VOICES IN THE SNOW

The author is the granddaughter of the famous writer Leonid Andreyev and on her maternal side, the descendant of generations of revolutionaries. What could be more natural than for this young offspring of Russian emigres to journey to the land of her roots for articles on writers for Paris Review. She does this amicably enough and comes up with some very articulate voices --Ehrenburg, Sholokov, Pasternak and Yevtushenko. Culled from this mission is the stuff of literary gossip -- (Yevtushenko ready to debate the merits of On the Road). Like the journey it reads quickly and is a testament to the journalist's perceptiveness. In accompaniment to the major ""voices"" she arranges a whole world of writers and painters who inhabit the intellectual Muscovite's life. Each of the big writers has a sufficient supply of trenchant comments on life and literature. What emerges is a picture of excitement and sensibility so acute as to overshadow the cold war. The author has the sense and good taste to let her subjects speak at will and without political confinements. A delightful reminiscence of some fairly delightful people.