Wednesday 7 June 2017

Cancer Ward by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1966)




Russian author and Nobel Prize winner, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, completed his book Cancer Ward in 1966. English translations were published in 1968, and although book was banned in the Soviet Union, unauthorized Russian copies were distributed in samizdat.
The story takes place in a male cancer ward of a Soviet hospital in the mid-1950's and revolves around a number of characters, the central one being Oleg Kostoglotov. Kostoglotov's life mirrors that of Solzhenitsyn in that he was imprisoned for his criticism of Stalin, and after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, was transferred from the concentration camp to a cancer ward. And like Solzhenitsyn, he later recovered.
I was totally absorbed by this book's 570 pages and despite the fact that Russian literature is often notoriously hard to read, this book definitely wasn't.
The most fascinating aspect of Cancer Ward for me wasn't so much the allegorical links to the Communist regime and the descriptions of life in a dictatorship. As interesting as they were, there have been other books I've read that addressed this, one of them also written by Solzhenitsyn. (See One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich)
What was so interesting to me was the medical treatment of cancer and the attitude of the medical staff to patients and treatment.
Kostoglotov believed that he had the right to choose what form and how much treatment he should have. The medical profession believed that information should be withheld from patients, 'for their own good.' They didn't understand the technicalities and should leave the decisions to those who do. This is really no different to what used to happen in Australia, for instance. It wasn't uncommon to leave a patient ignorant of their impending doom. Relatives could make the call on whether to let a member of their family know that their disease was terminal. Even now, to question the standard method of treatment for something like cancer is to bring down the ire of the establishment upon yourself, as a friend of mine recently found out when she decided not to undergo chemotherapy after her cancer surgery.
The medical staff in that Russian hospital were conscientious and sincere and believed they were doing the right thing by Kostoglotov. They were tight-lipped about the hormonal therapy he was receiving and its long-term effect of impotency, but he didn't want to be saved 'at any price.'
Kostoglotov also did some of his own research and discovered that concern was beginning to surface in medical circles regarding the long term effects of radiotherapy.

The gist of it was that X-ray cures, which had been safely, successfully, even brilliantly accomplished ten or fifteen years ago through heavy doses of radiation, were now resulting in unexpected damage or mutilation of the irradiated parts.

...ten, fifteen or eighteen years ago when the term 'radiation sickness' did not exist, X-ray radiation had seemed such a straightforward, reliable and foolproof method, such a magnificent achievement of modern medical technique, that it was considered retrograde, almost sabotage of public health, to refuse to use it and to look for other, parallel or round-about methods.


Solzhenitsyn explores the relationship between doctors and patients and between fellow cancer sufferers as they go through their various forms of treatment.
There are numerous Translator's notes throughout the book that explain some of the historical background needed to understand the context of the author's writing, such as this:

Khrushchev had just become Party leader. He believed that wide cultivation of maize in the north of Russia would solve grain and fodder problems. He called upon Young Communists to fight those who didn't believe maize could be grown there. His scheme, however, was defeated by the climate.

Although Solzhenitsyn insisted that his book was simply about cancer, there are seemingly allegorical statements that contradict this:

A man dies from a tumour, so how can a country survive with growths like labour camps and exiles?

I highly recommend this book, especially if you have some sort of  medical background. Solzhenitsyn was perceptive and prophetic and his insights into human nature were superb.

Some favourite passages:

It is not our level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world. Both attitudes lie within our power, so that a man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy, and no one can stop him.

Nowadays we don't think much of a man's love for an animal; we laugh at people who are attached to cats. But if we stop loving animals, aren't we bound to stop loving humans too?

Soon it will be summer, and this summer I want to sleep on a camp-bed under the stars, to wake up at night and know by the positions of Cygnus and Pegasus what time it is, to live just this one summer and see the stars without their being blotted out by camp searchlights- then afterwards I would be quite content never to wake again.

As the two-thousand-year-old saying goes, you can have eyes and still not see.
But a hard life improves the vision. There were some in the wing who immediately recognized each other for what they were...It was as if they bore some luminous sign on their foreheads, or stigmata on their feet and palms...The Uzbeks and the Karakalpaks had no difficulty in recognising their own people in the clinic, nor did those who had once lived in the shadow of the barbed wire.



The Penguin translation I read was first published by The Bodley Head in 1968.





Linking to Back to the Classics 2017: Classic in Translation; The Classics Club and Books You Loved





25 comments:

n@ncy said...

Wonderful review, Carol...I've hesitated reading this book
but you have helped me finally dare read it!
Thanks for your insights!

Ruth @ with freedom and books said...

Oh, I love this! I mean, I haven't read it (yet), nor do I have a copy; however, as soon as I find one or I break down and buy it on Amazon.com, I will jump into it. I did appreciate Solzhenitsyn's autobiography and I am set to read One Day in the Life this year. So this book sounds right up my alley. Even sounds relevant today.

Brian Joseph said...

Great commentary on this book.

I have been wanting to read this, and read Solzhenitsyn in general for awhile.

There are many things that sound appealing about this work. Though I do not have a medical background, I am generally interested in all things medical.

Marian said...

Cancer Ward has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while, and this makes me even more intrigued to read it now. The topic of healthcare vs. free will is a complicated but fascinating one, and, of course, where it overlaps politics, it gets even more difficult. Great review!

Carol said...

Thanks Nancy. The title is a bit off putting & I was pleasantly surprised at how readable the book was.

Carol said...

It was quite different to One Day in the Life & I think you're right about it being relevant today.

Carol said...

I mentioned the medical background bit partly because I gave the book to my 24 yr old daughter to read earlier this year & she thought it was ok but didn't share my enthusiasm. We usually have a similar taste in books but not this time.

Carol said...

It is fascinating! I know in my parents' generation, doctor's opinions weren't questioned. We have access to so much information now that we tend to question everything.

Anonymous said...

I read this quite a few years ago and was surprised how much I enjoyed the book. So very different to medicine today. I admire the courage of those that choose not to have treatments that often have no effective result.
Margaret

Becky said...

I bought this one earlier this year. You made me want to read it now ;)

Carol said...

Hi Margaret, so good to catch up with you again last weekend!!
Cancer Ward surprised me in how easy it was get sucked up into the story. Quite unlike other Russian lit that I've read, although I always have trouble remembering who was who with all those Russian double-barrelled names!

Carol said...

I do hope you enjoy it, Becky. I always get a little worried when I say how good a book is just in case it's all my my own head. Pretty safe with an author like Solzhenitsyn though.

hopeinbrazil said...

I'm ashamed to say I've never read anything by this author. Thanks for a great review of this book!

Michele Morin said...

I went through a Russian authors phase when was expecting my second son, and I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. As you said, it held my attention for the entire read -- and I had forgotten how long it was. It's been over 20 years since I read it, but the feeling of some of the scenes and the despair of particularly one of the characters is still with me.

Joseph said...

Fascinating! One of the Russian authors I've yet to get to.

Carol said...

I rarely see books by Solzhenitsyn & have only stumbled upon them 2nd hand. I love how he incorporates history, philosophy & politics into his writing, whether it's a novel or nonfiction.

Carol said...

Hi Michele, there were a couple of characters in this book that got under my skin :)

Carol said...

And I have yet to read Tolstoy!!

Silvia said...

Great post about one of my favorite books. Strange, to love a book with this title so much. I agree, the medical differences and talk were fascinating. I also loved the way the lives of all those in the ward give us a microcosm of sorts, and we get to know about how different Russians lived. The conscience problem, the who is good or bad in a tyrannical government, what does it mean to be a man, or a human, are all pondered and treated generously through the book.
My favorite part is when Khrushchev tells the story of that couple in exile?, the ones with the dog, those who were treated badly, but who managed to maintain beauty in their daily life. I forgot the details, but the whole book made a mark on me. (I still remember the young boy with cancer in the leg, and a lot from the last part, Khrushchev's exit. I cried and cried).

Silvia said...

I thought, POETIC LIFE, YES! That is what makes us human.

Carol said...

I knew it would be good if Solzhenitsyn was the author, but yes, the title isn't a drawcard. A microcosm is a great way to describe how he folds in the characters & their backgrounds, the politics etc. I also liked that part about the couple in exile & that Kostoglotov delayed going to the hospital in order to see the ballet!

Major said...

I find illness memoirs kind of upsetting, but this one was so compelling, from the anxiety of diagnosis to iatrogenic problems, that I couldn't put it down. Extremely readable, an amazing novel.

Carol said...

It was amazing. It's a pity the title doesn't convey the scope of the book, but then that would be almost impossible.

prof prem raj pushpakaran said...

Prof premraj pushpakaran writes -- 2018 marks the 100th birth year of Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn!!!

Carol said...

Thank you! I wasn't aware that it was the anniversary of his birth.