It is estimated that some three million people died in the Soviet forced-labour camps of Kolyma, in the northeastern area of Siberia. Shalamov himself spent seventeen years there, and in these stories he vividly captures the lives of ordinary people caught up in terrible circumstances, whose hopes and plans extended to further than a few hours. This new enlarged edition combines two collections previously published in the United States as Kolyma Tales and Graphite.


瓦尔拉姆·沙拉莫夫（Варлам Шаламов，1907－1982） 俄苏著名作家，出生于沃洛格达一个神甫家庭。曾因“政治问题”三次遭逮捕判刑，在远北地区的苦寒荒僻之地科雷马度过了十五年劳改生涯。1956年获平反回到莫斯科。1979年健康恶化，住入残老院，失明失聪，直至去世。著有系列作品“科雷马故事”和“科雷马诗抄”等。