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PARTISAN REVIEW
tioned once so far. I do recall that Mr. Kolakowski's paper
mentioned anti-Semitism.
The subject this afternoon is encounters with the West.
Among some of the things we would like to know are: what the
panelists think of American and European society, of our politi–
cal systems, of our policies; what the meaning of freedom really
is in the West; what they think-insofar as they have some
knowledge of it-of American and European literature. Our
first panelist is Sergei Dovlatov.
SERGEI DOVLATOV: This is my first public performance in
English, so let me ask you to be indulgent. I've lived in the United
States for three years and still speak English very badly. Generally,
Russian emigrants speak English on different levels, which can
be denoted as subway English, supermarket English, then
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English, and as the absolute peak of proficiency, China–
town English. The hardest thing is communication with waiters
in Chinese restaurants.
In any event, to understand English doesn't mean to take in
America. This is all the more true for the writer whose job is to
go beyond the word and try to see what is behind it. When I was
leaving Leningrad, my benevolent friends said: "You will get
lost in America. Only scientists and engineers get settled there,
and all kinds of handymen. But journalists, writers, artists,
literally perish-especially if they are not geniuses, as you are
not," my friends added cruelly.
And here I am in America. I've tried to live the way people
here do, and I have learned something already: alas, my benevo–
lent friends were right; all they said is true, but it is not the
full truth. I would even say it was only the legend of truth.
It
is very difficult to make a living by writing if you are not
a genius. What 's to be done? In the first place, you could be a
genius. Who doesn't allow you to be one? You wouldn't be
punished for it here. Be a genius and flourish, develop your
talent. Joseph Brodsky is a genius, and he is all right. He writes
poems, reads his lectures, flies to Europe, collects his awards. But,
it's not everybody's lot to be a genius: it's not enough just to want
it, and personal conviction doesn't help, either. But how are
things with ordinary people, with honest, qualified writers?–
not with the best men of letters or the worst ones, but with
writers who keep an honorable relationship with a piece of
