Nobel Lit Prize Winner Dies

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This story caught my eye on msnbc.com this evening. Russian native, Alexander Solzenitsyn died of heart failure today. He won the Nobel Literature prize in 1970. After reading the article I'm ashamed to say I don't recall hearing of him. It seems that he wrote several works regarding his torture in and eventual exit from Stalin's labor camps. First of all, when one thinks of horrible words such as "genocide" and "concentration camps" the name and face of Adolf Hitler are probably more apt to appear in one's mind than that of Josef Stalin, although maybe it's just me. I can name several authors who were Jewish survivors of camps such as Auschwitz and Dakau...even one that made up the story of being a survivor, but I regret not knowing more about this man's world.

Regardless, as I was reading further into the article I came across a quote from Solzenitsyn, who lived in Vermont since his work earned him banishment from "Mother Russia". The quote reads, "It was a mistake, he warned, for Western societies to regard the failure of the rest of the world to adopt the democratic model as a product of "wicked governments or by heavy crises or by their own barbarity or incomprehension." He may have been an extremist to some degree, but I tend to agree with that quote as it stands alone. America's way doesn't have to be everyone's way. Rest in Peace, Alexander Solzenitsyn.