Description: "Following his exile from the USSR in 1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn lived and traveled in the West for twenty years before the fall of Communism allowed him to return home to Russia. The majority of the speeches collected in this volume straddle this period of exile, contemplating the materialism prevalent worldwide -- forcibly imposed in the socialist East, freely chosen in the capitalist West -- and searching for humanity's possible paths forward. In beautiful yet haunting and prophetic prose, Solzhenitsyn explores the mysterious purpose of art, the two-edged nature of limitless freedom, the decline of faith in favor of legalistic secularism, and -- perhaps most centrally -- the power of literature, art, and culture to elevate the human spirit.These annotated speeches, including his timeless 'Nobel Lecture' and 'Harvard Address,' have been rendered in English by skilled translators, including Solzhenitsyn's sons. The volume includes an introduction to the speeches, brief background information about each speech, and a timeline of the key dates in Solzhenitsyn's life."
Brief description: Ignat Solzhenitsyn is a pianist and conductor based in New York City. The middle son of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, he is the translator and editor of several of his father's works in English.
Review Quotes:
"True, Solzhenitsyn is suspicious of the popular will. But listen to his message a bit more carefully, and notice that his harshest criticism is directed not at the ordinary people--not at the mass of voters in a democracy--but at the leaders who conspire to shape their opinions. He is particularly devastating, in fact, in his attitude toward the mass media." --Catholic Culture