[1][2] Composed of brief episodes set in its author's birthplace at the time of the 1905 Revolution, it tells the story of two peasant brothers, one a brute drunk, the other a gentler, more sympathetic character.

Bunin's realistic portrayal of the country life jarred with the idealized picture of "unspoiled" peasants which was common for the mainstream Russian literature, and featured the characters deemed 'offensive' by many, which were "so far below the average in terms of intelligence as to be scarcely human.

On August 20, 1910 Bunin informed Gorky in a letter: In Moscow I was working for 15 hours a day, fearing that even a minute's pause might dampen down this electric lamp inside me and again deep sorrow which I've been fighting with by means of hard writing, will crash me down again.

This second part was tried out at a public recital event at the Moscow Sreda (Wednesday) literary circle on September 19, where, according to Nash Zhurnal magazine, "the audience was deeply impressed.

[8] In October, 1909, Birzhevye Vedomosty newspaper's literary critic predicted that "This new thing, ideologically very explicit, will cause controversy and stir up both the left and the right.

"Who could have thought that this refined poet... [singer] of all things exotic and 'otherworldly'... would create such an ultra-real, Earth-smelling piece of truly rough literature", Vatslav Vorovsky wrote.

"[11] "Poignant hopelessness is what this gloomy tapestry emanates; pessimism and even negativity is what is felt in every stroke of the painter's brush", wrote an Odessky Novosty critic (signed N.G.)

Boris Zaitsev remembered that even after having been given the Nobel Prize, Bunin continued to re-write parts of Деревня, expressing dissatisfaction with his own work in rather strong terms.

[10] According to Tvardovsky, Bunin shared his character Balashkins's views on rural Russia's degradation as fatal in terms of the country's future history.