One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Author), Frank Muller (Narrator), Recorded Books (Publisher)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 5,174 ratings
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Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn’s startling book led, almost 30 years later, to Glasnost, Perestroika, and the "Fall of the Wall". One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich brilliantly portrays a single day, any day, in the life of a single Russian soldier who was captured by the Germans in 1945 and who managed to escape a few days later. Along with millions of others, this soldier was charged with some sort of political crime, and since it was easier to confess than deny it and die, Ivan Denisovich "confessed" to "high treason" and received a sentence of 10 years in a Siberian labor camp.

<[>In 1962, the Soviet literary magazine Novy Mir published a short novel by an unknown writer named Solzhenitsyn. Within 24 hours, all 95,000 copies of the magazine containing this story were sold out. Within a week, Solzhenitsyn was no longer an obscure math teacher, but an international celebrity. Publication of the book split the Communist hierarchy, and it was Premier Khrushchev himself who read the book and personally allowed its publication.

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  1. Listening Length
    4 hours and 29 minutes
  2. Author
    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  3. Narrator
    Frank Muller
  4. Audible release date
    February 13, 2013
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Recorded Books
  7. ASIN
    B00BFDDYYA
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 4 hours and 29 minutes
Author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Narrator Frank Muller
Audible.com Release Date February 13, 2013
Publisher Recorded Books
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B00BFDDYYA
Best Sellers Rank #112,702 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#2,784 in Classic Literature
#12,333 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
5,174 global ratings
Great book by great author
3 Stars
Great book by great author
The book is a great entry in the canon of literature.Unfortunately, Amazon chose to send a severely water damaged and clearly dirty copy. They should be ashamed to have put this in a box for a customer.
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Top reviews from the United States

Bob Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars More than a mere novel
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2019
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One assumes that those who have stumbled across this review are probably already somewhat familiar with the work Solzhenitsyn so this review can be brief. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this novel because, though it is a novel--a work of fiction--it is also a historical document, one of the most important books of the twentieth century and essential for understanding the corruption of the Soviet system.

The novel literally does bring the reader along for the ride during one day in the life of the titular character, a soldier falsely accused of treason and sentenced to a term of hard labor in the Gulag system of Siberian prison camps. The utter horror of this book is contained in the rich detail with which the author conveys life inside these camps (a life the author lived for himself), not only in the extremes of their abuses but in the minutiae of everyday life. The day described is not one of the most horrifying days--to fully grasp the horror of the Gulag, one needs to read other books including Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. Indeed, the "one day" described is portrayed as a relatively good day, a perspective which forces the reader to confront the inhumanity of a system whose good days make for a bleak and depressing read.

But the book is not merely a fictionalized documentary concerning what life was like in the prison camps, it is a historical document in its own right. It was this novel that (finally) brought the evils of the Gulag system into open discussion. Imagine the experience it must have been to read such a book upon its publication in 1962 and to realize that the events it described not only *did* happen but were *still* happening to the millions of prisoners who inhabited the prison camps that dotted the bleak Siberian landscape (which existed in modified form as late as the 1980s). While it would be folly to credit Solzhenitsyn with the fall of the Soviet Union (as some writers given to hyperbole have done), it would be equally unwise to discount the impact this book's revelations had on Russian history. In that way, reading this book is necessary not only to understand the nature of life inside the forced labor camps but to understand the course of Russian history in the 20th century.

From a literary perspective, this is an odd work. With few events described in excruciating detail, the novel doesn't leave much room for the expected conflict/resolution or character arc. Instead, the novel presents a snapshot of an unchanging life. Combined with the dispiriting description of the lives of political prisoners, this makes for a less-than-enjoyable yet incredibly thought provoking and intellectually stimulating read. Upon finishing, the reader is left feeling quite glad to have read the book but perhaps equally glad that it's mercifully short. A longer book with the same subject matter could easily send the reader into a deep depression.

In sum, you owe it to yourself to read this book, but you would be well-advised to save it for a day when you're more in the mood for intellectual stimulation than mere entertainment.
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R. M. Peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars "Today was a red-letter day for him: two helpings for dinner, two helpings for supper."
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017
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In addition to second helpings of dinner and supper (of oatmeal and fish stew), Ivan Denisovich also wrangled six extra ounces of bread, a biscuit, two lumps of sugar, and enough tobacco for a couple cigarettes. Thus this particular day in 1951, in the eighth year of Ivan Denisovich's ten-year sentence to a work camp in Siberia -- one of 3,653 days of the sentence -- was a good one. Despite laboring ten hours in subzero weather building a wall to a power station with cement blocks and mortar, despite standing around in the freezing cold for repeated prisoner counts, and despite all sorts of petty harassment from guards and trusties.

Ivan Denisovich committed his crime in the following manner: As a Red Army soldier in 1942, his army, having exhausted all food and ammunition, was surrounded in a forest by the Germans and captured in small groups. Ivan Denisovich and four others soon escaped from the Germans. As they approached the Red Army lines, three of them were machine-gunned down and Ivan Denisovich and one other survived, only to be branded a deserter.

Just like Ivan Denisovich, author Alexander Solzhenitsyn had been imprisoned in the Gulag, the system of Soviet forced-labor camps. Solzhenitsyn wrote ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH in order to depict a single day in the life of an ordinary Siberian work-camp prisoner. Via an odd confluence of events (described by Yevgeny Yevtushenko in the excellent Introduction to this edition), Khrushchev authorized its publication in 1962. Publication had the effect, in the words of Yevtushenko, "of a political bomb. It took millions of stunned readers--Soviet and foreign--behind the barbed wire, dissecting for them the horrible life of daily self-genocide."

Though it no longer is as "newsworthy", fifty-five years later ONE DAY IN THE LIFE remains well worth reading. Especially notable is Solzhenitsyn's low-key, matter-of-fact narrative style, which conveys the banality of the evil of the Soviet Gulag more effectively than would a sensationalist, overwrought account. In this respect, the novel resembles Primo Levi's classic account of the Nazi concentration camps, "If This Is a Man."

I believe that ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH is one of the handful of classics of literature that are well suited for high school students. To be sure, there is a smattering of "vulgar" words, but what tenth-grader is not familiar with them? (They are tame in comparison with the recent filthy tirade of the White House Communications Director.) The novel is not overly demanding of the inexperienced reader and it would constitute a good introduction to the realm of "literature." Moreover, in these politically fractious times it is hard to think of another novel less likely to offend parents, educators, or school boards on political grounds.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Matthew
5.0 out of 5 stars Short But Sweet
Reviewed in Canada on April 29, 2023
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I think if people look at Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's other work such as The Gulag Archipelago and find it's sheer length daunting then One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a great starting point. It covers a good deal of the experience but has a much more limited scope and can be finished much faster. It works great as fiction in terms of characters but obviously the things these characters go through is genuine. If you want to dip your toes into Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn without having to commit a large chunk of time then give tis a try.
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Diego Martell
5.0 out of 5 stars Lectura obligada
Reviewed in Mexico on September 24, 2020
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La edición es sencilla, papel rugoso, oscuro, letra pequeña, pero cómoda para la lectura, nada se transparenta. Cuenta con una introducción, prólogo y epílogo que enriquecen la obra. En definitiva una historia que todos debemos leer, al describir solamente un día en la vida del personaje, la obra es sumamente descriptiva, te sientes parte del campo de concentración y empatizas con los personajes. Además sirve para practicar tu inglés.
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Diego Martell
5.0 out of 5 stars Lectura obligada
Reviewed in Mexico on September 24, 2020
La edición es sencilla, papel rugoso, oscuro, letra pequeña, pero cómoda para la lectura, nada se transparenta. Cuenta con una introducción, prólogo y epílogo que enriquecen la obra. En definitiva una historia que todos debemos leer, al describir solamente un día en la vida del personaje, la obra es sumamente descriptiva, te sientes parte del campo de concentración y empatizas con los personajes. Además sirve para practicar tu inglés.
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Ramesh Ramamurthy
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent novel
Reviewed in India on October 22, 2018
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I just finished this extraordinary book. Very well written on the experiences with labour camps in erstwhile Soviet Union. The book captures the essence of the life spent in one such labour camp. The prose is so lively and the overall tone of the book is sarcastically positive. Everyone in the world should read it to get a perspective on life.

Everyman's edition is an absolute delight to own.
6 people found this helpful
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Sebastià Novella
4.0 out of 5 stars Valoració dels productes adquirits a Amazon.
Reviewed in Spain on October 2, 2017
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Tots els productes que he adquirit a Amazon (excepte un el preu del qual em va ser retornat just al mateix moment en què en van rebre la notificació de devolució) han complert amb les meves expectatives. N'estic molt content i hi continuaré comprant encantadíssim.
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Jason Annand
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book
Reviewed in Australia on March 22, 2021
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Complex and brilliant.
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