SOURCE: "Leonid Leonov: The Psychological Novelist," in Soviet Russian Literature: Writers and Problems 1917–1977, second revised edition, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp. 198-212.

A Russian-born American critic and educator, Slonim wrote extensively on Russian literature. In the following excerpt, he provides an overview of Leonov's works, focusing on psychological themes, and argues that Leonov placated official Soviet tastes to the detriment of his talents.

In introducing Leonov to the Soviet readers of the 'twenties Gorky called him a disciple of Dostoevsky. What made him say this was not any similarity of ideas—Leonov did not share the political and religious opinions of the master—but a similarity of approach to character and to plot structure. Like Dostoevsky, the young Soviet writer possessed an almost morbid curiosity about the complexities of mind and flesh, a bent for exploration of the unconscious, and an unfailing interest in hidden motivation and subterranean drives...