About this title: One of the great allegorical masterpieces of world literature, Cancer Ward is both a deeply compassionate study of people facing terminal illness and a brilliant dissection of the 'cancerous' Soviet police state. Withdrawn from publication in Russia in 1964, it became, along with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a work that awoke the conscience of the world. As Robert Service wrote of its appeal in the Independent, 'In waging his struggle against Soviet communism, Solzhenitsyn the novelist preferred the rapier to the cudgel'.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin, Harmondsworth
Date Published: 1971
ISBN-13:9780140032291ISBN:0140032290
Description: Very Good. 570p.; 18 cm. This translation originally published in 2 vols, London: Bodley Head, 1968-1969. Originally published as 'Rakovyi korpus'. London: Bodley Head, 1968. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. xiv, 560 p. 22 cm. Translation of Rakovyi korpus. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780553206555ISBN:0553206559
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. book is tight & intact, minimal notes from professor's comments, underlining, & folds, minor shelf wear. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Good Reader. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. 17th Printing 1972 read more
Edition: Third Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: A Dell Book
Date Published: 1974
Description: Fair. No Jacket. Spine Creased/Torn/Repaired With Tape, Covers Lightly Soiled, Corners/Edges Worn, Text Is Unmarked, Good Reading Copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780553206555ISBN:0553206559
Description: Very Good. No DJ Issued. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Paperback. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Dell Publishing
Date Published: 1973
Description: Good. -1st Printing--616 pgs. Interior-Nice overall condition. The paperback cover has only light signs of use. -Publish Place: New York-Size: 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. read more
"When he was awarded the Nobel Prize he was not allowed to accept it. When he was exiled he moved to Vermont and went into a self imposed exile becasue he thought the American culture frivilous. Yet after the fall of Communism he returned to Russian and, again, went into self imposed exile because of the fear and loathing of the Rissian Mafia.
This book is a fundamental treatise on the power of the human spirit and the capability to endure."
""These literary tragedies are just laughable compared with the ones we live through."
I don't know what it is about Russian novels. They seem to pack a lifetime of philosophy and psychology into one hell of a page-turner. Solzhenitsyn's characters are extremely intriguing, from the semi-autobiographical political exile "Oleg" (who one doesn't realize for some time is the protagonist) down to the government official who balks at being expected to be on equal terms with the other patients.
What setting would be more logical for a treatise on life and morality than a hospital ward where everyone is fighting for another year, month, or even day?
It is absolutely amazing how relevant this book is, with its debate on socialism and universal health care. It's amazing how epic (and tragic) Russia's history is, and how strong its' people are.
It's amazing how a book about cancer patients can be more about life than death.
Addendum: I also appreciate how the author uses the way people treat "lesser creatures" as a social commentary. He's obviously a philosopher I can agree with"
"I don't really know when exactly, but it seems like for a while American and English literature was fascinated with the idea of the totalitarian state, and there were some fanciful futuristic novels written about how horrible it would be if the government forced everyone to conform to various kinds of social norms.
They got nothin' on Solzhenitsyn. It's one thing to imagine how horrible a totalitarian state would be when one is living in a free country, and quite another to experience life under an oppressive regime and then write a brutal indictment of it in the form of a semi-autobiographical novel.
It wouldn't be accurate to say I "enjoyed" *Cancer Ward*. But it certainly pulled me into its vivid, horrifying nightmare-world. And I learned a lot about Soviet Russia from it, of course. For some reason, I expected the ending would be redemptive in some way. It wasn't--quite the opposite. This book is a real downer. But good. Very good."
"This is another book which I read a long time ago. I cannot remember all the details of it, but I do remember that I really enjoyed reading it. I would say this book may not be for everyone because it was assigned to me in high school and a lot of my classmates didn't care for it. But I loved it because for one thing, the character development is great, and also because it is very interesting over all. Of course, as the title suggests, it is somewhat depressing, but I enjoyed learning about each character's life and how he/she ended up in the Cancer Ward. I recently read a review that the book overall is supposed to be a kind of metaphor for the Soviet Union and the restrictions associated with living under it- "a microcosm of the Soviet system" as the reviewer wrote. I wish I had known that when I was reading it, because i think that only makes it even more interesting. Another interesting fact about this book is that it was banned in the Soviet Union- I'm not sure what kind of status it has now in Russia..."
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