Comment by mopsi

> If you took the Soviet union to be a totalitarian society, we could name Mikhail Bulgakov, Stanislaw Lem, etc.

Bulgakov was driven into poverty, despair and early death at age 48 by relentless harassment by Soviet authorities. Many of his works, including the masterpiece, The Master and Margarita, didn't get published until decades after his death. He himself burned the first version of the manuscript, fearing execution if anyone found it. He later rewrote the manuscript from memory, coining the famous catchphrase "Manuscripts don't burn".

Harassment and censorship of talented writers was the standard and not exception. The USSR did not produce these works, but failed to fully suppress them. They were like flowers that kept penetrating the asphalt even under the most hostile conditions.