Alexander Solzhenitsyn has Died

[Falkenhayn]

+http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Its the breaking news banner headline. No article as yet.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

And so passes the great Russian author of the 20th century; I may only hope he finished the Red Wheel Cycle, or at least the manuscript of the final book--as I suspect he intended to be his life's work all along--and that it will in due time appear in the English translation, so that the epic will garner the respect it has always deserved, but we have been unwilling to give to it.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I feel terrible to say this, but I thought he was already dead.

Just...damn.

[Adrian Laguna]

On the plus side, the news of his death might get more people interested in his work. I haven't even heard of the guy until today... unless that one book of Russian poetry my mother has is by him.

[fgalkin]

I used to consider Solzhenitsyn a great man, and some of this respect survives to this day, despite the fact that he too proved unable to resist the allure of anti-semitism. His last book was not one to be proud of, and we shall see if it will be remembered, or dismissed as a product of senility and misplaced blame for the troubles plaguing Russia.


Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Edi]

Good riddance. He did good work exposing some of the horrors of the Soviet system, but not much that was not available from other sources. In addition, he turned into an unrepentant pan-Slavist rah-rah cheerleader for Russian supremacy and acted like an ungrateful motherfucker to those who sheltered him when he wrote his famous works.

I'm hardly going to mourn his passing.

[Pelranius]

A great man surely, though his later years did have more than their fair share of 'awkward' moments. I found his anti modernism and apologism for the Romanovs to be fairly grating, though.

I kept on mixing him up with the physicist, though.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Good riddance. He did good work exposing some of the horrors of the Soviet system, but not much that was not available from other sources. In addition, he turned into an unrepentant pan-Slavist rah-rah cheerleader for Russian supremacy and acted like an ungrateful motherfucker to those who sheltered him when he wrote his famous works.

I'm hardly going to mourn his passing.

His critique of western materialism was nonetheless spot-on, and if we didn't have a culture based around being greedy fucks, we wouldn't be in our present position with global warming and peak oil. Granted, his solution may not have been wise, but saying that he was ungrateful was wrong--he simply did his duty in pointing out the flaws in our society as much as his.

[Pelranius]

Good riddance. He did good work exposing some of the horrors of the Soviet system, but not much that was not available from other sources. In addition, he turned into an unrepentant pan-Slavist rah-rah cheerleader for Russian supremacy and acted like an ungrateful motherfucker to those who sheltered him when he wrote his famous works.

I'm hardly going to mourn his passing.

His critique of western materialism was nonetheless spot-on, and if we didn't have a culture based around being greedy fucks, we wouldn't be in our present position with global warming and peak oil. Granted, his solution may not have been wise, but saying that he was ungrateful was wrong--he simply did his duty in pointing out the flaws in our society as much as his.

Edi could be referring to his comparison of America to Nazi Germany during the Kosovo business. Which was nothing worse than what his beloved Romanovs had done.

I'd be interested in Stas's opinion of the guy. To the best of my knowledge, Stas is our only resident Russian national.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Edi could be referring to his comparison of America to Nazi Germany during the Kosovo business. Which was nothing worse than what his beloved Romanovs had done.

I'd be interested in Stas's opinion of the guy. To the best of my knowledge, Stas is our only resident Russian national.

I admit to being raised on his books in no small extent, which is a bias, but that comparison is not without merit--the Bosniak muslims in Yugoslavia proudly declared their allegiance to the tradition of the SS Hanjar division. To say they were any better than the Serbs, in Kosovo or Bosnia alike, is simply "America is the white knight" bullfuckery of the highest order.

Stas is a commie, and I think would admit to being as biased on the issue of Solzhenitsyn as I am.

As for his anti-semitic views, I think he shares those with every single Russian intellectual who has ever lived. They're more a systematic condemnation of the incredible and deep anti-semitism of Russia and East Europe in general rather than of one specific man--I mean, it's still okay to spit and say "fucking yids" in polite society in those countries, more or less.

[Pelranius]

Edi could be referring to his comparison of America to Nazi Germany during the Kosovo business. Which was nothing worse than what his beloved Romanovs had done.

I'd be interested in Stas's opinion of the guy. To the best of my knowledge, Stas is our only resident Russian national.

I admit to being raised on his books in no small extent, which is a bias, but that comparison is not without merit--the Bosniak muslims in Yugoslavia proudly declared their allegiance to the tradition of the SS Hanjar division. To say they were any better than the Serbs, in Kosovo or Bosnia alike, is simply "America is the white knight" bullfuckery of the highest order.

Stas is a commie, and I think would admit to being as biased on the issue of Solzhenitsyn as I am.

As for his anti-semitic views, I think he shares those with every single Russian intellectual who has ever lived. They're more a systematic condemnation of the incredible and deep anti-semitism of Russia and East Europe in general rather than of one specific man--I mean, it's still okay to spit and say "fucking yids" in polite society in those countries, more or less.

Considering how the Chetniks collaborated (the German commander in Yugoslavia in the terminal stage referred to the Chetniks and Cossacks as the only troops he trusted, with good reason since the Hanjar was the only SS division to ever mutiny, and thus have their own memorial in France) with the Axis against the Partisans, the Serbs are just as dirty. The Croatian Ustase is in a legal of all its own, though. I don't think any other of the Southern Slavs actually ran their own ****ing death camp.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Considering how the Chetniks collaborated (the German commander in Yugoslavia in the terminal stage referred to the Chetniks and Cossacks as the only troops he trusted, with good reason since the Hanjar was the only SS division to ever mutiny, and thus have their own memorial in France) with the Axis against the Partisans, the Serbs are just as dirty. The Croatian Ustase is in a legal of all its own, though. I don't think any other of the Southern Slavs actually ran their own ****ing death camp.

Well, we were very loyal people, so I can see why he'd think that of us. To the point of extreme stupidity. I still have far to much lingering romanticism to the Romanov cause.

But that's also one of the reasons why I'm so touched by the Red Wheel Cycle--it feels like the story of my grandfather.

[Pelranius]

Considering how the Chetniks collaborated (the German commander in Yugoslavia in the terminal stage referred to the Chetniks and Cossacks as the only troops he trusted, with good reason since the Hanjar was the only SS division to ever mutiny, and thus have their own memorial in France) with the Axis against the Partisans, the Serbs are just as dirty. The Croatian Ustase is in a legal of all its own, though. I don't think any other of the Southern Slavs actually ran their own ****ing death camp.

Well, we were very loyal people, so I can see why he'd think that of us. To the point of extreme stupidity. I still have far to much lingering romanticism to the Romanov cause.

But that's also one of the reasons why I'm so touched by the Red Wheel Cycle--it feels like the story of my grandfather.

Now that you mention it, I'd like to go and give it a try. Any recommendation on the translations?

At the very least, I will be guaranteed to read something far more interesting that Ayn Rand's pontifications.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Now that you mention it, I'd like to go and give it a try. Any recommendation on the translations?

At the very least, I will be guaranteed to read something far more interesting that Ayn Rand's pontifications.

I'm honestly not sure that there's been more than one. The first book in the cycle is August 1914. Oh, wait, there was an updated and expanded version translated by H.T. Willetts. Go for that. The other books of the Cycle are November 1916, March 1917 and April 1917. The first three have been translated into English to date; that appears to conclude the Red Wheel Cycle, mercifully.

[K. A. Pital]

I'm with Edi. The guy was a publicist who wrote the first critique of Stalinism, but he was an asshole and not a reliable source of information anyhow. He is also a nationalist, which ties nicely into his anti-semitism.

[Pelranius]

At least he refused to met Yeltsin, so that counts for something.

[Ma Deuce]

At least he refused to met Yeltsin, so that counts for something.

I'd say that depends on the reasons he refused to meet Yeltsin. If it was for truly legitimate reasons: as in King Boris was an incompetent drunkard who ultimately did more harm than good, than yes. If it had anything to do with Solzhenitsyn's own cracked worldview, then no.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

At least he refused to met Yeltsin, so that counts for something.

I'd say that depends on the reasons he refused to meet Yeltsin. If it was for truly legitimate reasons: as in King Boris was an incompetent drunkard who ultimately did more harm than good, than yes. If it had anything to do with Solzhenitsyn's own cracked worldview, then no.

The two are not mutually exclusive.