Cancer Ward Summary and Reviews

Cancer Ward
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Cancer Ward
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Book Summary Information

Author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Import
Published: 2003
ISBN: 0099575515
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: VINTAGE (RAND)

Book Reviews of Cancer Ward

Book Review: A Matrushka Saga
Summary: 5 Stars

Everyone is familiar with those dolls within dolls within dolls that are so prevalent in historical Russian culture. This tale reminds one of such a set. There is the outer doll, the Soviet state in all its uncaring, soul-numbing, politically drenched stasis. Then there is the next doll, the Cancer Ward itself, a pitiful place where harried doctors and nurses attempt to attend to patients under the most primitive of conditions. Finally, the last doll is the group of individuals that stay at the Cancer Ward - their lives.

This is a story about hope - hope that one can survive the system, hope that the disease can be conquered, hope for a future with friends and the things one values. In his usual way, the author explores all facets of Soviet socity with a particular emphasis on the world he knows best - the world of the zek, the political prisoner. The reflections of Oleg and his determination to survive shine through the utterly gray and workout Soviet background. It is this dramatic accentuation that makes the word pictures so moving. For despite all the reasons to give up, he endures. This is a quiet novel but a deeply moving one, so different from the historical works that followed.

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