One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - wikipedia One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich For the film adaptation, see One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( film ). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Original title Один день Ивана Денисовича Translator Ralph Parker ( 1963 ) ; Ron Hingley and Max Hayward ( 1963 ) ; Gillon Aitken ( 1970 ) ; H.T. Willetts ( 1991 ) Country Soviet Union Language Russian Publisher Signet Classic Publication date 1962 ISBN 0 - 451 - 52310 - 5 OCLC 29526909 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( Russian : Оди́н день Ива́на Дени́совича Odin den ' Ivana Denisovicha pronounced ( ɐˈdjin ˈdjenj ɪˈvanə djɪˈnjisəvjɪtɕə ) ) is a novel by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, first published in November 1962 in the Soviet literary magazine Novy Mir ( New World ). The story is set in a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s and describes a single day in the life of ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. The book 's publication was an extraordinary event in Soviet literary history since never before had an account of Stalinist repression been openly distributed. Novy Mir editor Aleksandr Tvardovsky wrote a short introduction for the issue entitled `` Instead of a Foreword '' to prepare the journal 's readers for what they were about to experience. Contents 1 Translations 2 Plot 3 Main characters 4 Themes 5 History 6 Reception 6.1 Influence 7 Film 8 See also 9 Notes 10 Sources 11 External links Translations At least five English translations have been made. Of those, the Ralph Parker 's translation ( New York : Dutton, 1963 ) was the first to be published, followed by Ronald Hingley and Max Hayward 's ( New York : Praeger, 1963 ), Bela Von Block 's ( New York : Lancer 1963 ), and Gillon Aitken 's ( New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 1971 ). The fifth translation, by H.T. Willetts ( New York : Noonday / Farrar Straus Giroux, 1991 ), is the only one that is based on the canonical Russian text and the only one authorized by Solzhenitsyn. The English spelling of some character names differs slightly among the translations. Plot Ivan Denisovich Shukhov has been sentenced to a camp in the Soviet gulag system. He was accused of becoming a spy after being captured briefly by the Germans as a prisoner of war during World War II. He is innocent, but is sentenced to ten years in a forced labor camp. The day begins with Shukhov waking up sick. For waking late, he is forced to clean the guardhouse, but this is a comparatively minor punishment. When Shukhov is finally able to leave the guardhouse, he goes to the dispensary to report his illness. It is relatively late in the morning by this time, however, so the orderly is unable to exempt any more workers and Shukhov must work. The rest of the novel deals mainly with Shukhov 's squad ( the 104th, which has 24 members ), their allegiance to the squad leader, and the work that the prisoners ( zeks ) do in hopes of getting extra food for their performance. For example, they are seen working at a brutal construction site where the cold freezes the mortar used for bricklaying if not applied quickly enough. Solzhenitsyn also details the methods used by the prisoners to survive ; the whole camp lives by the rule of survival of the fittest. Tiurin, the foreman of gang 104, is strict but kind, and the squad 's fondness of Tiurin becomes more evident as the book progresses. Though a morose man, Tiurin is liked because he understands the prisoners, he talks to them, and he helps them. Shukhov is one of the hardest workers in the squad and is generally well - respected. Rations are meagre at the camp, but they are one of the few things that Shukhov lives for. He conserves the food that he receives and is always watchful for any item that he can hide and trade for food at a later date. At the end of the day, Shukhov is able to provide a few special services for Tsezar ( Caesar ), an intellectual who does office work instead of manual labor. Tsezar is most notable, however, for receiving packages of food from his family. Shukhov is able to get a small share of Tsezar 's packages by standing in lines for him. Shukhov reflects on his day, which was both productive and fortuitous for him. Main characters The 104th is the labor - camp team to which protagonist Ivan Denisovich belongs. There are over 24 members, though the book describes the following characters the most thoroughly : Ivan Denisovich Shukhov ( Иван Денисович Шухов ), the protagonist of the novel. The reader is able to see Russian camp life through Shukhov 's eyes, and information is given through his thoughts, feelings, and actions. Alyoshka / Alyosha ( Алёшка ), a Baptist. He believes that being imprisoned is something that he has earned, since it allows him to reflect more on God and Jesus. Alyoshka, surprisingly, is able to hide part of a Bible in the barracks. Shukhov responds to his beliefs by saying that he believes in God but not heaven or hell, nor in spending much time on the issue. Gopchik ( Гопчик ), a young member of the squad who works hard and for whom Shukhov has fatherly feelings, as he reminds Shukhov of his dead son. Gopchik was imprisoned for taking food to Ukrainian ultranationalists. Shukhov believes that Gopchik has the knowledge and adjustment skills to advance far at the camp. Andrey Prokofyevich Tiurin / Tyurin ( Андрей Прокофьевич Тюрин ), the foreman / squad leader of the 104th. He has been in the camp for 19 years. Tyurin likes Shukhov and gives him some of the better jobs, but he is also subject to the camp hierarchy ; Tyurin must argue for better jobs and wages from the camp officers in order to please the squad, who then must work hard in order to please the camp officers and get more rations. Fetiukov / Fetyukov ( Фетюков ), a member of the squad who has thrown away all of his dignity. He is particularly seen as a lowlife by Shukhov and the other camp members. He shamelessly scrounges for bits of food and tobacco. Tsezar / Caesar Markovich ( Цезарь Маркович ), an inmate who works in the camp office and has been given other special privileges ; for example, his civilian fur hat was not confiscated by the Personal Property department and he is allowed to wear it. Tzesar is a film director who was imprisoned before he could finish his first feature film. Some discussions in the novel indicate that he holds formalist views in art, which were probably the reason for his imprisonment. A cultured man, Tzesar discusses film with Buynovsky. His somewhat higher class background assures him food parcels. Buinovsky / Buynovsky ( Буйновский ) also called `` The Captain '', a former Soviet Naval captain and a relative newcomer to the camp. Buinovsky was imprisoned after he received a gift from an admiral on a British cruiser on which he had served as a naval liaison. In the camp, Buinovsky has not yet learned to be submissive before the warders. Pavlo ( Павло ), a Ukrainian who serves as deputy foreman / squad leader and assists Tiurin in directing the 104th, especially when Tiurin is absent. Ivan Kilgas / Kildigs ( Иван Кильдигс ), the leading worker of the 104th squad along with Shukhov, a Latvian by birth. He speaks Russian like a native, having learned it in his childhood. Kilgas is popular with the team for making jokes. Senka Klevshin ( Сенька Клевшин ), a member of the 104th who became deaf from intense fighting during World War II. He escaped from the Germans three times and was recaptured each time, ending up in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Themes The main themes of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich are totalitarian oppression and camp survival. Specifically discussed are the prison officials ' cruelty and spite towards their fellow man. Solzhenitsyn explains through Ivan Denisovich that everything is managed by the camp commandant to the point that time feels unnoticed ; the prisoners always have work to do and never have any free time to discuss important issues. Survival is of the utmost importance to prisoners. Attitude is another crucial factor in survival. Since prisoners are each assigned a grade, it is considered good etiquette to obey. This is outlined through the character of Fetiukov, a ministry worker who has let himself into prison and scarcely follows prison etiquette. Another such incident involves Buinovsky, a former naval captain, who is punished for defending himself and others during an early morning frisking. History One Day is a sparse, tersely written narrative of a single day of the ten - year labor camp imprisonment of a fictitious Soviet prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn had first - hand experience in the Gulag system, having been imprisoned from 1945 to 1953 for writing derogatory comments in letters to friends about the conduct of the war by Joseph Stalin, whom he referred to by epithets such as `` the master '' and `` the boss ''. Drafts of stories found in Solzhenitsyn 's map case had been used to incriminate him ( Frangsmyr, 1993 ). Solzhenitsyn claimed the prisoners wept when news of Stalin 's death reached them. He uses the epithet batka usaty ( Russian : батька усатый ) in his novel, which is translates to `` Old Whiskers '' or `` Old Man Whiskers ''. This title was considered offensive and derogatory, but prisoners were free to call Stalin whatever they liked : `` Somebody in the room was bellowing : ' Old Man Whiskers wo n't ever let you go ! He would n't trust his own brother, let alone a bunch of cretins like you ! '' In 1957, after being released from the exile that followed his imprisonment, Solzhenitsyn began writing One Day. In 1962, he submitted his manuscript to Novy Mir, a Russian literary magazine. The editor, Aleksandr Tvardovsky, was so impressed with this detailed description of life in the labor camps that he submitted the manuscript to the Communist Party Central Committee for approval to publish it ( until then Soviet writers had not been allowed to refer to the camps ). From there it was sent to the de-Stalinist Khrushchev, who, despite the objections of some top party members, ultimately authorized its publication with some censorship of the text. After the novel was sent to the editor, Aleksandr Tvardovsky of Novy Mir, it was subsequently published in November 1962. The labor camp described in the book was one that Solzhenitsyn had served some time at, and was located in Karaganda in northern Kazakhstan. Reception One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was specifically mentioned in the Nobel Prize presentation speech when the Nobel Committee awarded Solzhenitsyn the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. Following the publication of One Day... Solzhenitsyn wrote four more books, three in 1963 and a fourth in 1966 which cataclysmically led to the controversy of his publications. In 1968, Solzhenitsyn was accused by the Literary Gazette, a Soviet newspaper, of not following Soviet principles. The Gazette 's editors also made claims that Solzhenitsyn was opposing the basic principles of the Soviet Union, his style of writing had been controversial with many Soviet literary critics especially with the publication of One Day... This criticism made by the paper gave rise to further accusations that Solzhenitsyn had turned from a Soviet Russian into a Soviet enemy, therefore he was branded as an enemy of the state, who, according to the Gazette, had been supporting non-Soviet ideological stances since 1967, perhaps even longer. He, in addition, was accused of de-Stalinisation. The reviews were particularly damaging. Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the Soviet Writers ' Union in 1969. He was arrested, then deported in 1974. The novella had sold over 95,000 copies after it was released and throughout the 1960s. While Solzhenitsyn and his work was originally received negatively, under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, the book 's mass publication was allowed in order to undermine the influence of Josef Stalin on the Soviet Union. However, critics of this action argue that this action unleashed liberalization that would cause the publication of more radical works and eventually the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. Influence Often considered the most powerful indictment of the USSR 's gulag ever made. It appeared on the Independent newspaper 's poll of the Top 100 books, which surveyed more than 25,000 people. Vitaly Korotich declared : `` The Soviet Union was destroyed by information - and this wave started from Solzhenitsyn 's One Day '' Film Main article : One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( 1970 film ) A one - hour dramatization for television, made for NBC in 1963, starred Jason Robards Jr. in the title role and was broadcast on November 8, 1963. A 1970 film adaptation based on the novella starred British actor Tom Courtenay in the title role. Finland banned the film from public view, fearing that it could hurt external relations with its eastern neighbor. See also Novels portal The Gulag Archipelago List of Nobel laureates in Literature Notes ^ Jump up to : One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, or `` Odin den iz zhizni Ivana Denisovicha '' ( novel by Solzhenitsyn ). Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Jump up ^ Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1963. ( Penguin Books ; 2053 ) 0816 ^ Jump up to : Salisbury 1963. Jump up ^ Klimoff 1997 Jump up ^ One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. New York : Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1991. pp. backcover. ISBN 0 - 00 - 271607 - 0. Jump up ^ Alexey ( Алексей ) is used once in the original Russian. Willetts replaces that with Alyoshka. ^ Jump up to : Parker translation, p. 30 Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 36 Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 38 Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 8, Kuziomen 's speech. ^ Jump up to : Parker translation, p. 17 Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 45 Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 34 Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 44 Jump up ^ Mckie, Andrew ( 2011 ). `` One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich ''. nurse education today. 31 : 539 -- 540 -- via sciencedirect. ^ Jump up to : Parker translation, p. 2 of introduction Jump up ^ Moody, Christopher J. ( 1973 ). Solzhenitsyn. Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd. p. 6. ISBN 0 - 05 - 002600 - 3. Jump up ^ Scammell, Michael ( 1986 ). Solzhenitsyn. London : Paladin. p. 153. ISBN 0 - 586 - 08538 - 6. Jump up ^ Parker translation, p. 126. In a footnote, Parker says this refers to Stalin. ^ Jump up to : Willetts translation, p. 139 Jump up ^ `` Soviet dissident writer Solzhenitsyn dies at 89 ''. Reuters. August 3, 2008. Jump up ^ John Bayley 's introduction and the chronology in the Knopf edition of the Willetts translation. Jump up ^ `` The Nobel Prize in Literature 1970 Presentation Speech '' by Karl Ragnar Gierow. The Nobel citation is `` for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature. '' Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn did not personally receive the Prize until 1974 after he had been deported from the Soviet Union. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Rosenberg, Steve ( BBC News, Moscow ; 19 November 2012 ). `` Solzhenitsyn 's One Day : The book that shook the USSR ''. BBC News Magazine. Retrieved 20 November 2012. Check date values in : date = ( help ) Jump up ^ One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( 1963 ) on IMDb One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( 1970 ) on IMDb Jump up ^ Solsten, Eric ; Meditz, Sandra W., eds. ( 1988 ). `` Mass Media ''. Finland : A Country Study. CountryStudies.US. Washington : GPO for the Library of Congress. CS1 maint : Uses editors parameter ( link ) Template : JLIST Sources Feuer, Kathryn ( Ed ). Solzhenitsyn : A collection of Critical Essays. ( 1976 ). Spectrum Books, ISBN 0 - 13 - 822619 - 9 Moody, Christopher. Solzhenitsyn. ( 1973 ). Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh ISBN 0 - 05 - 002600 - 3 Labedz, Leopold. Solzhenitsyn : A documentary record. ( 1970 ). Penguin ISBN 0 - 14 - 003395 - 5 Scammell, Michael. Solzhenitsyn. ( 1986 ). Paladin. ISBN 0 - 586 - 08538 - 6 Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. Invisible Allies. ( Translated by Alexis Klimoff and Michael Nicholson ). ( 1995 ). The Harvill Press ISBN 1 - 86046 - 259 - 6 Grazzini, Giovanni. Solzhenitsyn. ( Translated by Eric Mosbacher ) ( 1971 ). Michael Joseph, ISBN 0 - 7181 - 1068 - 4 Burg, David ; Feifer, George. Solzhenitsyn : A Biography. ( 1972 ). ISBN 0 - 340 - 16593 - 6 Medvedev, Zhores. 10 Years After Ivan Denisovich. ( 1973 ). Knopf, ISBN 0394490266 Rothberg, Abraham. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn : The Major Novels. ( 1971 ). Cornell University Press. ISBN 0 - 8014 - 0668 - 4 Klimoff, Alexis ( 1997 ). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich : A Critical Companion. Evanston, Ill : Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0 - 8101 - 1214 - 0. ( preview ) Salisbury, Harrison E. ( January 22, 1963 ). `` One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( review ) ''. New York Times. ( registration required ) Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr ( 1980 ). The Oak and the Calf : Sketches of Literary Life in the Soviet Union. Harry Willetts ( trans. ). New York : Harper & Row. ISBN 0 - 06 - 014014 - 3... In the early chapters, Solzhenitsyn describes how One Day came to be written and published. Nobel Lectures, Literature 1968 - 1980, Editor - in - Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Sture Allén, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1993. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr ( 1995 ). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. H.T. Willetts ( trans. ), John Bayley ( intro. ). New York : Knopf, Everyman 's Library. ISBN 0 - 679 - 44464 - 5. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr ( 2000 ). One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Ralph Parker ( trans. and intro. ). Penguin Modern Classics. ISBN 0 - 14 - 118474 - 4. External links Text of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich translated by H.T. Willets ( in English ) Text of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( in Russian ) One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( 1970 ) on IMDb Audiobook ( in Russian ) Works by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Poetry Prose Poems ( 1958 -- 1960 ) Prussian Nights ( 1974 ) Plays The Love - Girl and the Innocent ( 1969 ) Candle in the Wind ( 1960 ) Novels The First Circle ( 1968 ) Cancer Ward ( 1968 ) The Red Wheel August 1914 ( 1971 ) November 1916 ( 1985 ) March 1917 ( 1989 ) April 1917 ( c. 1991 ) Short fiction One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ( 1962 ) An Incident at Krechetovka Station ( 1963 ) Matryona 's Place ( 1963 ) For the Good of the Cause ( 1963 ) Non-fiction The Gulag Archipelago ( 1973 -- 78 ) The Oak and the Calf ( 1975 ) Two Hundred Years Together ( 2003 ) BNF : cb120059097 ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=One_Day_in_the_Life_of_Ivan_Denisovich&oldid=843206080 '' Categories : 1962 novels 1962 in the Soviet Union Novels set in the Stalin era Novels set in one day Novels about political repression in the Soviet Union Novels set in the Gulag Novels by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Works originally published in Novy Mir 20th - century Russian novels Hidden categories : CS1 errors : dates CS1 maint : Uses editors parameter Articles containing Russian - language text Pages with login required references or sources Articles with Russian - language external links Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Čeština Cymraeg Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Hrvatski Italiano Македонски Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Русский Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 18 more Edit links This page was last edited on 27 May 2018, at 16 : 31. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where does one day in the life of ivan denisovich take place
Answer: a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s