A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

This is an account of what daily life is like for prisoners in a Siberian labor camp, written by one who knew them only all too well.  Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is a Russian soldier who was not actually guilty of anything other than having been captured by the Germans during the war and held as a POW for some time.  But that's enough to get him convicted as a spy by his own government and sentenced to 10 years.  When we meet him, he is on the 8th year of his sentence.  Through his eyes, we experience the hard conditions of life in the camp, including the cold, the Spartan meals, the penalties inflicted on the newer prisoners when they make mistakes, the way even the smallest bit of luxury is treasured and savored, whether it's a piece of bread saved from breakfast or a little bit of sharp metal that can be used as a knife.  It is a story of endurance and survival and shows how even great hardship and injustice can be borne with dignity.