Russia honors Solzhenitsyn's memory

MOSCOW, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Four months after Alexander Solzhenitsyn's death, Russia celebrated the Nobel Prize-winning writer's 90th birthday, launching a Web site on his life and work.

Solzhenitsyn, known for his works about Stalin-era labor camps, returned to his native country after the fall of the Soviet Union. In addition to the start-up of the Russian-language Web site Thursday, three MP3s of Solzhenitsyn reading his own work were released, the Novosti news agency reported.

Natalia Solzhenitsyn, the writer's widow, said she hopes all his work will eventually be available on the Web site.

After military service in World War II, Solzhenitsyn spent eight years in a labor camp. His novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" was published in Russia during the brief thaw under Nikita Khrushchev. He also wrote "The Gulag Archipelago" and "The First Circle."

Solzhenitsyn lived in exile in the United States for 20 years.

Vladimir Vorobyov said hearing Solzhenitsyn read his work was a special experience.

"We know the background behind some of Solzhenitsyn's works," Vorobyov said. "'Ivan

Denisovich,' for example, was conceived of in the camps, where writing was forbidden, and he had to recite it to himself aloud every day."