Raymond Sheppard and Reynold's News and Sunday Citizen (Part Two)

Lopatkin, amateur inventor - Drawn by Raymond Sheppard

In my previous article on Reynold's News I covered some of the history of the paper. This time I want to highlight a book that was reproduced in six parts in the weekly newspaper, and illustrated by Raymond Sheppard... Not by bread alone (Trans. Dr. Edith Bone. New York: E. P. Dutton 1957; London: Hutchinson) written by the Ukrainian-born Dudintsev. The Times carried a review in 1956 under the title "Little Stalins" criticised in new Russian novel

Vladimir Dudintsev (July 29, 1918 - July 23, 1998)
From Wikipedia

The episodes in Reynold's News ran from Sunday 6 October 1957 to 10 November 1957 on pages 2 and 3 (except for the last two where it was relegated to pages 8 and 9). Sheppard's cameos of the three lead characters were reproduced throughout in the catch-up summary of the story each week - examples below

Reynold's News 1957 Oct 27 p2

The excellent SovietLit site has a précis of the book and a very short summary is:

An inventor named Lopatkin struggles against entrenched bureaucracy and self-servers in an attempt to help the Soviet pipe industry. He wins his personal battle, but the "invisible empire" of the bureaucracy remains intact and Lopatkin knows that a long struggle still lies ahead.

A contemporary reviewer (*1) says of the lead character: Lopatkin has some slightly crankish features, as inventors frequently have; he commands our sympathy by his honesty and devotion and by comparison  with the very  different character of his opponents.

The furore around the book happened in the Soviet bloc and in the West where both polar extremes grabbed the bits they wanted for propaganda purposes. Another reviewer (*2) from 1958 this time:

SovietLit:

This dismayed Dudintsev, making him feel "as though my novel, a peaceable ship in foreign waters, had been seized by pirates and was flying the skull and crossbones." He did not deny portraying negative aspects of Soviet society, but he said: We speak boldly and honestly about our deficiencies and our difficulties, because they are the birth pangs of a new world in which there is no injustice, a world the principals of which are being confirmed and marching to victory in my country."

Our Correspondent. "Foreign Publication Of Novel."
Times [London, England] 30 Mar. 1957 p.5.

The first double page spread
showing Lopatkin, Drozdov – the tough boss of the factory
 and Nadia- beautiful second wife of Drzdov

Reynold's News 1957 Nov 3 p8

Due to the nature of my photocopies I shall show them below with the original photos I took of Christine Sheppard's cuttings of her Father's work.

Reynold's News 1957 Oct 13 p2

Reynold's News 1957 Oct 13 p3

Christine's cutting of the above
'Poor fellow, he is a failure...Everyone is attacking him...'
Seven women talking in an office with a sofa and bookcase in background – Russian man enters

Reynold's News 1957 Oct 20 p3

Christine's cutting of the above
'Suddenly he felt like a teacher again'
Six men sit and listen, a woman takes notes as a teacher points to the board

Reynold's News 1957 Oct 27 p3

Christine's cutting of the above
'Lopatkin averted his eyes from the brief-case and said “We shall not accept anything more from you!”Man in check shirt and striped trousers in foreground and woman closes briefcase and older bearded man behind smokes

Reynold's News 1957 Nov 3 p8

Christine's cutting of the above
'Yes, he has been arrested!'Man behind desk points at woman

Reynold's News 1957 Nov 10 p8

Christine's cutting of the above
'After the first seconds Nadia gained self-control...'
Woman in striped dress hugs man in uniform

Nadia

In his obituary in the Times it was said:
"[Dudintsev] will rank in the history of Soviet literature as one of the central figures of a literary movement that took shape during the three years after Stalin's death in 1953and which was quickly branded 'revisionist' by the Communist Party - and even partly blamed for what happened in Hungary and Poland in the autumn of 1956."

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*1 'R.S.', Two Literary Treatments of Pressing Social Problems Soviet Studies, Vol. 8, No. 4 (Apr., 1957), pp. 437-449 

*2 Sidney Monas The Private Muse: Some Notes on Recent Russian Literature The Hudson Review, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Spring, 1958), pp. 101-109 

Read more:
Our Moscow Correspondent. "Trails Of A Lone Inventor."  Times [London, England] 10 Dec. 1956: Page 11
"Russian Novelist's Complaint." Times [London, England] 7 May 1957: Page 12
Obituary: "Vladimir Dudintsev." Times [London, England] 17 Aug. 1998: Page 23