Hungary in perspective
Sir: It's a shame that Tim Garton Ash's article on Hungary (6 October) should have dwelt so relentlessly on the one aspect of life in that country which is so vulnerable to the critical thrusts of verbally sophisticated but morally irresponsible observers from the West. His almost obsessive preoccupation with Hungary's supposedly 'tame intellectuals' seems to have blinded him to those features of life which make Hungary the envy of other East European countries and for which these same 'tame intellectuals' — would not perhaps 'realistic' be a more accurate word? — may take considerable credit. One must assume that Mr Ash did actually visit Budapest, in spite of minor inaccuracies in the article which suggest the contrary — for instance, the confusion of the Lukfics baths with the Szechenyi baths. Why, then, does he perversely ignore the obvious — the relative affluence, the cheap and well-stocked bookshops (and I don't mean with just the classics of Marxism-Leninism), the relaxed and tolerant attitude of the peo pie, and the fact that ordinary Hungarian citizens can and do travel to the West and return, etc? One can only assume because this would have diverted him from his self-appointed role as scourge of all who fall below his own truly heroic standards of moral rectitude and might ultimately have interfered with what turns out to be a facile and tendentious analysis. One almost suspects him of prejudice!
It is more than just a shame that he chooses Ivan Boldizsar as the target of his attack. Indeed, it is grossly unfair to malign a man who, by the very nature of his position, is unable to defend himself against such a vindictive onslaught. I worked at the New Hungarian Quarterly for a year and came to regard its editor as a man who in his personal and professional life embodies the values . of humanity and practical reason one would expect or, at least, hope to be recognised and understood by commentators who would themselves profess to hold such values dear.
J.S. Payne 11 Canaan Lane, Edinburgh
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