Welcome to Litsy!

Is this collection of Varlam Shalamov's Gulag stories my favourite short story collection? How many times do I read it before it's officially My Favourite? Maybe four times because I think I'm going to start calling it #myfavourite

We learned one other amazing thing: in the eyes of the state and its representatives a physically strong person was better – yes, better – more moral, more valuable than a weak person who couldn‘t shovel twenty cubic meters of dirt out of a trench in a day. The former was more moral than the latter. He fulfilled his ‘quota‘, that is, carried out his chief duty to the state and society and was therefore respected by all. His advice was asked...