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Literature reflects life in a more multifaceted and profound way, the brighter the creative individuals working in it - with rich life experience, with a penetrating ideological outlook, with a unique way of artistic perception and depiction. Without the creative self-image of individual authors, the artistic wealth of literature as a whole is unthinkable. Reality is infinitely diverse. It is, according to Dostoevsky, both unexpected and fantastic, and sometimes even incredible. (Russian Writers on Literary Work. Leningrad, 1955, vol. III, p. 151). It seems to me that these words are especially suitable for our contemporary reality, with the miraculous transformations that take place in it. And what a deep meaning, what beauty in this vital "fantasy" of ours. As long as the writer knows how to penetrate it.

P. Zarev's book "Style and Artistry" expresses that new spirit in Marxist aesthetics that has been felt over the last five or six years in the Soviet Union and in our country. Its characteristic features are a dislike for dogmatic Phraseology, an aspiration to overcome sociologism and epistemology, and an increased interest in the specific aspects of artistic depiction. In addition to clarifying general methodological positions, this new spirit also means emphasized attention to special aesthetic issues that will bring us closer to the intimate and unique in the poetic image. P. Zarev strives to follow the new trends not by theorizing on the basic principles, but by implementing them in more specific studies. In the pathos of the individual articles, we perceive a general concept that determines both the interests and conclusions of the author. And although it does not have a monographic character, although it is composed of individual articles, each of which arose on a specific occasion and treats an independent issue, the book is internally unified. From beginning to end, it is permeated by a characteristic aesthetic concept - the concept of the aesthetic wealth of literature. We constantly feel the conscious struggle against simplification and dogmatism, the desire to impress upon us a more precise artistic criterion. One may not agree with all the conclusions and solutions on the topics considered, one may even think that the author has not been able to fully fulfill the task set, this is a separate issue. However, there is no doubt that he has identified a correct and fruitful direction in the understanding and study of fiction and that in his efforts he has achieved a number of positive results. One cannot properly assess the book "Style and Artistry" if one does not penetrate its inner pathos, nor understand the fundamental meaning of the individual articles if one does not look at them in the light of this basic pathos. The main supporting points of the author's concept are two. The first emphasizes the aesthetic nature of artistic content, and the second - the subjective - creative nature of artistic reflection.