Parole vere per la letteratura e la vita

Abstract

The essay describes Solzhenitsyn’s journey through his searing debut novel in 1962, accounting horrific events of war, imprisonment and illness, which matured him as a person and a writer. This led him to discover his people and culture, and to devote his life and work to them, even after his expulsion and during his exile. The essay follows these developments with particular regard to the “truthful word”, which Solzhenitsyn tried to abide to in his literary work and life. He also proposed this principle upon his return to Russia in 1994 to aid the moral healing of the “new Russia” that had gone through the disaster of the Soviet era. The whole story is recalled by an Italian translator who has translated many of his works over the last forty years.