Tag #114827 - Interview #95094 (Emilia Kotliar)

I had big hopes for perestroika [25]. It was like some fresh wind blowing. I do not watch TV now, but when I watched it, Duma meetings and speeches of various politicians I had hopes for something better. As for Gorbachev [26], I do not blame him. He raised the ‘iron curtain’ [27]. This stupid Cold War that swallowed all our money and brought our state to ruin. It became easier to breathe and I got to know more.  It was always hard to be published. For different reasons. In the past it was a state monopoly and only literature officials, absolutely ignorant and uneducated, could decide to publish or forbid a book, whether it complied with moral and ethical standards of a Soviet citizen or not, there was censure and ideological commission and a book also needed to be included in publication plan.  Now one can publish anything, but it is a matter of money, which I don’t have.