"All Flesh is Grass ..."

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn died yesterday. The world is certainly poorer thereby. It's hard to say just how sincere he may have been, but the final Soviet boss was right on the money:

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reforms led to the end of communism in the country, said Solzhenitsyn played a key role in undermining Stalin's totalitarian regime.

His works "changed the consciousness of millions of people", Mr Gorbachev said.

I was sitting here wondering which of his books was the best, and I'm thinking it's either The First Circle or Cancer Ward. The work that seems to be most often cited in today's news is One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and that might be just as well -- I don't think it's his very best, but it's a short read and will serve very well as an introduction for those who've never read Solzhenitsyn. If you haven't: I kind-of-sort-of envy you, because you still have the experience ahead of you, and I don't. Enjoy.

Update: Leo Morris, mouthbreather extraordinaire.