...has died.
Rest in peace, Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
The men signed of the cross of Christ go gaily in the dark.
What’s Wrong with the World is dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ. Athwart two hostile Powers we stand: the Jihad and Liberalism...read more
...has died.
Rest in peace, Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Comments (8)
You're right, Steve. He was the greatest man of his era.
Posted by Michael Bauman | August 4, 2008 8:13 AM
Greatest man of the Twentieth Century? Without question.
Posted by Maximos | August 4, 2008 9:44 AM
To their honor, National Review and Commentary both feature prominent tributes to AS, today, on their online sites.
So far as The New Republic and The Nation are concerned, he might as well never have lived.
Silly, malicious, forgetful people that they are.
Posted by steve burton | August 4, 2008 2:46 PM
Greatest man? His death generates little conversation, even among the willing. The NYT decides "Reverence but No Outpouring for Solzhenitsyn."
Also from the NYT:
Posted by KW | August 4, 2008 7:03 PM
"His death generates little conversation..."
When AS traced the decline of the West to the sacrosanct Enlightenment, his marginalization began in earnest. As McIntyre said; "There is little place in such political systems for the criticism of the system itself, that is, for putting liberalism in question."
Tocqueville issued the warning long ago;
"In America the majority draws a formidable circle around thought. Inside those limits, the writer is free; but unhappiness awaits him if he leaves them...…the power that dominates does not intend to be made sport of… The slightest reproach wounds it, the least prickly truth alarms it; and one must praise it from the forms of its language to its most solid virtues."
AS was a Prophet, not the well-maintained poet laureate for The Hollow Men. They could never confront his argument and for that, they will never forgive him.
Posted by Kevin | August 4, 2008 10:51 PM
I am unsure if he was the greatest person of the 20th century. I would put Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II up there too.
Posted by Paul Barnes | August 5, 2008 4:29 AM
This guy was Dostoevsky for the 20th century. Centuries later, our progeny will be talking about him and the light he shone.
Posted by JonathanR. | August 5, 2008 9:48 AM
Solzhenitsyn was certainly a great witness to the grace of God. His conversion to Orthodox Christianity was noticed by both Christians and skeptics around the world. He was to Russia what Whittaker Chambers was to America
Posted by Thomas Yeutter | August 5, 2008 12:56 PM