Alexander Solzhenitsyn passed away today

I hadn't heard. Thank you for telling us. I have always admired him both as a man and as an author. His work is undeniably powerful and courageous, and so was he. We should all consider ourselves fortunate that he was able to live as long as he did since it could so easily have been otherwise. I am glad that he had the chance of many years of peaceful life after all that he survived and illustrated so vividly for the rest of us.

Yes and they tried to assassinate him once with ricin.(http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/experience/sp... Many people were harsh on him because he cooperated somewhat with the KGB at some point, though most people did to survive. Ultimately he found a lot of courage. I did read Cancer Ward, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and the Gulag Archipelago. I thought they were extremely interesting. My husband (a former Russian citizen) said he was not a particularly talented writer - just had good translators. I don't know if it was true, but I think his books were very important.

I didn't even know that he was still alive! I just read a few weeks ago "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and it really impacted the way that I saw Russian communism.

That's so sad! Solzhenitsyn was a courageous dissident, social critic, and writer. He will be sorely missed.

Aw.... Even though I have no clue who that guy is, I still feel bad... It really touched me :(