> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://theparnassian.com/en/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Dovlatov has a recollection of the remarkable Soviet translator Rita Rait-Kovaleva, who was the first to translate into Russian many classics of American, German and other literatures
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/u-dovlatova-est-vospominanie-o-zamechatelnoi-sovetskoi-perevodchitse-rite-rait-kovalevoi-kotoraia-vpervye-perevela-na-russkii-iazyk-mnogikh-klassikov-amerikanskoi-nemetskoi-i-drugikh-li/
- Published: 2023-01-05T11:10:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T09:24:53.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, People, Humour

*I was once Vera Panova's secretary. One day Vera Fyodorovna asked:* 
*"Whose Russian, in your opinion, is the best?"* 
*I suppose I ought to have answered: yours. But I said:* 
*"Rita Kovaleva's."* 
*"Which Kovaleva?"* 
*"Rait."* 
*"The Faulkner translator, you mean?"* 
*"Faulkner, Salinger, Vonnegut."* 
*"So Vonnegut sounds better in Russian than Fedin?"* 
*"Without the slightest doubt."* 
*Panova thought it over and said:* 
*"How frightening!.."*

*Incidentally, if I am not mistaken, something of the same sort happened to Gore Vidal. He was in Moscow. Muscovites began questioning their guest about Vonnegut. They were full of admiration for his novels. Gore Vidal remarked:*

*"Kurt's novels lose terribly in the original..."*