How “Cancer Ward” Was Published

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32382, 22 August 1970, Page 5

How “Cancer Ward” Was Published

Alexander Solzhenitsyn is thought by many to be the finest living Russian writer, and when his latest novel, “Cancer Ward,” was published in Britain last year it was hailed by some critics as a masterpiece. But it has never been published in Russia because of its uncompromising criticism of the ideology of Communism. How the novel reached England was a mystery for some time. Then it leaked out that the manuscript had been .

smuggled out of eastern Europe by a young Englishman, Alan Williams, himself an author. Williams was very modest about his exploit when he was interviewed in a 8.8. C. broadcast, but in fact the whole venture very nearly came to grief on several occasions. One incident occurred at the border check point, and might have been funny if it had not been so dangerous. Williams knew that manuscripts are the most sus-

picious things one can carry out of a Communist country, and he knew that if his suitcases were opened it would be seen. So as he approached the check point he took the manuscript from his case and slipped it on to his knee underneath a map. “But, typically, the 700 pages were not stapled or in a folder, they were loose,” he recounted. “As we were driving over the minefield between the frontier posts, the manuscripts started to blow about inside the car. I thought, Oh God, we’re going to have the whole of ‘Cancer Ward’ strewn across this minefield, with the two of us picking up the pages. But in fact we got it under control underneath the map again, and all was well.” It was quite an intimidating venture, and the millions of readers all over the English-speaking world who have read “Cancer Ward” will feel grateful to Williams for playing the prime part in its publication. |