia's rulers and get his works published in his own country. 14 cassettes. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060140143
• ISBN13: 9780060140144
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 568 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Oak and the Calf

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn holds the honour of being the author to break the news to the world of Russia's treatment of its people. Before him, the Western world - and, disturbingly, a large portion of Russia - had only a faint idea of the true depth of lies, deceit, exploitation and murder that were being committed under the rule of the Communist government. The Oak and the Calf is his memoir of the difficulties faced in being published in Russia, at a time when even typewriters were controlled by the government and publishing without attack by the censors was unheard of. It is a clear, lucid portrayal of Solzhenitsyn's decades long battle to write. The book is split into four sections, of which the first two and the last two form separate wholes. The first half of the novel recounts his difficulties in first becoming published, then details the difficulties in making Russia and the world aware of Russia's mistakes; the second half focuses on Solzhenitsyn's battles with the KGB to ensure that he was able to publish his more incriminating works within Russia, while avoiding imprisonment, exile or death. Solzhenitsyn spent the first twenty years of his adult life first at the Russian front in World War II, and then in a labour camp, where he was sentenced after criticising Stalin in personal correspondence. After that, he contracted cancer; he spent time recovering in a hospital at Tashkent. During this time, he would compose prose in his mind - there were no opportunities to write down and store text. He relates that he would spend a week of each month while in the labor camp, going over what he had written in his mind until he remembered it perfectly. He composed his thoughts, wrote prose, plotted novels. From a young age, he wanted to be a writer. Thanks to his imprisonment, Solzhenitsyn gained the source material with which to write. When Solzhenitsyn was in his forties, he was finally able to publish his work. At home now, living with his second wife (his first abandoned him when he went to the labour camps), Solzhenitsyn could write, but the realities of publishing in Russia were slim. He had two options. The first, samizdat, an underground network of writers and readers. The second was to be published in one of Russia's literary magazines, but the requirements of publication included the necessity of government censure and approval. Solzhenitsyn, in his own words, 'lightened' a novel of his, Shch-854. Thanks to the confidence of magazine Novy Mir's editor, Alexander Tvardovsky, the novel was published under the name, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. In this book, Solzhenitsyn said what had never been said before - he accurately and honestly described life in the labor camps. What was once taboo was out in the open. It was a sensation, and his name was made. Instantly, Solzhenitsyn was one of the most dangerous men in Russia. What was the government to do? If they imprisoned him again, or killed him, the outcry would be horrific. But

I LIKE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO, BUT I LOVE THIS BOOK THE BEST

Don't get me wrong, Gulag Archipelago is one of my favorite all-time works. It's place in world history is secure. But the Oak and the Calf is a personal history of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (arguably the greatest living writer in the world).At a time when the punishment for owning a copy of Gulag was DEATH, Solzhenitsyn was not afraid to stand up to the Soviet system ALONE AND UNARMED (He has a lot in common with Mahatma Ghandi). When you are armed with truth and you stand firm, it is Evil itself that must eventually back down.How did Solzhenitsyn gain so much courage? How did he handle the Soviet system without becoming a corpse? How was he able to write his first several books while still a prisoner in the prison camps? What kept him going when things looked the most bleak?We can learn much about commitment, will-power, and dedication to principles of truth by seeing how Solzhenitsyn did it. By reading this book, Solzhenitsyn can be your mentor and teach you through his example.--George Stancliffe