MARSHALL MACDUFFIE. The Red Carpet: 10,000 Miles Through Russia on a Visa from Khrushchev. Pp. xiv, 330. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1955. $4.50
| Author | George Denicke |
| Published date | 01 July 1955 |
| Date | 01 July 1955 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625530000165 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
168
good.
And
these
three
recognized
the
deep
need
of
each
for
the
other.
But,
despite
Herzen’s
statement
to
the
effect
that
&dquo;a
citizen
of
North
America&dquo;
is
al-
most
the
only
non-Russian
in
the
world
capable
of
understanding
the
Russian
people,
it
is
hard
to
see
how
the
North
American
can
ever
really
understand
(in
the
sense
of
sympathize
with,
as
is
meant
here)
a
race,
the
majority
of
whose
spokes-
men
from
Pogodin
down
through
the
Slavophils
and
ending
with
Stalin,
find
a
warlike
spirit
only
in
the
West,
and
in
Russia
only
gentleness,
goodness,
and
light.
How,
in
another
connection,
can
a
North
American
even
&dquo;understand&dquo;
a
race
which
does
not
believe
in
a
political
opposition
party?
Why
Professor
Kohn
lugged
in
Mickie-
wicz’,s
involved
and
diffuse
lament
from
the
Books
of
the Polish
Nation
it
is
hard
to
see,
but
Havlicek’s
contribution
is
of
great
value,
and
perhaps
the
best
answer
we
have
to
the
question
of
which
we
have
spoken.
This
is
why
the
West
does
not
love
Russia:
because
a
noble
and
poten-
tially
fruitful
idea,
that
of
Slav
reciprocity,
whenever
it
appears,
is
invariably
turned
to
evil
and
betrayed
by
being
transformed
into
an
instrument
of
Russian
imperialism.
It
is
the
same
with
other
schemes
of
co-
operation.
There
are
many
strident
voices
speaking
in
Professor
Kohn’s
volume.
From
know-
ing
Russians
personally,
and
finding
them
to
be
people
of
warm,
rich
natures,
good
and
bad
as
ourselves,
we
hope
the
strident
voices
are
not
the
true
echoes
of
&dquo;the
mind
of
modem
Russia.&dquo;
Yet
we
fear
that
if
these
are
what
the
Russian
people
are
listening
to,
and
that
if
they
listen
to
these
long
enough,
understanding
between
them
and
ourselves
will
grow
ever
less
and
less.
And
so
we
close
the
book
with
a
shudder.
No
light
has
been
shed.
Only
darkness.
ARTHUR
PRUDDEN
COLEMAN
Alliance
College
MARSHALL
MACDUFFIE.
The
Red
Carpet:
10,000
Miles
Through
Russia
on
a
Visa
from
Khrushchev.
Pp.
xiv,
330.
New
York:
W. W.
Norton
and
Company,
1955.
$4.50.
It
is
refreshing
to
read
this
volume
so
full
of
direct
unadulterated
observations
and
so
free
of
any
preconceived
judgments.
Marshall
MacDuffie
came
to
Russia
not
to
look
for
evidence
for or
against
any
theory,
but
with
the
desire
simply
to
see
as
much
as
possible.
And
he
succeeded
to
see
much
more
than
most
foreign
travelers.
Of
course,
he
did
not
see
all
he
wanted.
How-
ever,
he
was
wise
enough
not
to
be
de-
ceived
by
what
he
did
not
see.
He
writes
in
the
last
chapter
of
his
book:
&dquo;I
saw
no
signs
of
unrest
among
the
Soviet
people-
but
then
I
saw
chiefly
the
surface
of
life
in
Russia.
I’m
not
kidding
myself.
If
there
had
been
rebellion
brewing
all
around
me,
I
doubt
that
I
could
have
seen
it.&dquo;
And
he
adds:
&dquo;I
was
denied
a
chance
to
visit
Soviet
prisons
and
slave-labor
camps.
But
I
didn’t
have
to
see
oppression
to
know
it
was
there;
the
testimony
of
those
who
have
suffered
from
it
is
indisputable.&dquo;
To
register
exactly
what
he
saw
and
not
to
deny
what
he
did
not
see-this
approach
of
Mr.
MacDufhe
is
the
most
sound
for
one
who
was
able
to
see
only
the
surface
and
was
conscious
of
it.
And
it is
the
surest
guarantee
that
Mr.
MacDuffie
has
been
no
superficial
observer.
In
1946
Mr.
MacDuffie
spent
several
months
in
Russia,
mostly
in
Byelorussia
and
the
Ukraine
as
Chief
of
the
United
Na-
tions
Relief
and
Rehabilitation
Administra-
tion
mission.
He
saw
devastated
areas
of
the
country
just
arising
from
the
depths
of
their
misery.
In
the
fall
of
1953
he
saw
a
part, of
the
same
areas
already
fully
reconstructed.
Comparisons
with
past
im-
pressions
were
unavoidable.
The
change,
of
course,
was
tremendous.
But
it
did
not
make
the
author
uncritically
enthusiastic
for
the
achievements
of
the
regime
and
blind
to
the
dark
sides
of
the
picture-
as
far
as
they
could
be
seen
on
the
surface,
he
was
able
to
observe.
Speaking
about
Russian
homes
he
was
invited
or
allowed
to
visit,
Mr.
MacDufhe
makes
the
follow-
ing
remark:
&dquo;experts
who
have
analyzed
my
experience
believe ...
that
the
guides
who
escorted
me
had
general
permission
to
take
me
into
some
flats
and
knew
perfectly
well
that
those
they
were
showing
me
were
in
an
acceptable
show-place
area.
If
this
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