Philosophical and mystical novel "Pyramid" Leonov L. M. - history of creation, summary, reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Leonov's "Pyramid" is a landmark work in the author's work. Leonid Maksimovich wrote this book from 1940 to 1994. It was published in draft form in the year of the writer's death. The resulting philosophical and mystical novel consists of two volumes, the events unfold on more than one and a half thousand pages of printed text.

About the author

Leonid Leonov is a famous Soviet writer. He created a number of novels, short stories and plays, was awarded orders and medals, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize. The author began his creative activity at the age of 16, publishing essays, reviews and poems of his own composition in the newspaper where his father worked as an editor. At the age of 20, he voluntarily joined the Red Army, fought at the front, and at the same time managed to write articles under the pseudonym of Maxim Laptev.

Demobilized a year later, Leonov turned his talent into a professional activity. His first stories, and some subsequent works, were close in style to the works of Dostoevsky.

Leonid Maksimovich built his early books on the principles of realism, but, having taken up the Pyramid, he turned to symbolism and translated the narrative into an surreal layer of life.

History of Creation

Leonov's "Pyramid" has been in the making for over 40 years. Often published in the pre-war years, the writer began to publish new works less and less, devoting himself to work on the novel. Nevertheless, even for such a long period of time, the author failed to put the text in full order before publication. A draft version went to print, in which the relationship between the storylines of some characters was not finalized, a number of chapters were unsuccessfully arranged, monologues of the characters were drawn out, and even several important episodes were missing.

In the beginning of the "Pyramid" Leonov put a story from his own biography. The play "Snowstorm" written and staged by him did not please the leadership, and the author was afraid of arrest. These events begin the plot of the novel.

Further, when creating the book, the writer sought to show the scientific picture of the world in combination with the theological one, to demonstrate the factors of the development of civilization and the influence of mankind on historical events. At the same time, Leonov managed to reflect his own spiritual confusion, painful thoughts about the decline in the morality of mankind. This is clearly confirmed by the chapters in which a girl and an angel travel through alien worlds and observe the death of civilization almost everywhere.

Summary

"Pyramid" Leonov originates in 1940, the author acts asnarrator. He is awaiting arrest for writing and directing a disgraced play, subsequently banned by the authorities. Thinking that he is spending his last days in the wild, Leonid Leonov ends up on the outskirts of Moscow, where he wanders into the Staro-Fedoseevsky cemetery. There he witnesses a conversation between the young daughter of a priest, Dunya Loskutova, and an incorporeal spirit painted on a temple column.

By the will of Dunya's power of imagination or for other reasons, but the angel leaves the picture. Having turned into a tall and awkward man, he begins his journey on Earth. The purpose of his arrival is unknown, but he lives an almost human life, in particular, he takes the surname Dymkov and gets a job in a circus.

Julia Bambalski

Dymkov knew how to show miracles, for which he gained a certain popularity in the circus. The audience was so impressed by his performances that they did not even applaud him, being in amazement. People felt that these were not simple tricks, although Dymkov initially joined the troupe to avoid possible difficulties due to his unusualness.

Meanwhile, events were unfolding inside the circus. Dymkov met the daughter of the main artist of the troupe, Yulia. She was an attractive, even fatal woman who dreamed of making a career as an actress, but did not have such an opportunity due to the absolute lack of talent. Julia decided to seduce the angel into doing things that were beneficial to her, but he could not refuse her. In particular, the actress wanted to have her own palace,filled with replicas of every possible piece of art. Dymkov granted his wish and made it so that only the “initiates” could see the erected building.

Professor Shatanitsky

Meanwhile, rumors about miracles reached the ears of the militant atheist Professor Shatanitsky. He decided to teach all the heavenly powers a lesson and not let the angel back, moreover, make him lose all holiness. The author paints this hero as a messenger of the devil himself, and a struggle for human souls flares up between the two forces.

The professor tempts the characters, trying to influence Yulia, Dunya's father and even Stalin himself. He inspires a girl who desires an angel that people from the circle of the devil are much more interesting. They are strong-willed and purposeful and even more beautiful and muscular, according to Shatanitsky. After the professor's words, Julia realizes that she is also attracted to the dark side.

The former priest arranges a test for Shatanitsky, offering him to name God. But the professor cannot do this, and Father Matvey is convinced that before him is a demonic henchman, if not the devil himself. But soon the author introduces the reader to Loskutov's beliefs, and they turn out to be far from the ideas of Christians. The hero believes that God made a mistake by creating man as he is. He had to pay for it by dying on the cross. Therefore, Jesus was executed not for the sins of people, but for his own.

Stalin was seduced by many people like Shatanitsky. According to Leonov's "Pyramid", this is what led to a huge number ofsenseless and brutal murders.

Stalin

But temptations threaten not only ordinary people. In the philosophical and mystical novel by Leonid Leonov, they are also coming to the angel. The rumor about a circus worker performing real miracles reached the Kremlin, and did not go unnoticed by Stalin. The ruler invited Dymkov to his place and told him about his beliefs. It turned out that his thoughts largely agree with the opinion of Loskutov. Stalin considered mankind so imperfect that he predicted its imminent degeneration. Moreover, he was going to bring this moment closer and build a new, more perfect one on the bones of the old population.

Dymkov resisted the temptation to rebel against God, but he had to flee not only from Moscow, but from the planet in general. And despite the set trap, he succeeded.

A book within a book

There is another line in the plot of Leonov's Pyramid, the main character of which is Vadim Loskutov, Dunya's brother. He is a staunch communist and supporter of the socialist project in Russia. He gives all his strength to work on an essay about the construction of a pyramid by the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, which both then and now implicitly symbolizes the inequality of different segments of the population. Moreover, the work of the ancient slaves involved in the construction of a cultural monument correlates with the hard work of modern builders of socialism.

One of Vadim's goals is to veiledly warn Stalin that his cult will be debunked. The writer respects the ruler, but at the same timecondemns him for the desire inherent in the pharaohs to become equal to God on earth. In any case, the result is sad. The young communist, like the socialist utopia, is doomed and dies in the camp.

Allusions

The novel "Pyramid" depicts the struggle between good and evil, the opposition of Dymkov as the messenger of God, and Shatanitsky as the embodiment of the devil. The characters of other heroes also have prototypes. So, Stalin seems to have descended from the pages of Dostoevsky's parable "The Grand Inquisitor", and the image of Dunya goes back to the beloved of the Italian poet Alighieri Beatrice.

Even some of the areas where the events of Leonov's "Pyramid" unfold are similar to real-life objects. For example, according to the description of the Staro-Fedoseevsky cemetery, where Dunya met with Dymkov, it looks like Preobrazhenskoye.

Reviews from readers

Undoubtedly an interesting and powerful novel, many could not read due to the strong dilution of events with lengthy philosophical dialogues and digressions. Reviews of Leonov's "Pyramid" often say that the work is greatly stretched, and it could have been cut by two-thirds without damage. Some readers believe that the book gained popularity only because it was published in the year of the author's death.

At the same time, people who have read the work in its entirety give it high marks for the sharpness of the plot, the discussion of important issues and topics. After reading the full version of the novel, an understanding of its essence comes, the reader discovers the idea, and he can finally feel all the emotionality and intellectualityworks.

Critic reaction

In the year of its publication, Leonov's "Pyramid" was practically not discussed by critics, but later it became of interest to the literary world. Zakhar Prilepin saw in the book the efforts of evil to denigrate the good, which lead to success due to the naivety and good nature of the angel. The dark forces show all the meanness of human nature, destroying itself and even God's messengers.

A number of critics see a great resemblance to Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. The works begin at approximately the same time, but what is more remarkable is that the story is about characters from another world, for which both novels were once accused of glorifying Satanism.

Also to this day there are disputes about the title of the work. Some literary scholars believe that it would be more appropriate to call the novel "The Tower of Babel", bringing the story closer to the biblical one. But there are supporters of the opinion that the name has a broader meaning. This is not only a reference to the tombs of ancient peoples, but also a reminder that mysterious things happen inside these religious buildings - the properties of substances and the space itself change. Thus, the "Pyramid" is, as it were, a reference to supernatural phenomena occurring in the real world.

Disputes about the work are ongoing. Recently, critics have become interested in revealing the problems of Christian morality in the work of Leonov.