Vladimir Voynovich: ‘I want to be honest’

Abstract

In his memoir essay, Viktor Essipov, Vladimir Voynovich’s old friend, discusses some landmarks in the writer’s life. After penning the popular cosmonauts’ anthem that Nikita Khrushchev really admired, Voynovich was bound to have a successful songwriting career. Instead, he decided to apply himself to prose, becoming one of the most recognizable writers. Published in the West without the author’s knowledge, his novel The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin [Zhizn i neobychaynye priklyucheniya soldata Ivana Chonkina] earned him international fame. The article examines how the topic of betrayal is developed across Voynovich’s works: the early novella Two Friends [Dva tovarishcha] (1969), another novella The Hat [Shapka] (1988), and the short story ‘I Want to Be Honest’ [‘Khochu byt chestnym’] (1989). Voynovich always resented falsehoods spread by the authorities and was actively engaged in the protection of unjustly persecuted compatriots. Similarly, he never hesitated to stand up for his own rights as a writer and a citizen. Because of such a stance, the authorities treated Voynovich as a dissident for years, until eventually forcing him into emigration.