Критика как роман, или жердочка для попугая
Criticism as a Novel: a Parrot's Perch

Summary/Abstract: The article examines and compares two critical works by Julian Barnes (Flaubert's Parrot) and Pavel Basinsky (Leo Tolstoy: Flight from Paradise). The former was labeled a novel by the author himself, while the other one was labeled the same by the critics. Based on the comparative research method, the author of this article compares the ways both works reach out to the reader and argues their modernity and contemporary edging. Behind both books' texts stands a solid work performed by the critics as literary artists, as collectors of facts and all kinds of information about the French and the Russian authors. Yet, their books bear no resemblance to literary portraits a la André Maurois or Somerset Maugham. A literary portrait is a description of a man's destiny; it is often a prime example of everyday behavior. Literary and art criticism of Barnes and Basinsky is focused on certain episodes from the life of the writers in which the protagonist — the writer — is de-glorified, as compared to what is considered to be conventional; but their reputation is still solid to the point that it may not be blurred for an intelligent and reflective reader by any extra information obtained by a critic. In the works of the English and the Russian critics, routine comes across ethereal, and quotes of the protagonists may somehow be disreputable. The depth of thinking, completeness of knowledge, mild irony at times, comparison of literary approaches to the works convincingly demonstrate the way to spark the interest to reread the classics and the critics' books, who managed to create a new type of novel, the new novel.

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