ABSTRACT
Solzhenitsyn’s family drama and its reflection in the Soviet and foreign press had led to the appearance of the first cracks in the hitherto monolithic support shown him by opposition-minded members of the Soviet intelligentsia. The high-water mark of that support had coincided with the award of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, but since then a certain wavering had become discernible. By the end of 1972 the novel had been in print for eighteen months, but the response of Soviet readers had been retarded by the scarcity of available copies. The most controversial aspect of the novel, and the occasion of the deepest split among reviewers, was its underlying political philosophy. Solzhenitsyn was painfully aware of the conflicting reactions and conscious that his novel had failed to trigger off the usual unanimous chorus of praise, but he chose to take a narrowly political view of the reasons for it.
