One Chilly Siberian Morning

In the early 1960s Douglas Botting and a colleague spent 4 months in the USSR. Unlike many similar visitors from the UK (or the USA), Botting and John Bayliss spent the majority of their time off the beaten track - away from the principal cities.

A discussion in Irkutsk with Yuri, a press officer at a local television station (p167)

“You see,” said Yuri, waving his hand towards the window, “a writer must not shun social criticism where it is due - so long as it is fair. We are not perfect but we try to be better, work harder, contribute more. [...] That is what we build our faith on - on progress, on the future. A writer, you must understand, should write about what Man might be, not about what he is.” [...]If I ever write again, I thought, I shall write about what Man is and not what I am told he might be or ought to be. If I ever write about this journey through the Soviet Union I shall write about what the Soviet Union is as I see it not what it might or ought to be.