The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev 1990
The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev 1990 Donated by A.S. Chernyaev to The National Security Archive Translated by Anna Melyakova Edited by Svetlana Savranskaya http://www.nsarchive.org Translation © The National Security Archive, 2010 The Diary of Anatoly S. Chernyaev, 1990 http://www.nsarchive.org January 1, 1990. To continue last year’s theme: around a month and a half ago, after yet another meeting with a foreign politician, M.S. [Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev] told me, then Shakhnazarov, then Yakovlev: “I have fulfilled my mission!” It is true. But I do not think that he will want to leave. It is more likely that he will have to become “president,” which will bring about another “pause”—people will be looking to see how he will take charge and manage things without the burden of Ligachev, the PB [Politburo], and the CC [Central Committee]. I re-read The History of Pugachev after coming back from the dacha (I was still under the spell of The Squire’s Daughter, which I found on my bed-side table). How simple things were back then! Words meant what they meant, moral norms were indubitable, the Motherland was always right, etc. That is why the language that Pushkin made to correspond with the norms of the time was so clear and simple. January 2, 1990. Glancing at my last diary entry, I realized that there was not a word about M.S.’ visit to Italy, nor the Pope, nor Malta. There is absolutely no time to write and, most importantly, I don’t know how to telegraphically summarize (like in Blok’s diaries!) the essence of my views on current events (although this method leaves a great deal unexplained).
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