Cancer Ward--Alexander Solzhenitsyn

[teacher_jane1]

Cancer Ward is the great fictional endeavor of one of the 20th century's most compelling writers: Alexander Solzhenitsyn. A Russian soldier imprisoned by the Soviet regime he served, Solzhenitsyn went on to write the chilling One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, published under almost miraculous circumstances. He cemented his international literary reputation with Cancer Ward, a novel about a death ward in Soviet Russia for incurable cancer patients. Kostoglotov, a young political exile, is diagnosed with a malignant tumor and sent to a hospital, where he and his fellow patients must each grapple with the death that is spreading inside of them. Like in Albert Camus' The Plague, different characters react differently to the realization of their own mortality; some place hope in their belief in the power of the human soul, but most are weighed down by their deeds in life in the face of approaching death. Based on Solzhenitsyn's own experience in a hospital while in exile, the book is a stark metaphor for Stalinism: as the cancer of Stalinism spreads throughout Russia, it becomes clear that even Stalin's death will not save the broken body of the country. The only hope is to save the eternal soul.

[DATo]

I had never made the connection between cancer and Stalinism while reading this book. Your post has given me a totally new perspective on this novel and I want to read it once again with your truly excellent observation in mind. Thank you so much for your insights on this amazing book.