The Gulag in Writings of Solzhenitsyn and Shalamov

A new book thoughtfully illuminates the respective treatments of the Gulag in the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Varlam Shalamov, even if the editors and contributors generally approach camp literature and testimony from a literary, moral, and philosophical perspective closer to Shalamov than Solzhenitsyn. Two essays stand out: Michael N. Nicholson's lucid and informative account of the genesis of both the Kolyma Tales and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; and Luba Jurgenson's suggestive account of why Solzhenitsyn and Shalamov ended up not collaborating on The Gulag Archipelago.