A day in the life of Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born one hundred years ago today.

Solzhenitsyn is remembered for a number of accomplishments — surviving a lengthy sentence in a Soviet prison; publishing several works that touch upon the experience; winning the Nobel Prize in Literature — but journalist Marianna Hunt wanted to honor him in a different way this year.

In particular, she hoped to shift attention, even fleetingly, away from his heavy reputation and toward his eccentric lifestyle.

So she followed the Solzhenitsyn regimen for a single day.

Turns out his daily life wasn’t much lighter than his literature.

Read about her experience in the Guardian.