August 1914 - A novel by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

I recently read August 1914, which I had bought quite some while ago. Written by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, one of Russia greatest living writers, the book is a magnificent account of one battle during the First World War, but captures the entire canvas of Russian politics, ideology and church morality.

Traipsing across the gigantic war machinery, the book looks insightfully into the fabric of the Russian monarchy, its strong catholic way of life and the patriotism of its masses, which is often clouded by the very miserable lives they lead.

Using a modern form of the novel, with no strict chronological or narrative order, Solzhenitsyn writes about the common struggle of good and evil and the strong role of the individual in this struggle. His records of true society led to his persecution and eventual exile from Russia. His belief of the spiritual advancement of the Russian people owing to the hard life they lived, compared to the western materialism, runs through the novel binding the spatially fragmented novel.

Reading the novel was like looking into the shaping of society. The book shall feature amongst the finest I have read, and I shall eagerly look forward to reading his other books.