Lingering like wine

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn is an excellent novel, lingering like wine. And it is all due to the cold and the hunger and the suffering of Ivan. It is also due to the countless prisoners, the gang leaders, the guards, the repeated counting of the gangs. The prisoners working outside in the biting cold, hungry, sick, and homesick, are hawklike, ready to snitch food from anybody. And the apathy of the prison authorities when it comes to the condition of the prisoners.

There is endless hope too, about a parcel, about extra food, about lowering years of sentence, about not being put in the cell where less food is supplied and which is cold. Fear about not to be caught with anything like wood or knives in one's person. The leadership pattern was such that the prisoners listened only to their leaders.

There is closeness of some prisoners with others, as they sympathized, bought and sold tobacco. There were other kinds of sharing too.

he writer's style is personal, and the reader feels a part of the story. There is curiosity, and no boredom while reading the book, although it describes only one day. The ending is optimistic - of a day well-spent.