Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970 for ”the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature”  has died at age 89.

Brilliant, controversial, outspoken and fearless- no one can dispute his contribution to the world of literature in the 20th century, and the affect his books had in helping open the western world’s eyes to human rights abuses, internal soviet turmoil, global politics…

Some of his works which are more familiar to us include:

 

• (1963) One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
• (1963) We Never Make Mistakes: Two Short Novels
• (1968) The First Circle
• (1968) Cancer Ward
• (1971) Stories and Prose Poems
• (1972) The Nobel Lecture on Literature
• (1973) Candle in the Wind
• (1974) Letter to the Soviet Leaders
• 1974-1978) The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (3 volumes)
• (1972) August 1914
• (1976) Warning to the West
• 1976) Lenin in Zurich

 

And this is only a small portion of his writing.

My favorite? I only read 4 of his books, and believe it or not, Gulag Archipelago was my favorite.

Rest in Peace.