JOSEPH BRODSKY
537
JB:
True, almost two years of it.
DM:
In fact, the people there, you said, treated you well, like a son.
JB:
Well, a son ... that was a bit too much. As one of their own,
yes.
DM:
You mentioned at one point that they were pleased to have a
poet among them.
JB:
What they were pleased with, if they were, was simply another
pair of hands, and also because I knew a little bit of medicine and
could assist them. They were highly uneducated people, and the
closest medical help was about twenty-five miles away. So, I was
simply helping them as much as I could and they were just nice to
me, not in exchange, but basically because they were normal people
and had no axe to grind with me.
DM:
And you continued to write and to study English?
JB:
Yes.
DM:
And translate?
JB:
Well, as much as I could. I had to work in the field, etcetera, but
there you get this normal life, a hired hand sort of thing. Perhaps a
little bit more work sometimes, and you're not being paid. But essen–
tially it was okay.
DM:
In 1965 you were released and you remained in Russia until
1972. You did a lot of writing during that period also. Were you in–
terfered with by the authorities?
JB:
Not very much. They would interfere with publication, but with
life as such, no. Several times there would be subpoenas for inter–
rogations and this and that. . . .
DM:
When you first came to the United States, what surprised you
most? It's been said that you drew some of your expectations from
reading Robert Frost, that you felt America would be more rural
than you found it.
JB:
Not more rural, but I thought that the people would be less
vocal, less hysterical, more reserved, more prudent with their
speech.
DM:
Could we talk a minute about current politics?
JB:
Be my guest.
DM:
What do you think Gorbachev's effect will be in certain areas of
the world, in Afghanistan, in Poland and just on United States–
Soviet relations in general? Do you think he'll make drastic changes?
JB:
When Gorbachev became General Secretary, Derek Walcott
asked me what I thought of him. Well, frankly, I said, nothing, and
I hope it's mutual. Since then, I haven't changed my opinion.
