the First Circle

Author Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

Publisher Harper & Row, 1968

Binding hardcover with dustjacket protected with Brodart

Condition Very good

Summary

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The First Circle is a literary triumph and a cornerstone of 20th-century literature. Set in a Soviet "sharashka"—a secret research prison for scientists—the novel exposes the moral dilemmas faced by intellectuals coerced into serving a corrupt regime. Through the lives of mathematicians, linguists, and engineers imprisoned for their own brilliance, Solzhenitsyn explores the conflict between survival and integrity. The title, drawn from Dante’s Inferno, references the first circle of hell: a place where suffering is intellectual rather than physical, yet no less damning. A powerful indictment of totalitarianism, this book is essential reading for those who seek to understand the human spirit’s resilience.

The importance of Solzhenitsyn in literature:
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s works, especially The First Circle and The Gulag Archipelago, transformed literature and political thought by unveiling the brutal reality of Soviet oppression. His courage in telling forbidden truths earned him the Nobel Prize and made him a symbol of intellectual freedom and moral integrity.