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“A Light Dispute” with Mr. Salisbury

55 years ago, on March, 1, 1960, the newspaper “Pravda” published an article by M.A.Sholokhov “About Little Boy Harry and Big Mister Salisbury”. This article, a pamphlet, became an answer for the speech of the American correspondent Harry Salisbury in the newspaper “The New-York Times”.

The first part of the “Virgin Soil Upturned” published in America by the book publisher “A.Knopf” in translation by Stefen Harry late in October of 1935, caused mixed reactions of the American press. The newspaper “Boston Ttranscript” said about the novel as “a report to the Soviet Government about the difficulties accompanying the collectivization campaign, its deadlock and failure.” “The New-York Times” considered the “Virgin Soil Upturned” to be a very thorough study in a small village covered by the revolutionary idea of collectivization…”

“The New-York Gerald Tribune” noted: “Honesty and warmth – that is what characterizes Sholokhov when he depicts the village of Gremyachy Log, where the action of the novel takes place enabling the reader to understand the enormity of the problem and dramatic character of collectivization… “Virgin Soil Upturned” is a fine work of literature. I don’t know any book, which in the period of collectivization could reveal human characters with such force and thoroughness…”

In 1959, a journalist for “The New-York Times” Harry Salisbury turned to the topic of “Virgin Soil Upturned” again. In his article he stated that Sholokhov had completed his work over the second book of “Virgin Soil Upturned” long before ( with Davydov’s death in the Soviet prison) and that such an ending delayed the publication of the novel.

In September of 1959, M.A.Sholokhov, when visiting the USA, read that article and answering the questions of the American press representatives ironically said that Harry Salisbury was pretending to be his co-author giving his ending for the novel.

However, when in 1960, the final chapters of the second book of the novel were published, “The New-York Times” again published the articles by H.Salisbury, who said that Sholokhov had made a new ending of the novel to satisfy the requirements of the Soviet Government.

Then M.A.Sholokhov published in the “Pravda” of March, 1, 1960, his pamphlet “About a Little Boy Harry and a Big Mister Salisbury”.

The writer underlined that “to dispute seriously with Mr. Salisbury about the art means to disrespect the art itself” and asked a kosher question: “If Mr. Salisbury was really interested in the ending of the book, then why didn’t he ask me, so to say, the original source, at least in the 30-s, after the publication of the first book? Or why didn’t he ask me about it when I was in America? After all, he had every opportunity to see me. I would have told him in a few phrases about the denouement”. According to the author the denouement was completed in the same way as it had been conceived during the work over the first book without any alterations or amendments.

As early as in February of 1955, talking with K.Priyma in Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya the writer said: “…The second book of the novel is about a fierce struggle between the two worlds, darkness and light. In fact this is the last fight in the great battle: who wins?... Do you ask what the novel will end with? It’s difficult to say. Now I am thinking over the ending. I can firmly say one thing: the end will be dramatic, there will be sacrifices… It will be as the truth of life tells. That time was severe, it was a life-and-death struggle, and sacrifices were considerable.”

The correspondence acquaintance of M.A.Sholokhov and H.Salisbury had a continuation: in 1970, the journalist asked Mikhail Alexandrovich to write an article for “The New-York Times” about the work of E.Hemingway and the writer agreed. He characterized the works of the classic of the American literature as “an epoch in the history of the world literature.”

Tatiyana Nektova