“The Bowstring” continues the line of Shklovsky’s theoretical works, begun by his first book “The Resurrection of the Word” (1914). The book is written in the same genre, combining theoretical generalization with historical and literary research and artistic narration. “V. Shklovsky’s book “The Bowstring” is not just a new book on the theory of literature, but also a human document, a story about discoveries and doubts, about defeats and victories and new strivings forward. This is a book about the searches and insights of one of the oldest Soviet writers, whose soul is still young” (“Questions of Literature”, 1971, # 7, p. 182)