****I much prefer Solzhenitysn's novels to his Gulag Archipelago. The First Circle is brilliant and profound. Gulag Archipelago is just rambling. There is no structure--he just goes on and on about how evil the system was, in a sarcastic tone. The novels get the point across much better. ****
I enjoyed everything by Solzhenitysn but especially "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch."
I first read Ivan when I was laying bricks for a living. I never appreciated his description of laying up blocks in sub zero weather until I was stuck doing the same thing in the winter of '77 in Fairmont WVA. It was bitter cold and we could only lay one block at a time before the mortar froze.