“I didn’t read, but I condemn” - a campaign to persecute the writer Boris Pasternak. I didn’t read Pasternak, but I condemn I didn’t read Brodsky, but I condemn

Few people remember that the phrase "I did not read, but I condemn" was originally said in the direction of the great poet. “I haven’t read Pasternak’s novel, but I condemn it” - approximately this maxim came down to an avalanche of criticism that poured out in 1958 from the lips of Moscow writers and “letters of workers” published by various newspapers after the publication of Doctor Zhivago.

Among many other opinions, the letter of the worker Philip Vasiltsev especially clearly reflected the general mood: “What an opportunity? Newspapers write about some Pasternak. It’s as if there is such a writer. I still didn’t know anything about him, I never read his books. .. But it is clear that he does not like the October Revolution. So this is not a writer, but a White Guard ... ".

Over time, both "Pasternak" and the mention of his novel from the phrase "erased", and it, having acquired an ironic meaning, became a cult.

In his autobiography, Boris Pasternak writes about himself: "I was born in Moscow, on January 29, old style (February 10), 1890. I owe much, if not all, to my father, academician of painting Leonid Osipovich Pasternak, and my mother, an excellent pianist." There were many paradoxes in the life of Boris Pasternak, who was both a great poet and a "perfect child".

Born in the family of an artist and pianist, he became a poet.

Father - an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, maintained friendship with famous artists - I. Levitan, V. Polenov, M. Vrubel and others. Mother - an excellent musician, arranged yesterday, which were often visited by A. N. Scriabin and S. V. Rachmaninoff . Boris Pasternak drew well from childhood, and began composing music from the age of thirteen. But he did not become a composer (as well as an artist), although he was preparing for an exam at the course of the composition department of the Moscow Conservatory. "Music, the beloved world of six years of work, hopes and anxieties, I pulled out of myself, as one parted with the most precious" - the poet later writes.

He was not accepted into the Moscow gymnasium, but the next year he entered it immediately in the second grade

They did not accept Boris Pasternak because of the percentage norm, which forbade enrolling more than 3% of "persons of the Jewish faith" (Jews) in gymnasiums and universities in both capitals. By the way, Vladimir Mayakovsky also studied in the same gymnasium, only together with Pasternak's older brother.

He lived a long creative life - and all his poems can fit in one small book.

Although Boris Pasternak began to write poetry quite late (about 20 years old), his first poetic lines were published already in 1913. And during his life, the poet witnessed one civil and two world wars and several revolutions.

The poet's parents and his sisters left Soviet Russia for Germany in 1921. But Boris Pasternak remained...

The poet's relatives left because of his younger sister Josephine, who dreamed of studying philosophy, but because of her "incorrect" social origin, which replaced the "national trait", she was not admitted to Moscow University. And, by the way, this amazing attachment to their homeland will manifest itself again - much later. When the writer is persecuted and driven out of the USSR, he will not want to leave again ... As one of his contemporaries writes about the poet: "Pasternak loved everything Russian and was ready to forgive his Motherland for all its shortcomings."

He sang of the revolution, but was tired of being its "mouthpiece" (and it was really not easy to be one. Mayakovsky became - and put a bullet in his forehead).

The first epic poem about the revolution written by the poet is "The Nine Hundred and Fifth Year". Memories of youth here are mixed with revolutionary events. After its publication, the poet began to be called "Our Pasternak!". And one of the last works of Boris Pasternak - "Doctor Zhivago", where the story of the life and mental suffering of an ordinary person, is intertwined with the history of the country, devastation, repression. Both things are about the revolution ... and both things are united by their autobiographical nature ... But if the poem marked the beginning of the recognition of the "reliability" of the poet, then the novel actually put an end to both his career and his life.

So what is this novel for which Boris Pasternak - here's another paradox - was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and subjected to organized persecution?

What did I do for a dirty trick,
Am I a killer and a villain?
Boris Pasternak

The period of benevolent recognition of Pasternak's work, when his large one-volume book was constantly reprinted, and the poet himself actively participated in the work of the Writers' Union of the USSR, was short-lived. This was partly facilitated by the fact that Boris Pasternak periodically stood up for someone (from among those who were recognized as "enemies of the people"): in 1935 - for the husband and son of Akhmatova (wrote letters to Stalin), in 1937 - for Tukhachevsky ( refused to sign a letter approving the execution). During the years of evacuation, he helped many, including the daughter of Marina Tsvetaeva (they say that Boris Pasternak had a light "epistolary romance" with the poetess herself, who died in 1941). And all this at a time when almost everyone knew that expressing one's protest, even in the mildest form, was tantamount to suicide.

In 1947, the attitude towards the poet began to change. The newspaper "Culture and Life" published the publication "On the poetry of B. Pasternak." In it, the poet was accused of "... being at odds with the new reality... he spoke of the Soviet revolution with hostility and even malice ...".

Two years after the start of the persecution, the wife of Boris Pasternak was arrested by the NKVD. The poet himself was not touched. Pasternak will write about this: "She was imprisoned because of me, as the person closest to me ... in order to get from her during painful interrogations ... testimony for my prosecution ...".

But still, the secret, shrouded in darkness, is why the poet himself was not taken to the Lubyanka. This is another painful paradox in his life - Boris Pasternak was tormented by the fact that he was free when relatives and friends were imprisoned or long gone.

Shortly after these events, Pasternak will receive his first heart attack ...

In 1955, Doctor Zhivago was completed. The manuscript was sent to several editors, but none of them dared to publish it. In the end, when the work attracted the attention of an Italian publisher, Doctor Zhivago saw the light of day - in 1957 it was released in Italy. A year later, Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. But the poet's happiness was short-lived - persecution in the newspapers was immediately launched. Boris Pasternak was frankly called Judas.

The writer refused the award, placing himself by this act in a number of two more "rebels" - Leo Tolstoy and Jean Paul Sartre.

Upon learning that at a meeting of the Moscow Union of Writers, there was talk of asking the Government to deprive the poet of citizenship and expel him from the USSR, Boris Pasternak would write to Nikita Khrushchev: "Dear Nikita Sergeevich ... I became aware that the government" did not repair there would be no obstacles to my departure ... ". For me, this is impossible. I am connected with Russia by birth, life, work. I do not think of my fate separately and outside of it."

When despair reached its limit, Pasternak wrote a poem.

I disappeared like an animal in a pen.
Somewhere people, will, light,
And after me the noise of the chase,
I have no way out.
Dark forest and the shore of the pond,
They ate a fallen log.
Let it be cut off from everywhere.
Whatever happens, it doesn't matter.
What did I do for a dirty trick,
Am I a killer and a villain?
I made the whole world cry
Above the beauty of my land.

Soon he had a second heart attack, and after some time Pasternak began to spit blood. The poet was diagnosed with cancer. Boris Pasternak died on May 30, 1960 at 23:20. His last words were a request not to forget to open the window...

No one will be in the house
Except twilight. One
Gray day in a through aperture
Undrawn curtains.
The flakes will lay down and see:
Blue and sun, peace and quiet.
So we will be forgiven
Let's believe, live and wait.

In order for the younger generation to know and remember the poet, the employees of the Boris Pasternak Library in the Western District held a reading of the novel "Doctor Zhivago" on the birthday of the great poet.

Tatyana Protasova

Examples of using: I haven't read it, but I do! - according to various sources, part of the phrase:
sounded in 1958 at a meeting of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR during the consideration of the case of Boris Pasternak, who was accused of publishing the "anti-Soviet" novel "Doctor Zhivago" abroad; Pedia

Reality:

The exact quote "I did not read, but I condemn" is not recorded anywhere.
The closest in form and terms of the myth are the words of A. V. Sofronov at the all-Moscow meeting of writers on October 31, 1958 [Transcript of the all-Moscow meeting of writers. October 31, 1958], where he quotes the Chilean writer Delmag:
“Sometimes it seems to us that outside of Moscow, outside of the Soviet Union, there is little interest in the details of our literature. It turns out that this is not so. Even there, in this small Chilean city of Valparaiso, the writer Delmag was informed in great detail about some events in our literature. he told me: "You behave strangely with Boris Pasternak, he is your enemy." I didn't read the book then and I haven't read it now. I say: "You know, this is a very strange person, deluded, with a false philosophy, we consider him a little foolish." He says: “Come on, what a holy fool he is! He is not at all a fool. He outlined his entire political program - the program of denying the October Revolution - very clearly, in great detail and very harmful to you, because this book (and it had been distributed for a year and a half before receiving the Nobel Prize, mainly in English and even in Russian) does harm here and is the banner of anti-Soviet propaganda."

There is also another source that may be suitable as the basis of the myth.
"Literary Gazette", November 1, 1958

FROG IN THE SWAMP
What kind of occasion? Newspapers write about some Pasternak. As if there is such a writer. I didn’t know anything about him until now, I had never read his books. And I love our literature - both classical and Soviet. I love Alexander Fadeev, I love Nikolai Ostrovsky. Their works make us strong....
We have many good writers. These are our friends and teachers. And who is Pasternak! Readers of his works can see that he does not like the October Revolution. So this is not a writer, but a White Guard. We, the Soviet people, know for sure that after the October Revolution the human race revived....
Suppose the frog is unhappy and still croaks. And I, the builder, have no time to listen to her. We are busy with business. No, I have not read Pasternak. But I know: it's better in literature without frogs.

FILIP VASILTSOV, senior excavator operator

The meaning of both quotes: "I have not read Pasternak's books, but actions/political views I condemn Pasternak"
It is quite possible to form an objective opinion about a person without reading it. artistic works.

Moreover. During the trial of I. Brodsky, according to the transcript of the meeting of the Secretariat and members of the Party Bureau of the Leningrad Branch of the RSFSR SP of December 17, 1963:
ETKIND: Brodsky is a brilliant poet and he is being persecuted for being a Jew, and the anti-Semites concocted this case. It is clear that Brodsky is being judged as a parasite without any justification.

TOROPOVA: Witness Etkind, have you read Brodsky's poems?

ETKIND: Personally, I have not read Brodsky's poetry and do not know. But I think it's brilliant. The poetess Grudinina told me a lot about him. I believe her and therefore defend Brodsky in court. Why he did not study and did not belong to groups and sections, I do not know. And work is his business. He wants - he works, he wants - no, let him do whatever he wants.

Those. actually there was a REVERSE quote: " did not read, but praise".

Today I was accused) They nailed me, literally. And they revealed my whole essence (the writing style is the author's, not mine):
"People like you - COPIES, in Soviet times, wrote their opinion under the execution lists:
I DID NOT READ, BUT I JUDGE!"
So... under the hit lists. Nothing more, nothing less) By the way, I didn't understand... they didn't read the execution lists, but condemned their existence? Then I'm probably one of the good specimens?)

However, I didn’t want to talk about how good I am (you can’t praise yourself ...), but about a phrase. Of course, it is very good that Pasternak, in general, was not shot by anyone ... but how interesting is sometimes the history of this or that meme. Including the phrase "I have not read Pasternak, but I condemn."
Once upon a time, I climbed to look for what exactly was there ... and ... And I found that this phrase was not there. That is absolutely. But what happened?
And there were as many as three similar statements:
Option 1
This is the most common version. Usually just write:
““I didn’t read, but I condemn” - this is a shortened expression cut out from the report of A.V. Sofronov at the all-Moscow meeting of writers on October 31, 1958, is now used in general cases to express the impossibility of constructive criticism.
But what does the shortened version sound like? But like this:
“Sometimes it seems to us that outside of Moscow, outside of the Soviet Union, there is little interest in the details of our literature. It turns out that this is not so. Even there, in that small Chilean town of Valparaiso, the writer Delmag was informed in great detail about certain events in our literature. So, he told me: "You behave strangely with Boris Pasternak, he is your enemy." I didn't read the book then and I haven't read it now. I say: "You know, this is a very strange person, deluded, with a false philosophy, we consider him a little foolish." He says: “Come on, what a holy fool he is! He is not at all a fool. He outlined his entire political program - the program of denying the October Revolution - very clearly, in great detail and very harmful to you, because this book does harm here and is a banner of anti-Soviet propaganda.
That is, Sofronov does not cite his condemnation of this book, but of the one who read it. He himself speaks of Pasternak as a person. Whether he was right or not is not the point. He was entitled to his opinion. And, which is not unimportant, he still argues with a man who calls Pasternak an enemy. "A strange man, lost, somewhat foolish" - but not an enemy. So it's far from the "firing squads" ...
Option 2
(As far as I understand, this version is quoted from Lurkmore)
A phrase belonging to Alexander Shelepin, the then chairman of the KGB:
"I have not read Pasternak, but I think that a Soviet writer should be published first in the USSR."
That is, "I have not read it, but I condemn that the novel was published abroad."
Option 3
There is another source that may be suitable as the basis of the myth.
"Literary Gazette", November 1, 1958:
FROG IN THE SWAMP
What kind of occasion? Newspapers write about some Pasternak. As if there is such a writer. I didn’t know anything about him until now, I had never read his books. And I love our literature - both classical and Soviet. I love Alexander Fadeev, I love Nikolai Ostrovsky. Their works make us strong....
We have many good writers. These are our friends and teachers. And who is Pasternak! Readers of his works can see that he does not like the October Revolution. So this is not a writer, but a White Guard. We, the Soviet people, know for sure that after the October Revolution the human race revived....
Suppose the frog is unhappy and still croaks. And I, the builder, have no time to listen to her. We are busy with business. No, I have not read Pasternak. But I know: it's better in literature without frogs.
FILIP VASILTSOV, senior excavator operator
And again, it's not about romance. There is condemnation of the course of action. Yes, based on rumors, since, of course, the senior excavator driver did not personally know Pasternak and could not know.

Such funny things.

Z.s. Infa from the Internet, it is in a bunch of sources almost unchanged, so I will not give links.

55 years ago, October 23, 1958 Boris Pasternak awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for Doctor Zhivago. Now this work is included in the school curriculum, but during the life of the author, the novel brought him not only fame, but also problems with the authorities.

1. The Soviet Union refused to print Doctor Zhivago. Pasternak sent the manuscript of his novel to the literary and art magazines Novy Mir and Znamya, as well as in the almanac Literary Moscow, but none of the publications dared to publish it.

As a result, the novel was published in Italy, in Milan - according to literary historian Ivan Tolstoy (grandson of the writer Alexei Tolstoy), the publication was facilitated by the American CIA.

Oleg Menshikov in Doctor Zhivago. Film adaptation 2005. Photo: Frame from the film

2. The Nobel Prize was awarded to the writer with the wording "for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel." However, the authorities of the USSR (led by Khrushchev) the work was considered anti-Soviet and outraged - as a result, the author was forced to refuse to receive the award.

The Nobel diploma and medal were handed over to the writer's son, 31 years later - this happened in 1989, after the writer's death.

3. “I didn’t read, but I condemn!” - this is exactly what the writer said about the novel "Doctor Zhivago" Anatoly Sofronov at a meeting of the board of the Union of Writers of the USSR, when the case of Boris Pasternak was considered. And it was under this name that the campaign to “flagellate” the writer went down in history: his “treacherous” book, anti-Soviet and published abroad, was condemned by the entire Union - from newspapers and television to workers in factories.

A frame from the film "Doctor Zhivago". Screen adaptation of 2002. Photo: Frame from the film

4. The novel is accompanied by poems by the protagonist - Yuri Andreevich Zhivago. One of them ("Winter Night") Alla Pugacheva turned it into a song (in her performance, the song is called “The Candle Burned”).

5. There is still no consensus on where the main character's surname came from. If you believe Olga Ivinskaya, the writer’s girlfriend and muse, somehow Pasternak stumbled on a cast-iron plate on the street with the name of the manufacturer - Zhivago, “and decided that let him be like this, an unknown person who came out either from a merchant, or from a semi-intellectual environment; this man will be his literary hero.” According to the testimonies of the poet and prose writer Varlam Shalamov, Pasternak himself spoke of his character as follows: “Even as a child, I was amazed, excited by the lines from the prayer of the Orthodox Church: “You are truly the Christ, the son of the living God.” I repeated this line and childishly put a comma after the word "God." It turned out the mysterious name of Christ "Zhivago". But I did not think about the living God, but about his new name, “Zhivago”, accessible only to me. It took my whole life to make this childish feeling a reality - to name the hero of my novel after him.

Korney Chukovsky congratulates Boris Pasternak on being awarded the Nobel Prize

By the time the prize was awarded, the novel Doctor Zhivago had already been published, first in Italy and then in the UK. In the USSR, there were demands for his expulsion from the Writers' Union, and his real persecution began from the pages of newspapers. A number of writers, in particular, Lev Oshanin and Boris Polevoy, demanded the expulsion of Pasternak from the country and the deprivation of his Soviet citizenship.

Nevertheless, the novel, published abroad, was published in huge editions, for which the author was entitled to fees of almost ten million dollars, but Pasternak could neither go abroad nor receive the due remuneration. In the USSR, "Doctor Zhivago" was published in a small edition and was available only "for internal use" to high-ranking officials of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

A new round of persecution began after he was awarded the Nobel Prize. In particular, two years after the announcement of the decision of the Nobel Committee, Literaturnaya Gazeta wrote: “Pasternak received“ thirty pieces of silver ”, for which the Nobel Prize was used. He was rewarded for agreeing to play the role of bait on the rusty hook of anti-Soviet propaganda ... An inglorious end awaits the resurrected Judas, Doctor Zhivago, and his author, whose lot will be popular contempt. In Pravda, publicist David Zaslavsky called Pasternak a "literary weed."

Critical and frankly boorish speeches towards the writer were made at meetings of the Union of Writers and the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League. The result was the unanimous expulsion of Pasternak from the Writers' Union of the USSR. True, a number of writers did not appear for consideration of this issue, among them Alexander Tvardovsky, Mikhail Sholokhov, Samuil Marshak, Ilya Ehrenburg. At the same time, Tvardovsky refused to publish Doctor Zhivago in Novy Mir, and then spoke critically of Pasternak in the press.

Pasternak was supported by the family of Korney Chukovsky - his neighbors in the dacha in Peredelkino. When the Nobel Prize was announced, Korney Ivanovich, together with his granddaughter Lyusha (Elena Tsezarevna Chukovskaya), went to congratulate his neighbor. Around the house were foreign correspondents, and a little further on people in civilian clothes. Nevertheless, Chukovsky, in an interview with the foreign press, praised Doctor Zhivago and supported Pasternak. The daughter of Korney Ivanovich Lydia also provided great help to the disgraced writer.

In the same 1958, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Soviet scientists Pavel Cherenkov, Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm. In this regard, the Pravda newspaper published an article signed by a number of physicists who claimed that their colleagues received the prize by right, but its presentation to Pasternak was caused by political considerations. This article was refused to be signed by Academician Lev Artsimovich, who demanded that he first be allowed to read Doctor Zhivago.

Actually, “I didn’t read it, but I condemn it” became one of the main informal slogans of the campaign against Pasternak. This phrase was originally said by the writer Anatoly Sofronov at a meeting of the board of the Writers' Union, until now it is winged.

Despite the fact that the prize was awarded to Pasternak “for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel,” by the efforts of the official Soviet authorities, it was to be remembered for a long time only as firmly associated with the novel Doctor Zhivago.

Following the writers and academicians, labor collectives across the country were connected to persecution. Accusatory rallies were held at workplaces, in institutes, factories, bureaucratic organizations, creative unions, where collective insulting letters were drawn up demanding punishment for the disgraced writer.

Jawaharlal Nehru and Albert Camus turned to Nikita Khrushchev with a request to stop the persecution of the writer, but this appeal was ignored.

Despite the exclusion from the Union of Writers of the USSR, Pasternak continued to be a member of the Literary Fund, receive royalties, and publish. The idea repeatedly expressed by his persecutors that Pasternak would probably want to leave the USSR was rejected by him - Pasternak wrote in a letter addressed to Khrushchev: “Leaving my homeland is tantamount to death for me. I am connected with Russia by birth, life, work.”

Because of the poem “Nobel Prize” published in the West, Pasternak was summoned in February 1959 to the Prosecutor General of the USSR R. A. Rudenko, where he was threatened with charges under article 64 “Treason to the Motherland”, but this event had no consequences for him, possibly because the poem was published without his permission.

Boris Pasternak died on May 30, 1960 from lung cancer. According to the author of the book from the ZhZL series dedicated to the writer, Dmitry Bykov, Pasternak's illness developed on a nervous basis after several years of his continuous persecution.

Despite the disgrace of the writer, Bulat Okudzhava, Naum Korzhavin, Andrei Voznesensky and his other colleagues came to his funeral at the cemetery in Peredelkino.

In 1966, his wife Zinaida died. The authorities refused to pay her a pension after she became a widow, despite the petitions of a number of famous writers. At the age of 38, at about the same age as Yuri Zhivago in the novel, his son Leonid also died.

Pasternak's exclusion from the Writers' Union was canceled in 1987, and a year later Novy Mir published Doctor Zhivago for the first time in the USSR. On December 9, 1989, the diploma and medal of the Nobel laureate were presented in Stockholm to the writer's son, Yevgeny Pasternak.