Evgenia Ginzburg
Paperback | Pages: 418 pages Rating: 4.37 | 2855 Users | 223 Reviews
Particularize Out Of Books Journey into the Whirlwind
| Title | : | Journey into the Whirlwind |
| Author | : | Evgenia Ginzburg |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 418 pages |
| Published | : | November 4th 2002 by Harvest Books (Harcourt, Inc.) (first published January 1st 1967) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Cultural. Russia. Autobiography. Memoir. Biography. Literature. Russian Literature |
Narrative To Books Journey into the Whirlwind
Eugenia Ginzburg's critically acclaimed memoir of the harrowing eighteen years she spent in prisons and labor camps under Stalin's ruleBy the late 1930s, Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg had been a loyal and very active member of the Communist Party for many years. Yet like millions of others who suffered during Stalin's reign of terror, she was arrested—on trumped-up charges of being a Trotskyist terrorist and counter-revolutionary—and sentenced to prison. With an amazing eye for detail, profound strength, and an indefatigable spirit, Ginzburg recounts the years, days, and minutes she endured in prisons and labor camps, including two years of solitary confinement. A classic account of survival, Journey into the Whirlwind is considered one of the most important documents of Stalin's regime ever written.
Mention Books As Journey into the Whirlwind
| Original Title: | Крутой маршрут ISBN13 9780156027519 |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Russian Federation |
Rating Out Of Books Journey into the Whirlwind
Ratings: 4.37 From 2855 Users | 223 ReviewsCriticism Out Of Books Journey into the Whirlwind
I think it's understandable I was trepidatious about reading a memoir about The Great Purge and survival in gulags. It's not heavy, at all, and is written in a very easy...almost chatty style. This book is not a series of horrifying vignettes (although there are many harrowing stories), but really, it is a story of hope, and of touching humanism.Most prison camp memoirs have a monotonous sameness about them. There are the inevitable discussions of makeshift tools, bone needles, paper shoes, and such. There is the constant yearning for food, water, sleep, and family. There is the surprising ingenuity of prisoners communicating under censorship, such as, in this book, the special prisoners' Morse code tapped through stone walls, or the prisoners' use of song tunes with substitute words to explain to each other about a new warden. This
Despite the bleak content, Ginzburg writes in a beautifully lyrical style; for once, I didnt wonder if the style was underserved by the translation. The level of detail in Ginzburgs memoir is unmatched, and she speaks to the importance of communication in order to preserve hope for the prisoners. The memoir does end in a disappointingly abrupt manner, but there is a note at the end by the original English language publisher saying that Ginzburg was working on a second memoir.I doubt I would have
After beavering away like a good little boy on a review of Into the Whirlwind, I got so disgusted with the falseness and inadequacy of my response (even more so than usual) that I eventually gave up in despair. Instead, Ill take this opportunity to elaborate on some comments I made below, since Im still kind of hung up on the ethics of reading survivor literature a topic of zero interest to anyone whos not a complete tool like myself. So fair warning. Despite all my prissy scruples, I think I
10/5 kinda book. I would recommend it to absolutely every human being. Apparently, "Into the whirlwind", the English version of it, is lacking a lot of material from the original book, and it's a shame.
Eugenia (or Yevgeniya) Ginzburg was a member of the Communist party accused of political crimes along with many thousands of others during Stalins purges in the 1930s. She was sentenced to 10 years solitary confinement, the standard sentence for any party member who wasnt shot, but after two years Stalin must have realised hed locked up too many people of working age not only were they not producing, but they had to be fed and guarded and she and many others were sent to do physical labour in
This was a mind-boggling read (if only it were fiction!) but I found little in the book to appreciate other than the authors seemingly inexhaustible ability to endure and will to live. The narrative is clumsy and alternates between flashbacks and flashes forward. Its slow and monotonous, even when describing true torture and horrorand perhaps this pace accurately reflects the experience of life in the various prisons and labor camps she describes. I would recommend reading a bit about the
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