A summary of Alexander Voronsky’s "Literary Silhouettes"

This book is a collection of critical essays written between 1922 and 1925. The author offers a profound and unbiased analysis of the work of his contemporaries, seeking to understand the writer’s place in a transformative era. The text serves as an early attempt to objectively assess the literary process of the first post-revolutionary years, devoting equal attention to proletarian authors, so-called "fellow travelers," and writers who found themselves in opposition to the new order.

Boris Pilnyak

Voronsky begins his analysis with the works of Boris Pilnyak, particularly the short story "Over the Ravine," the novel "The Naked Year," and other texts. The critic sees Pilnyak’s work as a reflection of the elemental, animalistic, instinctive nature of human life. The writer’s characters, like the bear Makar or the hunter Demid from the short story "The Year of Their Lives," are closely connected to the remote taiga and ancient instincts. The author notes that Pilnyak perceives the revolution as a spontaneous, peasant revolt, devoid of any organizing principle.

The writer paints provincial Russia during the Civil War in broad strokes, creating scenes unified by a common style and the spirit of the times, rather than a strict plot. The peasant Ivan Koloturov, settling in the prince’s house, begins to yearn for the old way of life, while the noble Rostovs rot and wither, uprooted. Pilnyak portrays nature as a foremother — violent, cruel, merciless, and devoid of gentle tones. A critic accuses the author of excessive biologism, but acknowledges his undeniable natural talent.

Vsevolod Ivanov

The second essay is dedicated to Vsevolod Ivanov, whose great, robust, and joyful talent the author highly values. Coming from a working-class, lower-class background in Rus’, Ivanov unconditionally embraced Soviet Russia. His life’s journey is impressive: in the past, he was a typesetter, a sailor, a fakir clown, a wrestler, and, during the Civil War, a Red Army soldier and participant in communist conspiracies. Voronsky emphasizes that the young writer writes about recent events simply, truthfully, and comprehensively.

Unlike many doubting writers, Ivanov doesn’t look around and isn’t afraid to appear overly committed to Bolshevism. At the same time, he avoids watered-down propaganda where citizens merely mindlessly glorify the authorities. Ivanov’s heroes are wanderers, partisans, Red Army soldiers, and peasants who emerge as genuine builders of a new life, no longer merely rebels seeking rebellion. The author of the essay sees Ivanov as a continuer of the traditions of Maxim Gorky, operating in new historical conditions.

Evgeny Zamyatin

Analyzing the work of Yevgeny Zamyatin, Voronsky cites him as an example of how intelligence and talent prove insufficient when contact with the era is lost. The critic recalls Zamyatin’s pre-revolutionary novella "The Provincial," praising its artistic merits, masterful writing, and vivid depiction of provincial life with its sleepy philistines and cozy insanity. The peaceful existence of the provincial is embodied in the vibrant figure of Anfim Baryba.

Baryba’s heavy, square body and his bestial soul are focused solely on satisfying base instincts: eating well and getting a good night’s sleep. Baryba symbolizes the very essence of the provincial world — gluttonous, stupid, and cruel, ready to destroy a friend for the sake of a career. However, in his post-revolutionary work, Zamyatin, according to the critic, became a detached "tourist" or a random passenger on a ship, looking with hostility at modernity. The author accuses the writer of being out of touch with real life and failing to understand the creative pathos of change.

Sergei Yesenin

In his essay on Sergei Yesenin, Voronsky notes that the poet entered Russian literature as a singer of rural Rus’. The place of love lyrics in his early work is taken over by his homeland, with its quiet dawns, autumnal melancholy, rowan trees, and blue skies. The critic describes Yesenin’s Rus’ as drowsy, pious, stagnant, and meek. The poet approaches rural life exclusively from an idyllic perspective, leaving out the hard labor of rural labor and the social anger accumulated over centuries.

At the same time, Yesenin’s poems are filled with "ineffable animality": clouds tear against the sun’s ploughshare, stars resemble nipples, and the sky resembles a cow after calving. Voronsky expresses grave concern about Yesenin’s future path, noting the emergence of oppressive motifs in the book "Moscow Tavern." He warns that the poet’s inner disintegration and elements of ideological decay could lead to the demise of his powerful talent. The critic asks the bitter question: will Yesenin enter the new era only as the author of tavern poems?

Demyan Bedny

The cycle concludes with an analysis of the work of Demyan Bedny. Voronsky emphasizes the workers’ and peasants’ character of the revolution and the complexity of the alliance between the proletariat and the peasantry, which possesses a dual nature — owner and worker. The Russian revolution, according to the critic, has a unique face: its working-class visage clearly reveals traces of peasantry, and it smells of a mixture of machine oil, wormwood, and hay. Demyan Bedny emerges here as a poet whose work is inextricably linked to this historical task.

Bedny’s fables, songs, and ditties gained immense popularity in the trenches, factories, and remote villages. The author keenly grasped this peasant aspect of revolutionary change, while other poets sang only of cold metal and concrete. Voronsky notes the incredible political acuity of Bedny’s poetry, although he acknowledges that the advent of the New Economic Policy (NEP) required the poet to take a breather and search for fresh themes. Nevertheless, Demyan’s militant, precise work remains urgently needed.