History Literature / ThePicture

* KnightInSoreArmors. Losev is probably that though at times he definitely acts as the {{Determinator}}

* KnightInSoreArmor. Losev is probably that though at times he definitely acts as the {{Determinator}}

* DecliningPromotion: Losev does it severa;l timmes when Figurovsky offers him high positions.

* HellSeeker: Ilya Samsonovich, a clergyman whom Losev and Tuchkova once meet in church, devised a very odd theology. He believes that the righteous men should be sent to hell to be tormented in the afterlife. That would make their good deed actually worthwhile. In the standard case it should be implied that they remain righteous only to enter the heaven and to live in eternal bliss. If Ilya Samsonovich's ideas are followed by God, the righteous men will do good out of internal goodness only despite their dismal fate in the afterlife. Thus he seeks hell for mmany others - righteous persons.

* SpiritualSuccessor. Losev believes he is the one to Zhmurin, the mayor of Lykov in the Tsarist times. Zhmurin tried to improve the urban conditions in Lykov and although he is semi-forgotten, certains denizens (Polivanov and Anisimov) still remember somme of his deeds for the town. The legacy of Zhmurin among other things inspires Losev to try and save the building presented on the titular landscape.

* MacGuffinTitle: Played with. The novel is named after the artifact, the picture which satisfies the definition of the plot. However the picture is indeed significant so it cannot be regarded as MacGuffin in the strict sense.

* BatmanGambit: Losev uses it in his bureaucratic kungfu. Once when a house is about to be demolished, Constanitin Anisimov tries to prevent it even hitting a much stronger demolition man and protecting the willow (to be sawed off before the demolition of the building). He claims the mayor Losev's support for his actions. Later when Losev arrives and does not confirm what Anisimov has said the fight starts again. The demolition man hits Constantin and while the militia chief wants to stop the fight the mayor prevents him from doing it. So the demolition man punches Constantin once more and knocks him off. Then Losev orderes to arrest them both and both are sentenced to 15 days in jail as both are offenders now (Constantin for the obstruction of the work of the demolition brigade of which him was guilty once he started the brawl). Soon the demolition man is released on condition to leave Lykov immediately, Constantin is freed too. The ruse wins several days for a cause, that is, until another brigade will be sent in. Somehow Constantin is not too content and might not even see the game of Losev. Still the willow and the house are saved for the day.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: That's how Losev thinks once about his relation with Arkady Matveevich, Losev being a taker. The latter is not upset though.

* InsaneTrollLogic: That of Ilya Samsonovich who wants the righteous men to end up in hell after death. In that way one is sure that their pious actions do not result from self-interest. Tatiana Tuchkova finds his ideas interesting but wrong.

* MoralityPet: zigzagged with Tuchkova for Losev. While Tuchkova is a morally straight woman who is all for the preservation of the historic buildinbg and always tries to influence the mayor, later her lover, in that direction, she is not the crucial influence on him. Losev is powerful but not evil at all and eager to save the house himself. Still she supports his determination.

* TranquilFury: Lyubov' Vadimovna ro Losev as he cannot provide her with the salary increase.

* VillainousBreakdown: Or, at least the anti-villanous breakdown for the terminally ill Polivanov, when he is called out by Losev for his sordid past. He makes several seedy confession and after that scene both Constantin Anisimov and Tatiana Tuchkova abandon him in disdain.

* ShoutOut: Many historical figues are mentions. Tuchkova for one recites an erotic poem of Bunin.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Lisa Kislykh who in 1947 has recently celebrated her 50th anniversary in Paris confesses in the letter to Astakhov that she is actually several years older than that. Of course as she is a former beauty no-one would guess. Astakhov remained in the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain and cannot spill this information to anyone in France so Mrs Kislykh's secret is safe with him.

* DoubleTake: The key trope for this novel as this is exactly how Losev finds the picture at the exposition in Moscow. He is mostly apathetic, visiting the venue because it is accepted that an official while on mission should "pick up some culture". Also it is raining outside. Losev walks the gallery not paying much attention to the items then something catches his intetest but he automatically proceeds further. Several instants after he returns and sees the picture featuring the landscape which is all-too-known for him.

* HiddenDepths Losev has two assistants, Morshikhin and Zhuravlev. The former is an opportunistic but effecient careerist. The latter is plain and obedient and seemingly lacks ambition. Then in one conversation Zhuravlev reveals that he actually has his own understanding of all things and sees people through including his boss Losev. Then Losev invokes this trope in his thoughts. [[spoiler: In the end, of course, Morshikhin still replaces Losev as the mayor of Lykov.]]

* RedOniBlueOni: Losev's assistants Morshikhin and Zhuravlev.

** [[spoiler: In the end Losev is replaced by Morshikhin rather than Zruravlyov because the latter is seen as lacking of ambition. It is implied that Morshikhin is an extreme opportunist also he on the decisive day acts somewhat disloyal to Losev, his chief. Still he is ambitious and effecient, perhaps the latter partly because of the former.]]

* HiddenDepths Losev has two assistants, Morshikhin and Zruravlev. The former is an opportunistic but effecient careerist. The latter is plain and obedient and seemingly lacks ambition. Then in one conversation Zhuravlev reveals that he actually has his own understanding of all things and sees people through including his boss Losev. Then Losev invokes this trope in his thoughts. [[spoiler: In the end, of course, Morshikhin still replaces Losev as the mayor of Lykov.]]

* RedOniBlueOni: Losev's assistants Morshikhin and Zruravlyov.

* SpecialPersonNormalName: Names Losev, Tuchkova, Pashkov, Uvarov, Zhmurkin are all very ordinary-sounding in Russian. Morshikhin and Zruravlyov less plain but still nothing posh.

* NotSoDifferent: Losev is drinking with his mentor Arkady Matveevich when another bureaucrat, Sechikhin, approaches them and, treating Arkady Matveevich with sheer condescendance, asks him when his article will be ready. Turns out than Arkady Matveevich, the intellectual, writes materials for various less refined officials for money, providing them with high concepts. Losev calls out Sechikhin but later realises that he actually exploits the intellect of Arkady Matveevich too. Of course he always treats him with utter respect in their conversations. Hoewever he remembers the saying of the ancient Chinese that "reverence comes with the loss of justice". Thus he might also use Arkady Matveevich like Sechikhin and reproduces this trope. Actually Arkady Matveevich never objects to that.

** Figurovsky is a high-ranking bureaucrat who once notices him in the course of the inspection in the city and later mentors him thoughout his life.

* UltimateAuthorityMayor: Subverted. Although Losev is quite powerful in his city Lykov he is definitely not the one. He is a subordinate of Uvarov and is generally bound to work within the hierarchy thwarting its decisions within its framework. He is a man of system.

* HiddenDepths Losev has two assistants, Morshikhin and Zruravlyov. The former is an opportunistic but effecient careerist. The latter is plain and obedient and seemingly lacks ambition. Then in one conversation Zhuravluyov reveals that he actually has his own understanding of all things and sees people through including his boss Losev. Then Losev invokes this trope in his thoughts. [[spoiler: In the end, of course, Morshikhin still replaces Losev as the mayor of Lykov.]]

** Lyubov' Vadimovna in pareticular is the quiet one like most the intellectuals as per Losev. They can only sent you [[DeathGlare death glares]] in reproach but rarely say anything even less make a scandal.

* BewareTheQuietOnes: Decisively averted as per the trope-savvy Losev who as a mayor receives many requests and demands. He always seeks to first satisfy the needs of the people who are able to make a fuss. While the ones who are too gentle to start a row can wait for obvoious reason. Thus people less deserving of goods can receive it before more deserving.

* BeautifulAllAlong: In the beginning it is not said very much about the appearance of Tuchkova apart from her big glasses. She is rather deemed to be plain, However once the romance between her and Losev starts he suddenly notices the tope.

** [[spoiler: In the end Losev is replaced by Morshikhin rather than Zruravlyov because the latter is seen as lacking of ambition. It is implied that Morshikin is an extreme opportunist also he on the decisive day acts somewhat disloyal to Losev, his chief. Still he is ambitious and effecient, perhaps the latter partly because of the former.]]

However very soon it turns out that the house depicted in the landscape is going to be demolished and a certian industrial installment (a production uint of the computer-manufacturing firm) is planned to be erected on its place. Losev, becoming aware that his rather non-descript Lykov has a unique chance to become famous because of a combination of the picture and the landscape it shows including the house, starts to intrigue in burocratic spheres to manoeuver the upper echelons into dropping the plans to demolish the old architectural monument transferring the filial to the other location in Lykov. His manipulations at times find support with several local activists (while the bulk of Lykov's population is pretty apathetic), at times those activists do not see through his cunning manipulations and resent him believing that he is actually for demolishing of the ancient building. The fate of the building and the nearby willow also in the painting remains suspended.

The book's protagonist, Sergey Losev, is a mayor of the small provincial town, Lykov, in the Soviet 70's. While on business trip in Moscow he visits an art exposition where he by pure chance through a DoubleTake notices a landscape named "By the River" which reminds him of a certain view in Lykov. Later it turns out that an artist, Astakhov, indeed once lived in the town and painted that landscape at that very place. After the exposition is over he visits the widow of the now deceased painter and convinces her to pass the picture over to the town of Lykov. The painting arrives in the town and is placed in the school biology classroom because the view from its window is very similar to the landscape.

However very soon it turns out that the house depicted in the lanscape is going to be demolished and a certian industrial installment (a production uint of the computer-manufacturing firm) is planned to be erected on its place. Losev, becoming aware that his rather non-descript Lykov has a unique chance to become famous because of a combination of the picture and the landscape it shows including the house, starts to intrigue in burocratic spheres to manoeuver the upper echelons into dropping the plans to demolish the old architectural monument transferring the filial to the other location in Lykov. His manipulations at times find support with several local activists (while the bulk of Lykov's population is pretty apathetic), at times those activists do not see through his cunning manipulations and resent him believing that he is actually for demolishing of the ancient building. The fate of the building and the nearby willow also in the painting remains suspended.

* TheProtahgonist: Losev from whose POV are narrated all events [[spoiler: except for the last chapter told from the POV of Badin where it remains unclear what happened to him.]]

* CallBack: An interesting case of probably the callfoward: the lover of Losev's wife is insistently referred to as "zubr" (or European bizon) in this 1979 novel. Later in 1987 Granin wrote an acclaimed novel "The Bizon" (also "Zubr" in Russian). Might be this trope or not as the bizon in this novel is a sleazy adulterer while in the later novel the titular character is a very acclaimed scientist. Still the use of the word "bizon" is very tempting for such conclusions.

* SocialistRealism: That's what a much younger Polivanov in 30's demanded from thу painter Astakhov. The latter had as per Polivanov to picture things in his paintings in the correct way. Red flags, workers eager to build the communism etc. Astakhov of course was not keen on the trope at all, he was a modernist.

* SwitchingPOV: The epilogue is told from the POV of Badin, an art expert who is present at the visit of Losev with Olga Serafimovna in her appartiment in the beginning of the story but never appears after that until the epilogue.

* ForTheEvulz: An apparent motivation for the Pashkov's insistence to wreck the historic house. It does help that he resents his native town even though he is depiced as a bully rather than a bullied during his childhood.

* CorruptBureaucrat: Averted. All officials in this book never use their status for personal enrichment for bribes. It is not implied even for Pashkov.

* DeathGlare: The manager of the Lykov local library Lyubov' Vadimovna gives Losev the one while washing her clothes at the river. Because he cannot secure her a salary rise which she desperately needs. Losev later goes on for some time with internal monologue reasoning about the politics behind satisfying the requests of various people and ignoring the others.

* DeadpanSnarker: Anisimov to the militia chief Nikolai Nikitich in response to his TheReasonYouSuckSpeach.

* DeadPanSnarker: Anisimov to the militia chief Nikolai Nikitich in response to his TheReasonYouSuckSpeach.

* NotSoDifferent: Losev is drinking with his mentor Arkady Matveevich when another bureaucrat, Sechikhin, approaches them and, treating Arkady Matveevich with sheer condescendance, asks him when his article will be ready. Turns out than Arkady Matveevich, the intellectual, writes materials for various less refined officials for money, providing them with high concepts. Luykov calls out Sechikhin but later realises that he actually exploits the intellect of Arkady Matveevich too. Of course he always treats him with utter respect in their conversations. Hoewever he remembers the saying of the ancient Chinese that "reverence comes with the loss of justice". Thus he might also use Arkady Matveevich like Sechikhin and reproduces this trope. Actually Arkady Matveevich never objects to that.