The novel “The Thief” by L. M. Leonov in the context of the development of new forms in narration, in the XXth century

L. M. Leonov anticipated a lot of “findings” of postmodernism in constructing the second edition of his novel “The Thief” around complex interrelations between the author and the reader. The author’s figure repeatedly reproduced via his several doubles is bereft of the power of ultimate authority. Thus the theme “The Creator and the creation” is placed in the center of “The Thief”, and not the social and political problems as the Soviet literary criticism stated.