Product Description

One of the great allegorical masterpieces of world literature, Cancer Ward is both a deeply compassionate study of people facing terminal illness and a brilliant dissection of the 'cancerous' Soviet police state. Withdrawn from publication in Russia in 1964, it became, along with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a work that awoke the conscience of the world. As Robert Service wrote of its appeal in the Independent, 'In waging his struggle against Soviet communism, Solzhenitsyn the novelist preferred the rapier to the cudgel'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8057 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: Russian
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Observer
‘Solzhenitsyn is a man of genius…it is a privilege to be Solzhenitsyn’s contemporary George Steiner’

Listener
‘There has been no such analysis of the corrupting power of the police state in Soviet literature’

Edward Cranshaw
‘He is one of the towering figures of the age, as writer, as moralist, as hero’

Customer Reviews

Inimitable
Simply put, one of the greatest novels of all time. This may seem a rather grandiose and even foolhardy statement to make, but I firmly believe it to be true. Supremely provocative and involving, Cancer Ward tells the story of Kostoglotov, a man who suffers hardship at the hands of the Soviet State, and the cancerous corruption it represents. The disillusion with what socialism has become serves as a backdrop to the story of a number of men, all fighting to overcome cancer. There is so much I could say about this most wonderful of books. As it is, I cannnot advise you strongly enough to read it. Not only is it a devastatingly incisive analysis of the soviet state, but a beautiful study of the human spirit.

Book on cancer, freedom, love and mentality of Soviets
It touches an immensely heavy subject - cancer, with its fears, pains and horrible experiences. At the same time it gives a huge look inside people both oppressed and supportive to Soviet regime. A book on the character, love and passion that can still exist under both physical and moral suppression - both under the regime and one's health. Must reak for those wishing to understand Soviet mentality of both prisoners and regime's supporters. The most honest and objective author for Stalin's era! I wish I could meet him personally and talk about our past, present and future, even though I am not Russian but grew up in the USSR, in the city where the book's narrative took place - Tashkent.

brilliant, life affirming
Contrary to what might be assumed from the title this book is life affirming, particularly in the form of the main protagonist, Oleg Kostoglotov. If you want to be informed about the state of Russia in the immediate post-Stalin era or want to read a superbly written indictment of collectivism, or simply want a good old fashioned love story - this is for you! Has to be one of the top one hundred novels ever written.