Life and views of the main commentator of the Soviet Union
Twenty-one years ago one of the most famous Russian television journalists, a man who became a face of the era of changes, wrote a book “Parting with Illusions.” In the U.S. it was on the New York Times best seller list for twelve weeks. And only now, in the author’s opinion, is it time to publish a Russian version of the book.
The author said that he did not except a press-conference devoted to the release of his book. He said that "the story of this little book’s emergence is quite amusing and maybe interesting for you. In 1987 the regular Moscow International Cinema Festival was being held. A certain Brian Kann, an American, about 15 years younger than me. He is the son of quite a famous American figure – a journalist, scriptwriter and Communist, who was in prison during the McCarthy era, because he refused to name his acquaintances-Communists. He was in prison for some time, and he was a member of the U.S. Communist Party. And because he was a Communist and vividly expressed his friendship to the Soviet Union, which was not easy in America, his son was invited to the Soviet Union. And so little Brian twice visited Artek. Then, in fact, he was dealing with something completely different, did not become a Communist, he is rather a leftist liberal. So, he came to the Festival with a documentary of his making, devoted to saving the Siberian crane. This is a bird that lives sometimes in Siberia and sometimes in Alaska, which flies back and forth. This species was under threat of disappearing, and American and Soviet ornithologists worked together and saved it. This was the subject of the film. Them we got acquainted. My father knew his father well, but we did not know each other. So, we had some talk, etc. But this acquaintance turned out to be important, because in two years I finally got permission to travel abroad (for a long time I did not have it), moreover, I was included in the delegation which accompanied Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev to Washington, as a journalist. And Brian Kann, when he learned that I was here, or, rather, there, called me to have an interview with me. He was slightly surprised by my answers. And he said: “You know, you should write a book about your life.” I came back to Moscow, and virtually in a month he also came there, got a journalist position in the newspaper “The Moscow News,” and came to me, saying: “That’s it: we will write a book. I will ask you questions and record your answers on tape recorder, then transcribe, and so on.” I said “OK, but I refuse to talk about my private matters. In this way he recorded forty tapes, brought them to the U.S., transcribed, arranged in order, and sent me chapters of a book. I read them and wrote to him: “Well, you know, I don’t mind, everything seems to correspond to what I said.” Then some time passed, and Brian called me, saying: “I showed this manuscript to a famous, even legendary, American literary editor, and this editor said that the book may be very interesting, but if Posner refuses to talk about himself, about his private life, nobody will publish it.” I don’t know how it happened, but I decided: OK, then I should write about this…
I threw that Brian sent me, and sat down to write this book. I wrote it very painful. It's called "Parting with illusions" ... In fact I was parting with the faith in which my father brought me up: with faith in the Soviet system, with faith in Communism, that is, political faith. On the other hand I looked into my complicated relationship with my father, which lasted for a long time. All this I wrote in English, because because, as soon as these are memoirs, my life started not in Russian. Therefore I decided to translate later. I found a good publisher (The Atlantic Monthly Press), and the book came out. On the cover it was written "unusual life and contradictory views of the main commentator of the Soviet Union Vladimir Posner.” I have to say that I was not the main commentator of the Soviet Union, but I was well known in the U. S., because I often appeared on American TV screens as a propagandist. I worked in the main editorial office of radio broadcasting for the U.S. and Britain of State-Television-Radio organization of the USSR. I was often invited to speak at American programs (of course, from Moscow). I was there quite popular, as was speaking as an American, they were very surprised. One newspaper even published an article with a headline: Maybe Leonid Brezhnev is the Head of the USSR, but for the American public the main Soviet voice is Vladimir Posner. " It did not help me, I assure you. But the book itself was a great success, for twelve weeks it stayed in the bestseller list of the "The New York Times," which is unheard of, because, firstly, its author is a foreigner, Vladimir Posner, secondly, this book is not a detective story, nor a spy story, nor about the KGB, there's not much sex there either – though there is some.
In 2008 I finally translated the book, re-read it and understood that it cannot appear in such a form, because much had changed in the world, not only in the world, but in my thoughts, in my attitude. What was to be done? Of course, I could “modernize” it, that is, “re-write” it, pretending that already then I understood everything, which was to happen in eighteen years. It would be not quite fair, right? It would be a different book, I didn’t want that. I wanted my Russian readers, my viewers, to read the book which I wrote back then. How could I do it? I was again thinking for about two years and decided to insert into the text comments in a different font, related to what is written and to the present situation. This is what I did. It took about one and a half years. As a result this book was published. This is a sort of summing up, a sort of confession. The first book is a farewell to the illusions about the Soviet Union, which were concerned with my father. The second book is also a farewell to American illusions. My attitude to what was happening there then, and my hopes, and my illusions – these are all in this book. They all are there, and my disappointment, an admission of my mistakes is also there. I was indeed mistaken thinking that such country as the Soviet Union could quickly become a democratic country. I just didn’t realize that it is unreal, that a country that has never been free, that never had a democracy, suddenly, virtually in 3-4 years can became free.
