Kolyma Tales - (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) by Varlam Shalamov (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: New York; London: Norton, 1980.

Book Synopsis

It is estimated that some three million people died in the Soviet forced-labour camps of Kolyma, in the northeastern area of Siberia. Shalamov himself spent seventeen years there, and in these stories he vividly captures the lives of ordinary people caught up in terrible circumstances, whose hopes and plans extended to further than a few hours. This new enlarged edition combines two collections previously published in the United States as Kolyma Tales and Graphite.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

From the Back Cover

It is estimated that some three million people died in the Soviet forced-labour camps of Kolyma, in the north-eastern area of Siberia. Shalamov himself spent seventeen years there, and in these stories he vividly captures the lives of ordinary people caught up in terrible circumstances, their hopes and plans extending no further than a few hours.

About the Author

Varlam Shalamov (1907-1982) was a Russian writer, poet, and journalist. He survived 17 years of incarceration in the Gulag for speaking out against the Soviet Union. His collection of essays, Kolyma Tales, details his experiences under the Soviet government.

John Glad (1941-2015) was an American scholar who specialized in Russian literature. He taught Russian at the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. Additionally, Glad was a notable translator of speeches by Mikhail Gorbachev, and also of Russian literature, particularly the works of Alexander I. Solzhenitsyn and Varlam Shalamov.