This essay discusses the reading of literature in the environment ofcensorship preceding the disbandment of the U.S.S.R. The Sovietauthority's mission was to forestall the collapse of the Communistregime by attempting to strengthen censorship and other repressivemeasures. The author considers censorship as a social system withpowerful control over information and reading, restricting the public'saccess to the world's various cultures. Some specific features of thecultural situation under censorship are emphasized: the high prestigeof literature, which was almost the only source of spiritual freedom;the creation of the black market for books as an alternative to theofficial book publishing and distribution system; the reproduction anddissemination of illegal literature and texts (samizdat). Theauthor explains the role of the spetskhran--a closed speciallibrary collection of forbidden literature. The author states thatbecause of censorship during thisperiod and the constant struggle against it, there is a huge impedimentto many areas of development caused by the energy spent by readers toovercome the prohibitions rather than create cultural treasures.