Cancer Ward by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

When we talk of cancer, almost all of us have very sad stories to narrate of our loved people who have succumbed to the killer disease called Cancer. Even though research being carried out across the world in top medical institutes and Universities has resulted in small advances here and there but not a lasting solution, the medical fraternity has been unable to find what exactly causes cancer other than stating that it is caused by unnatural growth in some cells of the human body, probably triggered by carcinogens that have inorganic origin.

My mother-in-law after a bout of bone cancer in 1997 Dec, passed away on 01 July '98. Taking a 2 month leave from Goa govt engg college, we were by her side at Kidwai Institute of Oncology Bangalore and at her home in Kalamassery Kerala, spending just 3 months from detection in March '98 to passing away in July '98. Knowing the practical sides and sufferings of the patients, close family relatives during the fight with cancer is a big story for every patient. Spread over 3 months to 5-6 years, the fight is often futile. 

My 2012 reading of The Biography of Cancer by 2011 Booker prize winner Dr Sidharth Mukherjee, a turning point in my understanding of cancer, was an interesting read. Dr Sidharth an oncologist from MassGen hospital in Boston traces the presence of tumours even in the Egyptian mummies of 2000- 3000 BC.

 

Set in Russia in the late 60s, the semi autobiography of Solzhenitsyn in the cancer wards as a patient is neatly presented in the book. The book is the 1954 reak-life story of a small group of patients (Solznehitsyn included ?) in ward 13 of the Cancer ward of a hospital in Tashkent in Soviet Uzbekistan. After writing this book Solzhenitsyn was incarcerated in prison for ten long years for exposing the soft belly of the  Russian medical system, the corruption and bureaucracy. Going through this book 55 years after publication reminds us of the technological advancements in cancer treatment over the years, though the disease still eludes complete cure.

The book talks of the pains, thoughts, tribulations of the protagonist Oleg who experiences first-hand the events in the cancer ward of the hospital in Tashkent. The book explains about the four treatments for cancer, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and in extreme cases, surgery of the infected part or organ as continued six decades back as it is done to this day.  The word Cancer is said to have originated from Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, (460 - 370 BC) in ancient Greece (though cancerous tumours were observed even before that around 2700 BC on Egyptian mummies as depicted in the book by Dr. Sidhart Mukherjee, The Biography of Cancer, in 2011). Hipocrates used the term Carcinos and Carcinoma for the non-ulcer forming tumour and ulcer forming tumour respectively as back as 360 BC. In hormone therapy, not used these days, males are injected with female hormones and vice versa. The protagonist of the book Oleg, underwent hormone therapy too.

These days except for the fact that more people have been infected with cancer, more relevant data has been collected  and treatment routines and radiation dosages are very carefully determined and administered, nothing much has changed in cancer treatment over the past six decades. Cancer still continues to be the killer disease it has been over the past thousand years, just that its incidence has increased.

 

For writing on the very primitive practice of cancer treatment, mired in corruption and bureaucracy under the Communist regime of Stalin, the tragedy is Solzhenitsyn paid a very heavy price, he had to undergo prison term of ten years in distant Siberia. That increases the worth of this book as an all time read for people around the world who value freedom and liberty including the freedom of speech and writing. 

Here is an OpenAI note on the book - 

Cancer Ward" is a novel written by the Nobel Prize-winning Russian author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Published in 1968, the novel tells the story of a group of cancer patients in a Soviet-era hospital.

The protagonist of the novel is a young man named Oleg Kostoglotov, who is suffering from cancer and has been sent to the hospital for treatment. Through Kostoglotov's experiences, Solzhenitsyn explores the physical and emotional challenges faced by cancer patients, as well as the broader social and political issues of life in the Soviet Union.

The novel is set during the Khrushchev Thaw, a period of relative liberalization in Soviet society, and it reflects Solzhenitsyn's own experiences as a cancer patient in a Soviet hospital. Through Kostoglotov and the other patients, Solzhenitsyn depicts the corruption and bureaucracy of the Soviet medical system, as well as the resilience and courage of those who are suffering.

The novel also explores the existential and spiritual dimensions of cancer, as Kostoglotov grapples with questions of mortality, meaning, and purpose. Solzhenitsyn's depiction of the human condition in the face of illness and adversity has made "Cancer Ward" a widely acclaimed and enduring work of literature. Overall, "Cancer Ward" is a powerful and moving novel that offers a deeply humanistic perspective on the experience of cancer and the struggle for survival in the face of adversity.

Even though it took me more than 3 weeks to read this mega epic of about 540 pages, in the midst of my busy teaching schedules, in small bus journeys, early morning reads, waiting time while visiting doctors, to be with Solzhenitsyn for three weeks and to understand his great mind and life was indeed time well spent.

George.