#first circle

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

What’s it about?

It’s about a bunch of techie prisoners in a gulag who are tasked to make a machine to identify an individual from his voice print, something that scientists can’t even do today with any degree of reliability.

Throughout the book, Solzhenitsyn focuses on the personal lives of each of the people involved: the prisoners; the prison wardens (themselves prisoners of a sort); the government ministers; the civil service officers; and the wives and families of the prisoners who will probably never see them again. 

Is Stalin in it? 

Yes. There’s a famous, intentionally uncomfortable chapter where Solzhenitsyn sees things from Stalin’s point of view, although if you’ve read Game of Thrones and humanising brutal dictators is too much, you should present yourself to the relevant authorities at first light.  

What should I say to make people think I’ve read it?

“I have a new appreciation for the essential dignity of the human animal.”

What should I avoid saying when trying to convince people I’ve read it?

“Nothing good ever came out of Russia.”

Should I actually read it?

Yes. What might sound kind of depressing is actually an uplifting story of how humans can form communities and survive under extraordinarily adverse conditions.