This book is entirely devoted to stories of life in the Soviet Gulag, based on the author's own 17 years experience in the Russian penal system. I have read the book in the original Russian, so I noticed that each story was written in relatively short sentences, laced with sombre words and structured as though it pained the narrator of each story to produce it, creating overall depressing connotations. All the tales are striking and convincing in their own way. By the end of the book I think you'll get a good idea of what human nature is like when stripped down to the breaking point.