For a long time Zybin has tried to live besides his epoch, not penetrating into the essence of events occurring around: arrests, public judicial processes and propagandistic hysteria.

An authentic European humanist, Zybin cannot accept the socially obscuring and making total savages of people.

Then the mind, conscience, goodness, humanity and everything that has been forged for thousands of years and was considered the goal of the existence of mankind, is worth nothing.

The old man Rodionov, an amateur archaeologist and a former partisan, confident in his services to the authorities, comes with his "discovery" – he demands to start excavations of the ancient capital in a place he will point out.

Accidentally, they meet a car on a night road that takes Zybin to the "lawyers", where it is explained to him that Potapov is an agent of German intelligence, and the story with the snake is a "cleverly conceived diversion".

At the same time, some workers bring a discovery to the museum – a handful of gold plaques, part of a treasure they found.

The case is conducted by department head Neumann, an experienced investigator and a clever man, and Kriputin, a rude specialist in knocking out the testimony.

He is taught by his cell mate, an old [Buddhism|Buddhist], that as it is impossible anyway to get out, it is more reasonable to confess to everything that is required – then the investigation will be easier, and the camp term will not be so long.

He has decided to prepare a large Moscow style show trial with an accusation of mass sabotage in the field of culture.

Kornilov sincerely tries to convince himself of innocent conversations with Kutorgu and he writes reports on their meetings in which he characterizes the interlocutor as a loyal citizen.

The reports are accepted with gratitude, but on his last visit to the NKVD Kornilov is taken to Colonel Gulyaev and the tone of the conversation changes dramatically.

At the same time there is one more circumstance: Polina Pototskaya, a longtime friend of Zybin and a bright woman, requests an appointment with the investigator Gulyaev.

Polina reports that there is another person with whom Zybin once had a confidential conversation: he is the head of the investigatory department of the Prosecutor's Office of the USSR, a famous author, Roman Stern.

From these doubts, Neumann comes out in a strange way: he replaces Kriputin with his young niece Tamara Dolidze – a novice, eager to work.

Zybin is shocked by the phenomenon of the beautiful Tamara, but then he feels compassion for the fool who is infatuated with the romanticism of the KGB work.

[2] Literary scholar Valentin Nepomniyashchy, characterizes Dombrovsky's prose in his notes: "His novels are the author himself.

According to the absolute realism of the narration, based solely on the common sense of iron logic and motivation, the complete absence of claims to the poetry, his prose is the machine with multiple details.

He writes his prose in this way - as if he does not create, namely, tells us how it was, and immediately explains everything necessary to be understood correctly, without playing with the reader in any artistic games.

[3]» Another Gulag writer Varlam Shalamov, who had been friends with Dombrovsky for some time, said about the "Guardian of Antiquities" that it was "the best book about the thirty-seventh year".

[5] The critic Igor Zolotussky, one of the first reviewers of the novel, noticed: "Yuri Dombrovsky makes it clear that the Christian idea is unthinkable without Christ, without his human behavior in conditions of cruelty and lawlessness.

[6] Critic I. Shtokman calls "The Faculty of Useless Knowledge" the "top of creativity" of the writer and draws attention to the fact that the architectonics of the novel "are exquisitely artistic with multiple levels of complexity... surprisingly well thought-out and complete.

[7] Critic E. Ermolin wrote: "Having read "The Faculty", I would say with a full measure of responsibility: this is the last great Russian novel in time (1975).

A third of the century passed without Yuri Dombrovsky, and his main novel is not just, as it is commonly said, retains lasting significance.