“...G. Slavutinsky does not rise above many of the previous common folk storytellers in terms of artistic talent, but is inferior to some of them. But his advantage lies elsewhere, namely in his very attitude to the subject he takes on. Here he has the peculiarity that he constantly speaks as an adult should talk to adults about a serious matter. He does not adapt to either the readers or the people, does not try, by applying our concepts, to soften the rough coloring of peasant life for us, and does not necessarily try to create ideal faces from simple everyday life...”