In the First Circle (Russian: В круге первом, romanized: V kruge pervom; also published as The First Circle) is a novel by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, released in 1968. A more complete version of the book was published in English in 2009.

The novel depicts the lives of the occupants of a sharashka (a research and development bureau made of Gulag inmates) located in the Moscow suburbs. This novel is highly autobiographical.

Many of the prisoners (zeks) are technicians or academics who have been arrested under Article 58 of the RSFSR Penal Code in Joseph Stalin’s purges following the Second World War. Unlike inhabitants of other Gulag labor camps, the sharashka zeks were adequately fed and enjoyed good working conditions; however, if they found disfavor with the authorities, they could be instantly shipped to Siberia.

The title is an allusion to Dante’s first circle, or limbo of Hell in The Divine Comedy, wherein the philosophers of Greece, and other virtuous pagans, live in a walled green garden. They are unable to enter Heaven, as they were born before Christ, but enjoy a small space of relative freedom in the heart of Hell.

Plot summary

Innokentii Volodin, a diplomat, makes a telephone call to an old family doctor (Dobrumov) he feels obliged by conscience to make, even though he knows he could be arrested. His call is taped and the NKVD seek to identify who has made the call.

The sharashka prisoners, or zeks, work on technical projects to assist state security agencies and generally pander to Stalin’s increasing paranoia. While most are aware of how much better off they are than “regular” gulag prisoners (some of them having come from gulags themselves), some are also conscious of the overwhelming moral dilemma of working to aid a system that is the cause of so much suffering.

As Lev Rubin is given the task of identifying the voice in the recorded phone call, he examines printed spectrographs of the voice and compares them with recordings of Volodin and four other suspects. He narrows it down to Volodin and one other suspect, both of whom are arrested.

By the end of the book, several zeks, including Gleb Nerzhin, the autobiographical hero, choose to stop co-operating, even though their choice means being sent to much harsher camps.

Volodin, initially crushed by the ordeal of his arrest, begins to find encouragement at the end of his first night in prison.

The book also briefly depicts several Soviet leaders of the period, including Stalin himself, who is depicted as vain and vengeful, remembering with pleasure the torture of a rival, dreaming of one day becoming emperor of the world, or listening to his subordinate Viktor Abakumov and wondering: “…has the day come to shoot him yet?”

Chapter list

In the First Circle, Chapter 1, Torpedo, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 2, A miscue, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 3, Sharashka, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 4, Protestant Christmas, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 5, Boogie Woogie, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 6, Peaceful existence, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 7, A woman’s heart, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 8, Stop, moment! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 9, Fifth year of the harness, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 10, Rosicrucians, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 11, Enchanted castle, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 12, Number Seven, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 13, He Should have lied, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 14, Blue light, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 15, A girl! A girl! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 16, The Three Liars, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 17, Hot Water, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 18, Sivka-Burka, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 19, The Anniversary, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 20, Etude on a Great Life, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 21, Give Us Back the Death Penalty! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 22, Emperor of the Earth, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 23, Language is a tool of production, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 24, The abyss calls back, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 25, Church of Nikita the Martyr, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 26, Sawing firewood, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 27, A little methodology, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 28, The Junior Lieutenants job, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 29, Lieutenant colonel’s job, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 30, Puzzled robot, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 31, How to darn socks, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 32, On the way to a million, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 33, Penalty sticks, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 34, Voice prints, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 35, Kissing is prohibited, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 36, Phonoscopy, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 37, The silent alarm, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 38, Cheat on me! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 39, To say it beautifully – into the taiga, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 40, Rendezvous, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 41, And another One, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 42, And at the young, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 43, A woman washed the stairs, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 44, In the open space, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 45, Dogs of imperialism, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 46, Castle of the Holy Grail, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 47, Conversation three zeros, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 48, Double, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 49, Life is not a novel, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 50, Old maid, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 49, Life is not a novel, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 50, Old maid, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 51, Fire and hay, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 52, For the resurrection of the dead! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 53, Ark, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 54, Leisure amusement, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 55, Prince Igor, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 56, Winding up the twentieth, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 57, Prisoner trifles, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 58, Lyceum table, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 59, Buddha’s smile, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 60, But conscience is given only once, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 61, Tver uncle, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 62, Two sons-in-law, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 63, Bison, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 64, Were the First to Enter Cities, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 65, A Fight Not According to the Rules, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 66, Going to the People, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 67, Spiridon, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 68, Spiridon’s Criterion, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 69, Behind a closed visor, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 70, Dotty, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 71, Let’s assume that this did not happen, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 72, Civil temples, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 73, Ring of grievances, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 74, Monday’s dawn, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 75, Four nails, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 76, Favorite profession, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 77, The decision is made, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 78, Liberated secretary, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 79, The decision is explained, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 80, One hundred and forty-seven rubles, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 81, Techno-elite, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 82, Education of optimism, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 83, Prime Minister-snitch, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 84, As for shooting, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 85, Prince Kurbsky, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 86, Not a fisher of men, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 87, At the origins of science, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 88, Advanced worldview, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 89, little Quail, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 90, On the back stairs, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 91, Let him who enters leave hope, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 92, To keep forever, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 93, Second wind, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 94, Always by surprise, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 95, Goodbye, sharashka! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
In the First Circle, Chapter 96, Meat, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Themes

The novel addresses numerous philosophical themes, and through multiple narratives is a powerful argument both for a stoic integrity and humanism. Like other Solzhenitsyn works, the book illustrates the difficulty of maintaining dignity within a system designed to strip its inhabitants of it.

Characters

Innokenty Volodin: A Ministry official whose phone call at the beginning of the book functions as a catalyst for much of the later action in the sharashka and eventually leads to his arrest.

Gleb Nerzhin: A zek mathematician, 31. An autobiographical character. He is offered a position in a cryptography group, and refuses, even knowing this means he will be sent away from the sharashka.

Nadezhda (Nadya) Nerzhina: Gleb’s wife. Waited for eight years and became a student in Moscow because of him (Marfino is not far from Moscow) but is considering divorce because remaining married to a prisoner blocks her prospects for continuing studies or finding a job.

Dmitry Sologdin: A zek designer, 36, a survivor of the northern camps now serving his