The Naked Year

Pilnyak was a leading and controversial writer of the 1920s. He became very popular after the publication of The Naked Year (1921), which deals with the Bolshevik Revolution and its impact on Russia. His subsequent career was marred by several scandals. A 1926 story, "The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon," presented the death of a high-ranking military leader in terms similar to the actual fate of the celebrated army commissar Frunze. All copies of the magazine carrying the story were confiscated. A more dangerous situation arose when the story "Mahogany" (1929) was published in Germany. A campaign of vilification forced Pilnyak from the All-Russian Union of Writers, of which he was chairman. During the 1930s, Pilnyak slowly faded from view. He was arrested during the purges and apparently was shot in 1937.

Pilnyak's great impact on literature came largely from his style. He created a literary language that combines epic solemnity with lyricism, draws on folklore, and freely creates complex, often striking or shocking, constructions. The attraction of such techniques was so strong that charges of "Pilnyakism" were leveled against many writers who followed in a similar vein. Pilnyak's works are very carefully crafted and express complex philosophical ideas.

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