Edouard and Alexander

8/04/08 - 2nd Day - After Breakfast. First today I would like to express my sorrow at the death of the great writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

If you have never read Solzhenitsyn, then you are poorer for the neglect and I would recommend that you take this opportunity to read some of his works. You will be tremendously benefited by the effort, and I can tell you that you will be glad for it. Solzhenitsyn's writings influenced me greatly as a younger man, and he was one of the few authors that I have recommended continuously and sincerely throughout my life and ministry. Too many people think they are informed and well-read, and yet they have never read probably one of the greatest historians and writers of the 20th Century.

I began reading Solzhenitsyn in my mid-20's, and my mind was greatly benefited by what I learned about Russian history, and the psychology of statism and of the slave/peasant/colonialized mind. I have, since then, constantly returned to and consulted with Mr. Solzhenitsyn as I have tried to better understand the slavish minds of modern man, and he has consistently brought back to my mind a more complete knowledge of the depravity of statist systems, and taught me to watch and better understand the world (Solzhenitsyn was both a historian and a prophet) as our own people head down the road to statism. If you have ever been benefited by anything I have ever written about the state and condition of modern man, then you also have Alexander Solzhenitsyn to thank, and what better way to thank him than to introduce yourself to the man?

I always recommend that you read A Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovitch first. It is a short, interesting, and easy read, and it is a great introduction to Solzhenitsyn. Do not just find some place to read the book for free online. You will be hurting yourself by doing so. I don't mind if you read it online, but BUY THE BOOK and keep it as a resource, or give it to your children (I highly recommend this), or others who can be benefited by it. This book (and Gulag) ought to be on every bookshelf and in every personal library.

Next I would go straight to The Gulag Archipelago. Read it, heed it, and learn. As I mentioned, I have been recommending these books for over 15 years and I highly recommend them now. Gulag is one of the greatest books ever printed in our language, and you cannot help but be benefited by reading it. Let me tell you that I have very little respect for people who read nothing but junk fiction books, and even less for someone who CAN read, and who has the means and opportunity to read a book of this importance and caliber, but who refuses to out of ignorance. Reading Gulag is WORK, but it is worth it. You really wouldn't want to know what goes through my mind when I recommend this book to (seemingly) intelligent people and they say "just tell me what it is about", or "that's interesting, but I really don't like to read books that thick", or "I read the first chapter or so and kind of got the gist of it".

Anyway, start there and you will be glad you did. Tonight I will drink a toast to Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn, and maybe you will too.

Ok, so Tropical Storm Edouard is heading our way, and we are "in the cone" for it to come through here (or just south of here) come Wednesday. Y'all be praying that we get some heavy rain from it.

Lord willing, we will be receiving rains from Edouard come Wednesday afternoon. As of now, the prognosticators are predicting a high of 92 degrees on Wednesday... maybe I'll have to dig out a seater or a coat?

Y'all be cool,

Michael Bunker