I�m not sure, but I suspect that the best known work of this author is probably �One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich�. It was on the curriculum when I was at school, and probably still is. It�s a good way to be introduced to Solzhenitsyn at that age - the book is slim enough not to be daunting, and gripping enough to catch a young boy�s attention. �Cancer Ward� is a different matter indeed. I was interested in Russian literature and had struggled through some Dosteovsky and Nabakov before stumbling across �Cancer Ward� on a market stall. Here was blessed relief indeed! The book flows like a gentle stream building into an inexorable tide � at first you dribble along through it, but as you progress the current grows stronger, draws you in and dashes you through the rapids! Finishing this novel was an exhilarating experience, and it is amazing the affinity that you develop with Oleg, the central character. In the latter part of the book, you almost feel with him the confusion, the wonder, the uncertainty, the delight, the disappointments. A book to make you realise the value of books, it rightly earned its author a Nobel prize for literature.
Enough on feelings though, what of the book itself? It describes the experiences of one Oleg, who has escaped the privations of a concentration camp by virtue of the fact that he has developed cancer. In the ward he is thrown in with as motley a collection of individuals as one could ask for. A secret policeman lies next to him, nearby a one-time ladies man, and a couple of students. Forced together by circumstances that none of them welcome, they argue, challenge, irritate, collaborate in varying measures. A book on more than one level, the straightforward storyline and dialogue plays alongside a deeper theme based on the metaphorical connection between the cancer eating at the patients bodies and the corrupting effect of the communist rulers on the country. The fear of death and the guilt of survival vie for superiority over Oleg, each sometimes gaining, sometimes losing ground on his psyche. Constantly profound, but never pompously so, the book is like a rich seam from beginning to end, promising untold riches to those who dare to dig deeper and deeper. |