Alexander Solzhenitsyn, RIP; He Set the Table for Reagan, John Paul II, and Walesa
Note: This was originally posted at Pajamas Media on Monday. Also see this previous BizzyBlog post announcing the column for related commentary and updates.
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It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the literary works of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died Sunday at age 89.
At the same time, without diminishing their importance, as well as his courageous personal example, it is too easy to exaggerate Solzhenitsyn’s role in defeating the historically unprecedented tyranny that was the Soviet Union.
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Sur le même thème que "Alexander Solzhenitsyn, RIP; He Set the Table for Reagan, John Paul II, and Walesa"
Special Pajamas Media Column (’Alexander Solzhenitsyn Set the Stage for Reagan and Walesa’) Is Up
It’s here. The subheadline there is “The late dissident writer inspired those who worked to topple the Soviet empire.” Solzhenitsyn also made it impossible for anyone to pretend that the Soviet Union was anything other than a historically unprecedented tyranny, and a source of unspeakable human suffering. No one could credibly argue that Reagan, John Paul II (the original title I submitted had the pontiff in it), and Lech Walesa weren’t on the side of the angels in working to defeat it. But of course, many did. Their arguments have been consigned to the ash heap of history, while many of them have “graduated” to making similar naive arguments about other tyrannies to this very day. May their next appointments with that same ash heap arrive soon. ________________________________________________ UPDATE. [lien] [EN]
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Writer, Dissident [Rip]
The Gulag Archipelago author Alexander Solzhenitsyn died today at the age of 89. "The Nobel laureate and former dissident died of heart failure at 11:45 pm (1945 GMT), the writer's son said, according to the [Itar-Tass news] agency. Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 after writing harrowing works about the Soviet Union's system of labour camps. He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974, thereby becoming Cold War icon. He wrote about life in the Gulag with harrowing detail in his most celebrated works: 'One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich', 'The First Circle' and 'The Gulag Archipelago'." After leaving the Soviet Union, he lived in Germany, Switzerland and the United States before returning to Russia in 1994. Since his return, Solzhenitsyn has been critical of both the West and of Russia's post. [lien] [EN]
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn, RIP
The death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn in Moscow tonight at age 89 brings an end to the most dramatic literary career of our time. How thrilling it was to read his words in the pages of the New York Times when events compelled him to authorize the publication of The Gulag Archipelago at risk to life and limb in 1974. The work survives as his indelible testament, a book that helped change the course of history. He was a writer of incredible bravery, spirit and determination. RIP. [lien] [EN]
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, RIP:
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great Russian dissident and exposer of communist crimes, has passed away. In books such as The Gulag Archipelago and A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, he did more than any other Russian writer to expose the crimes of communism. Solzhenitsyn's opposition to the communist regime was in large part a result of a term that he was forced to serve in in a Gulag slave labor camp for writing a letter critical of Joseph Stalin while serving in the Soviet Army during World War II. Unlike fellow dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov, Solzhenitsyn was a Russian nationalist, not a liberal democrat. As such, he was suspicious of Western-style democracy and individual rights. While he was not as much of a chauvinist as some other Russian nationalists, his writings defending czarist Russia and Russian culture sometimes verged into anti. [lien] [EN]
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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
With the passing of Solzhenitsyn we lose a great soul, and a great figure of history. I don't know that he was more responsible than Reagan, John Paul II, Gorbachev, or Yeltsin for the fall of the evil empire. But he was certainly braver than all of them. Reagan led the rival superpower, the Pope led a great church, Gorbachev and Yeltsin were powerful insiders. Solzhenitsyn had a few loyal friends, and his words. He was like Milton's seraph Abdiel, who rebels against the rebel angels in Paradise Lost. Unshak'n, unseduc'd, unterrifi'd, His Loyalty he kept, his Love, his Zeal; Nor number, nor example with him wrought To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind Though single. From amidst them forth he pass'd, Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustain'd Superior. [lien] [EN]
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
With the passing of Solzhenitsyn we lose a great soul, and a great figure of history. I don't know that he was more responsible than Reagan, John Paul II, Gorbachev or Yeltsin for the fall of the evil empire. But he was certainly braver than all of them. Reagan led the rival superpower, the Pope led a great church, Gorbachev and Yeltsin were powerful insiders. Solzhenitsyn had a few loyal friends, and his words. He was like Milton's seraph Abdiel, who rebels against the rebel angels in Paradise Lost:Unshak'n, unseduc'd, unterrifi'd, His Loyalty he kept, his Love, his Zeal; Nor number, nor example with him wrought To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind Though single. From amidst them forth he pass'd, Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustain'd Superior. [lien] [EN]
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