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The Calf Who Butted the Oak is the definitive version of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s classic memoir of the grotesque fever dream that passed for “literary life” in the Soviet ’60s and ’70s.
Originally appearing in English as The Oak and the Calf, the narrative begins in 1956, when Solzhenitsyn returns to European Russia after eleven years in prison, labor camp, and Kazakhstan exile—years when he could not set any of his writings to paper, only to memory. Now, he once again writes, albeit in secret. Then comes his lucky break: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich appears in the November 1962 issue of Novy Mir, and, like a thunderbolt, the truth about the camps bursts out into Soviet print. The writer himself is instantaneously transformed from an unknown provincial math teacher to a worldwide sensation.
The heart of the memoir takes place over the next eleven years: Solzhenitsyn’s quick fall from grace, the ever-increasing boldness of his public statements, his complex relationship with Novy Mir and its editor Tvardovsky, his battle of wits with the Soviet “Dragon,” and the KGB’s dramatic discovery of his manuscript of The Gulag Archipelago, which leads Solzhenitsyn to order its immediate publication in the West, and the Soviet government to arrest and exile him. The book concludes with “Invisibles,” a poignant tribute to 133 named individuals whose bravery and belief in Solzhenitsyn’s cause allowed him—the Calf—to persevere against the Oak of the Soviet regime.
Part memoir, part political thriller, and part cultural history, The Calf Who Butted the Oak: Sketches of a Literary Life is a reflective contemplation of a “happy warrior’s” self-liberation in the face of tyranny.
"This outstanding new translation of The Calf Who Butted the Oak at last gives English-language readers the opportunity to share in Solzhenitsyn’s uniquely piercing assessment of what the post-Stalin period was, and what it was not. From his recounting of conversations, character sketches, and moral choices in the face of Soviet power to his profiles of the 'Invisibles' who preserved his manuscripts at great personal risk, Solzhenitsyn gives the reader a rich and vivid portrait of an entire generation living through Khrushchev’s ill-fated thaw—a generation that would, two decades later, help bring the Soviet system itself crashing down." —Matthew Rojansky, president of the U.S. Russia Foundation and chairman of the Kennan Institute
"Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a true giant of the twentieth century in terms of both his literary and historical importance. Seldom has a writer wielded so much power in the fight against tyranny and terror. His story is therefore essential to anyone seeking to know the literary and political landscape of the past century. It is in this light that the publication of this new and improved edition of his memoirs should be seen and celebrated." —Joseph Pearce, author of Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile
"Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn shaped the destiny of his country more deeply than any other writer in the twentieth century. The Calf Who Butted the Oak, his vivid memoir of his final, tumultuous decade in the Soviet Union, captures its author’s unshakable courage and supreme self-confidence. Now available to English-speaking readers in an updated, unabridged, and more accurate translation, Solzhenitsyn’s testament illuminates the world of one of history’s great conservative rebels." —Benjamin Nathans, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause
"This book is about an artist's struggle for the right to live and write 'not by the lie.' The prose of great writers is distinguished by a special relationship with reality. Their texts seem more real than life, while their lives take on the traits of legend. Such is Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn." —Eugene Vodolazkin, author of Laurus
“There are few stories in all history, real or fictional, to match the courage and heroism of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I had read his earlier memoir The Oak and the Calf twice, but nothing prepared me for the searing force of this more complete version. This book is an unforgettable testament to the power of truth and the refusal to give up fighting for truth and freedom. The Calf Who Butted the Oak is a prophetic call to our generation before it is too late.” —Os Guinness, author of Zero Hour America
"Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn never expected his words to be published in his lifetime. Happily for us they were, and this authoritative edition of The Calf Who Butted The Oak reminds us that his wisdom stands to benefit us all for many lifetimes to come." —Michael Knowles, author and host of The Michael Knowles Show
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008), Nobel Prize laureate in literature, was a Soviet political prisoner from 1945 to 1953. His story One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962) made him famous, and The Gulag Archipelago (1973) further unmasked Communism and played a critical role in its eventual defeat. Solzhenitsyn was exiled to the West in 1974. He ultimately published dozens of plays, poems, novels, and works of history, nonfiction, and memoir, including In the First Circle, Cancer Ward, The Red Wheel epic, and the Between Two Millstones memoirs.
Ignat Solzhenitsyn is a pianist and conductor based in New York City. The middle son of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, he is translator and editor of several of his father’s works in English.
Harry Willetts (1922–2005) was an English scholar of Russian and English-language translator of Russian literature. He is best known for his translations of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s work.
List of Appendices
Publisher’s Note
Foreword by Ignat Solzhenitsyn
Proviso
[1947–MARCH 1967] Underground Writer
Part 1. First Supplement (Spring–Autumn 1967)
Part 2. Second Supplement (November 1967–Summer 1970)
Part 3. Third Supplement (Summer 1970–Autumn 1973)
Part 4. Fourth Supplement (January–February 1974)
Part 5. Fifth Supplement. Invisibles
Appendices
Notes to the English Translation
List of the 133 “Invisibles”
Index of Selected Names
General Index