A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich

So it goes...I just spent the afternoon reading the whole book.

I love exploring books that develop new concepts or perspectives. In my sojourn through the realm of literature, I have exposed myself a spread of ideas, some coterminous to the other, others poles apart. And I have cynically processed them, assimilated the relevant and insightful ones, while caching the less palatable or facile ones. The penetrating and astute ideas elicit raptures of praises from me and persist in my mind, while the objectionable or shallow ideas are gradually worn away by entropy.

But rarely do I get emotionally attached to them, and rarely will my emotions be stirred by the author.

In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn has touched me with his gritty realism on Stalin's labour camps just as Vonnegurt shook me with his biting satire on war. In the few hours it took to traverse 142 pages and 20 hours of (Ivan Denisovich) Shukhov, my perception on the desirabilty of Stalin as a leader in Russia has been shattered at its foundations.

Of course, it is inevitable that I'll miss out much at a such sprint to complete a book so pregnant with poignancy, and I must re-read it when the free time arises again. For now though, I think it necessary to put pen to paper the ideas of greatest significance, for this book has been, in a way, almost cathartic.

Of greatest import is the way the book has crushed my supposedly detached views of the necessitiy of dictatorship in 3rd world nations to ensure sustainability. As an observer of history removed from participation as victims in Stalin's crimes, I have often immaturely declared that without Stalin, the USSR would have disintegrated in the face of German onslaughts in WW2, and that so much that Stalin was a cruel man, he was a saviour to his people and that negated much of his crimes.

But can crimes really be negated this way?

When Shukhov is punished simply for surviving and escaping capture; when a soviet hero is punished because an English admiral sends him gifts, is such a leader even worth a modicum of respect? I'm not naive or ignorant, and I know of the ludicrous crimes that have been dreamed up for persons perceived to be threats to Stalin, but most of the time, these were men who remained faceless or just a numeral in the millions of subjugated me. Perhaps my small heart was simply unable to comprehend the immensity of Stalin's monstrosity, so much so I often compared his economic "achievements" to his crimes, and conclude his achievements were more favorable to him! But Solzhenitsyn forces me to look in the faces of each labour camp prisoner, forces me to live with them for one day. He tears the scales from my eyes, and shows me how gulag life has broken these men. When life is reduced to looking forward to a pinch of tobacco, a bowl of grass, and a bite of bread; when life is reduced to sleep; when life is reduced so much one starts to fear freedom! Par dieu, as the characters of Dumas always say. By God! How much cruelty could be doll out to men? Jesus suffered much physical pain on the cross; these men probably would rather suffer that pain and die knowing that people venerated him. Each of these men could be Jesus.

There are really more that I wish to say regarding my revulsion at the Stalin regime, but I lack the emotional capability and words for it now. Another day for this while I move on to a few other ideas that touch me significantly.

Just this Friday, I spent half a day debating with 3 avowed Christians about the existance of God, or at least a supreme being. (On a side note, 2 of them at least seemed to be tending towards the intelligent design idea, which really frightens me considering that I never imagined practical Singaporeans to fall into the trap Americans are falling into.) Then on Saturday, I visited this church (lighthouse evangelism) at Woodlands. A proclaimed Agnostic at a church procession! How quaint! So much for the "who cares about God" proclaimation! But it was a well-intentioned invitation by my boss, and a real agnostic is always open to all ideas! Anyways, what is its relevance to Solzhenitsyn? Well, the 2 events of the pass 2 days replayed in my eye when Shukhov expresses the opinion that "prayers are like our appeals; they either don't get through or are return with the stamp, 'rejected'". On Saturday evening, the instances of miracle was incredible to the state of incredulous. Healing prayers by proxy saved this Phillipino! A hand that brought unbearable pain to its master was quelled! But half a world praying did naught for men in gulags. God's ways are mysterious my Christian friends declared, but certainly this mysteriousness bothers on the malicious, no? I prefer a more palatable God, thank you!

Finally, I end this with a description of work by Shukhov: Work was like a stick. It had two ends. Whenyou worked for the knowing you gave them quality; when you worked for a fool you simply gave him eye-wash. How it resonates with me!