Geographic overlap

As I've said in the profile, I don't know any of the places Solzhenitsyn writes about, never having been further east in Europe than Switzerland. But there is that one spot -- I've visited Zurich twice, which is the scene of the Lenin chapters in the Red Wheel. I don't remember any of the landmarks mentioned in Lenin's life though.

The other bit of overlap is that Solzhenitsyn has been to my home area. He's made several visits (at least two from what I can gather) to the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace in Palo Alto, California. He is an honorary fellow there, according to WIkipedia. I didn't grow up in Palo Alto, but in the next community south, Los Altos. And when I was a kid (years before the Santa Clara valley became rebaptized Silicon Valley) about the only tall building around was Hoover Tower.

Funny, when I look at Hoover tower now, it looks rather ugly to me. It looks like a 1930's cement attempt at something European. I wonder if Solzhenitysn noticed the architecture. He might well have been in a hurry to get to the archives.

See this link from Flikr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/busterken/149480602/