In response to Voznesensky's Case
(August 16, 1979)
To the Editors:
I cannot let Clive James' silurian words [NYR, August 16] about that brave and gifted man, Andrei Voznesensky, pass without protest. Mr. James is free to like or dislike Mr. Voznesensky's poetry (he seems from his words both to like and dislike it). But his aspersions on Mr. Voznesensky's moral courage seem to hail straight from the murky pages of Literaturnaya Gazetta. On reading James I was reminded only of a jackal leaping on the back of an antlered stag already heavily engaged in combat with a pack of wolves. Brave work, Mr. James!
Harrison Salisbury
Taconic, Connecticut