I'm sort of leaning towards the long version, since honestly I'm not sure how I haven't read them before with my interest in the Soviets and all.
What I do wonder from someone who has read them, is are they actually good to read? Someone else mentions them being "postgraduate level", so is it one of those things that's extremely long and complicated reading that just wears you down? Sometimes things that are supposedly for "educated" people seem more like a hundred hours of word salad to pick through. Although at the very least it's a more modern book as usually the ones I can never get into are older. I'd rather succeed at an abridged version over failing to finish at all.
They are basically the truth of the history of the Soviet Union, it can get dry, but reading about how a quarter of a city was arrested and shipped off in one night without murmur or complaint requires a full understanding of what Soviet communism is, which this series points out in excruciating detail.
Yeah, I got the book in hand and have no idea how it flew under the radar for me. I haven't started yet but it looks like something I'll enjoy with none of what I was thinking would be an issue.
I just finished Volume 2. It should be required reading in all high schools, as I heard it is in Russia currently.
I laughed a few times. Both from the author's humour and from the absolutely absurd incidents Solzhenitsyn recounts about certain situations. It's a very interesting read. You'll learn a lot about how Soviet citizens lived, Soviet ideology, how gulags were like of course. The books will make you appreciate the horror of what happened. I knew it was bad before reading these books. You can't imagine how bad it was. Gotta read it.
I don't imagine criticism of the abridged version to be anything other than that they didn't include the critics favourite story in it. Maybe some ideas aren't as well explained in the short amount of time but that's the nature of making something short.
I agree, halfway through that and don't see anything wrong with it. (though I guess criticism would have to come from people who have read the unabridged version)
Solzhenitsyn wholeheartedly endorsed the abridged edition, especially useful for teaching in America.
I checked the PDF copy that I have and chapter 6 starts on page 237. In comparison my PDF copy of Starship Troopers is only 157 pages. While I haven’t read Gulag Archipelago I’d imagine the writing is much denser than Starship Troopers.
Five chapters with only a week’s discussion seems a lot to bite off at one time.
I picked up the paperback copy of volume 1 and would concur, the end of chapter 5 is 236 pages and is over a third the total first volume. My suggestion would be the first two chapters, which would come in at 92 pages in my book. Some of the later chapters are much shorter.
Jordan B. Peterson calls The GULAG Archipelago the most important book of the Twentieth Century. I took about a year to read the first volume and will pick up the second volume shortly, when the snow flies.
Perhaps The GULAG Archipelago is postgraduate level reading, requiring background study first.
Banish anyone that would read any abridgment. The universe can be abridged as DUH as well.
I don't have time—or really, the inclination—to read this one again, since I just did so last year. Good luck. It's dense and tough to get through, but powerful.
So long as the volumes make sense to read individually, I'd suggest starting with one volume and then allowing people to take a breather and read something lighter (or choose to read the second volume if they like). I personally hate reading abridged versions and I wouldn't even consider that an option.
Looks like I finally have the excuse I need to read past the first chapter. The immeasurable evil on display in the first chapter alone was enough to ward me off from reading the rest it (no spoilers from me for any potential book club readers seeing this).
Just Vol.1 should suffice :o
Maybe the abridged version of just Vol.1
We have a week to start reading... this one will take a while! Maybe we should keep it under 500 pages in the future?
EDIT: The Abridged Version Z-Library (multiple formats available) has 161 pages for Vol.1 (chapters 1-12).
The Full Version At Z-Library (PDF, but other versions are there too) has 488 pages for Ch.1-12.
I'm sort of leaning towards the long version, since honestly I'm not sure how I haven't read them before with my interest in the Soviets and all.
What I do wonder from someone who has read them, is are they actually good to read? Someone else mentions them being "postgraduate level", so is it one of those things that's extremely long and complicated reading that just wears you down? Sometimes things that are supposedly for "educated" people seem more like a hundred hours of word salad to pick through. Although at the very least it's a more modern book as usually the ones I can never get into are older. I'd rather succeed at an abridged version over failing to finish at all.
They are basically the truth of the history of the Soviet Union, it can get dry, but reading about how a quarter of a city was arrested and shipped off in one night without murmur or complaint requires a full understanding of what Soviet communism is, which this series points out in excruciating detail.
Yeah, I got the book in hand and have no idea how it flew under the radar for me. I haven't started yet but it looks like something I'll enjoy with none of what I was thinking would be an issue.
I just finished Volume 2. It should be required reading in all high schools, as I heard it is in Russia currently.
I laughed a few times. Both from the author's humour and from the absolutely absurd incidents Solzhenitsyn recounts about certain situations. It's a very interesting read. You'll learn a lot about how Soviet citizens lived, Soviet ideology, how gulags were like of course. The books will make you appreciate the horror of what happened. I knew it was bad before reading these books. You can't imagine how bad it was. Gotta read it.
Abridged version seems like the best option.
I don't imagine criticism of the abridged version to be anything other than that they didn't include the critics favourite story in it. Maybe some ideas aren't as well explained in the short amount of time but that's the nature of making something short.
I agree, halfway through that and don't see anything wrong with it. (though I guess criticism would have to come from people who have read the unabridged version)
Solzhenitsyn wholeheartedly endorsed the abridged edition, especially useful for teaching in America.
I checked the PDF copy that I have and chapter 6 starts on page 237. In comparison my PDF copy of Starship Troopers is only 157 pages. While I haven’t read Gulag Archipelago I’d imagine the writing is much denser than Starship Troopers.
Five chapters with only a week’s discussion seems a lot to bite off at one time.
I picked up the paperback copy of volume 1 and would concur, the end of chapter 5 is 236 pages and is over a third the total first volume. My suggestion would be the first two chapters, which would come in at 92 pages in my book. Some of the later chapters are much shorter.
imo maybe we should start with the abridged version snd vote on the full versiuon when we're done reading it
Jordan B. Peterson calls The GULAG Archipelago the most important book of the Twentieth Century. I took about a year to read the first volume and will pick up the second volume shortly, when the snow flies.
Perhaps The GULAG Archipelago is postgraduate level reading, requiring background study first.
Banish anyone that would read any abridgment. The universe can be abridged as DUH as well.
As someone who has already read them, it's far too depressing to read it all again. Everyone should though. I look forward to the threads about it.
I haven't read the abridged version, but I can definitely attest to the original.
I don't have time—or really, the inclination—to read this one again, since I just did so last year. Good luck. It's dense and tough to get through, but powerful.
So long as the volumes make sense to read individually, I'd suggest starting with one volume and then allowing people to take a breather and read something lighter (or choose to read the second volume if they like). I personally hate reading abridged versions and I wouldn't even consider that an option.
Looks like I finally have the excuse I need to read past the first chapter. The immeasurable evil on display in the first chapter alone was enough to ward me off from reading the rest it (no spoilers from me for any potential book club readers seeing this).
Now we get to
sufferlearn together.Just Vol.1 should suffice :o
Maybe the abridged version of just Vol.1
We have a week to start reading... this one will take a while! Maybe we should keep it under 500 pages in the future?
EDIT: The Abridged Version Z-Library (multiple formats available) has 161 pages for Vol.1 (chapters 1-12).
The Full Version At Z-Library (PDF, but other versions are there too) has 488 pages for Ch.1-12.
Done