Early stories are a bittersweet list. Gorky's early romantic works

Gorky's early work strikes, first of all, with its artistic diversity, unusual for a young writer, and the bold confidence with which he creates works of different colors and poetic intonation. The enormous talent of the artist of the rising class - the proletariat, drawing mighty strength from the "movement of the masses themselves" was revealed already at first literary work Maxim Gorky.
Speaking as the herald of the coming storm, Gorky fell into the tone of the public mood. In 1920, he wrote: "I began my work as a rouser of revolutionary mood, glorifying the madness of the brave." Exam questions and answers. Literature. 9 and 11 graduation classes. Tutorial. - M.: AST-PRESS, 2000. - P.214. This applies, first of all, to Gorky's early romantic works. In the 1890s he wrote the stories "Makar Chudra", "Old Woman Izergil", "Khan and his son", "Mute", "Return of the Normans from England", "Blindness of Love", fairy tales "The Girl and Death", "About the Little Fairy and the Young Shepherd ”, “The Song of the Falcon”, “The Song of the Petrel”, “The Legend of Marko”, etc. All of them differ in one feature that can be defined in the words of L. Andreev: “the taste of freedom, something free, wide, bold”. Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Publicism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "Firm" publishing house "AST", 1999. - P.614. In all sounds the motive of rejection of reality, confrontation with fate, a daring challenge to the elements. In the center of these works is the figure of a strong, proud, courageous person who does not submit to anyone, unbending. And all these works, like living gems, shimmer with unprecedented colors, spreading a romantic glow around.

The story "Makar Chudra" - the statement of the ideal of personal freedom
In the center of the early works of Maxim Gorky are exceptional characters, strong in spirit and proud people who, according to the author, have "the sun in their blood." This metaphor gives rise to a number of images close to it, associated with the motif of fire, sparks, flames, torches. These heroes have burning hearts. This feature is characteristic not only of Danko, but also of the characters in Gorky's first story, Makar Chudra. Rogover E.S. Russian literature of the twentieth century. To help school graduates and applicants: Textbook. - St. Petersburg: "Parity", 2002. - P.131.
To the thoughtful melody of the splashing of the oncoming waves, the old gypsy Makar Chudra begins his story. From the very first lines, the reader is gripped by a feeling of the unusual: the boundless steppe on the left and the endless sea on the right, the old gypsy lying in a beautiful strong pose, the rustle of coastal bushes - all this sets one up to talk about something secret, the most important. Makar Chudra slowly talks about the vocation of man and his role on earth. “A person is a slave, as soon as he was born, a slave all his life and that's it,” says Makar. Gorky M. Prose. Dramaturgy. Publicism. - M.: Olimp; LLC "Firm" publishing house "AST", 1999. - P.18. And he opposes this with his own: “A person is born to find out what the will is, the expanse of the steppe, to hear the voice of the sea wave”; "If you live - so kings over the whole earth."
This idea is illustrated by the legend about the love of Loiko Zobar and Rada, who did not become slaves of their feelings. Their images are exceptional and romanticized. Loiko Zobar has "eyes like bright stars are burning, and his smile is like a whole sun." Ibid., p.21. When he sits on a horse, it seems as if he was forged from one piece of iron along with the horse. Zobar's strength and beauty match his kindness. “You need his heart, he himself would tear it out of his chest and give it to you, if only you would feel good about it.” Ibid., p.20. To match the beauty Rada. Makar Chudra calls her an eagle. “You can’t say anything about her in words. Maybe her beauty could be played on the violin, and even to those who know this violin as their soul.”
The proud Rada for a long time rejected the feelings of Loiko Zobar, for the will was dearer to her than love. When she decided to become his wife, she set a condition that Loiko could not fulfill without humiliating himself. An unresolvable conflict leads to a tragic ending: the heroes die, but remain free, love and even life are sacrificed to the will. In this story, for the first time, a romantic image of a loving human heart arises: Loiko Zobar, who could tear the heart out of his chest for the happiness of his neighbor, checks whether the heart of his beloved is strong and plunges a knife into it. And the same knife, but already in the hands of a soldier Danila, strikes the heart of Zobar. Love and thirst for freedom turn out to be evil demons that destroy people's happiness. Together with Makar Chudra, the narrator admires the strength of the characters' character. And together with him he cannot answer the question that runs like a leitmotif through the whole story: how to make people happy and what happiness is.
In the story "Makar Chudra" two different understandings of happiness are formulated. The first is in the words of a "strict man": "Submit to God, and he will give you everything you ask." Ibid., p.18. This thesis is immediately debunked: it turns out that God did not give " strict person» even clothes to cover the naked body. The second thesis is proved by the fate of Loiko Zobar and Rada: the will dearer than life happiness is in freedom. The romantic worldview of the young Gorky goes back to Pushkin's famous words: "There is no happiness in the world, but there is peace and freedom ..."

The story "Old Woman Izergil" - awareness of a person's personality
On the seashore near Akkerman in Bessarabia, the author of the legend of the old woman, Izergil, is listening. Everything here is full of atmospheric love: men are “bronze, with lush black mustaches and thick curls to the shoulders”, women, “cheerful, flexible, with dark blue eyes, are also bronze.” The fantasy of the author and the night make them irresistibly beautiful. Nature is in harmony with the romantic mood of the author: the foliage sighs and whispers, the wind plays with the silky hair of women.
In contrast, the old woman Izergil is depicted: time bent her in half, a bony body, dull eyes, a creaky voice. Ruthless time takes away beauty and with it love. The old woman Izergil talks about her life, about her beloved: “Her voice crunched, as if the old woman spoke with bones.” Gorky leads the reader to the idea that love is not eternal, just as a person is not eternal. What remains in life forever? Gorky put two legends into the mouth of the old woman Izergil: about the son of an eagle, Lara, who considered himself the first on earth and wanted happiness only for himself, and about Danko, who gave his heart to people.
The images of Lara and Danko are in sharp contrast, although both of them are brave, strong and proud people. Lara lives according to the laws of the strong, to whom "everything is permitted." He kills the girl, as she did not submit to his will, and steps on her chest with his foot. Lara's cruelty is based on a sense of superiority of a strong personality over the crowd. Gorky debunks popular at the end of the XIX century. ideas of the German philosopher Nietzsche. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche argued that people are divided into strong (eagles) and weak (lambs), who are destined to be slaves. Nietzsche's apology for inequality, the idea of ​​the aristocratic superiority of the elect over all the rest were subsequently used in the ideology and practice of fascism. Spiridonova L.A. "I came into the world to disagree."
In the legend of Lara, Gorky shows that the Nietzschean, who professes the morality “everything is permitted to the strong,” is waiting for loneliness, which is worse than death. “The punishment for him is in himself,” says the wisest of people after Lara commits a crime. And Lara, doomed to eternal life and eternal wandering, turns into a black shadow, dried up by the sun and winds. Condemning the egoist who only takes from people without giving anything in return, the old woman Izergil says: “For everything that a person takes, he pays with himself, with his mind and strength, sometimes with his life.”
Danko pays with his life, performing a feat in the name of people's happiness. The blue sparks flaring up at night in the steppe are the sparks of his burning heart, which lit the way to freedom. The impenetrable forest, where giant trees stood like a stone wall, the greedy mouth of the swamp, strong and evil enemies gave birth to fear in people. Then Danko appeared: - “What will I do for people,” Danko shouted louder than thunder. And suddenly he tore his chest with his hands and tore out his heart from it and raised it high above his head. It burned as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun, and the whole forest fell silent, illuminated by this torch. great love to people, and the darkness was scattered from his light ... "
As we have seen, the poetic metaphor - "give your heart to your beloved" arose both in the story "Makar Chudra" and in the fairy tale about the little fairy. But here it turns into a detailed poetic image, interpreted literally. Gorky puts a new high meaning into the erased banal phrase, which for centuries accompanied a declaration of love: "give your hand and heart." Danko's living human heart has become a torch that illuminates the path to a new life for humanity. And although the “cautious person” nevertheless stepped on him with his foot, blue sparks in the steppe always remind people of Danko’s feat.
The meaning of the story "Old Woman Izergil" is determined by the phrase "In life there is always a place for exploits." The daredevil Danko, who “burned his heart for people and died without asking them for anything as a reward,” expresses Gorky’s innermost thought: the happiness and will of one person are unthinkable without the happiness and liberation of the people.

"Song of the Falcon" - a hymn to action in the name of freedom, light
“The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life,” Gorky claims in The Song of the Falcon. The main technique by which this thesis is affirmed is the dialogue of two different "truths", two worldviews, two contrasting images - the Falcon and the Uzh. The same technique was used by the writer in other stories. The free shepherd is the antipode of the blind Mole, the egoist Lara is opposed to the altruist Danko. In The Song of the Falcon, a hero and a tradesman appear before the reader. Smug Already convinced of the inviolability of the old order. In a dark gorge, he is fine: "warm and damp." The sky for him is an empty place, and the Falcon, who dreams of flying into the sky, is a real madman. With poisonous irony, Uzh claims that the beauty of flying is in the fall.
In the soul of the Falcon lives an insane thirst for freedom, light. By his death, he affirms the correctness of the feat in the name of freedom.
The death of the Falcon is at the same time the complete debunking of the "wise" Uzh. In the "Song of the Falcon" there is a direct echo with the legend of Danko: the blue sparks of a burning heart flare up in the darkness of the night, forever reminding people of Danko. The death of the Falcon also brings him immortality: “And drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and will ignite many brave hearts with an insane thirst for freedom, light!”
From work to work early work Gorky, the theme of heroism grows and crystallizes. Loiko Zobar, Rada, a little fairy commit crazy things in the name of love. Their actions are extraordinary, but this is not yet a feat. The Young-Girl, who comes into conflict with the Tsar, boldly conquers Fear, Fate, and Death ("The Young-Girl and Death"). Her courage is also the madness of the brave, although it is aimed at protecting personal happiness. Lara's courage and audacity lead to crime, for he, like Pushkin's Aleko, "only wants freedom for himself." And only Danko and Sokol by their death affirm the immortality of the feat. So the problem of the will and happiness of an individual fades into the background, giving way to the problem of happiness for all mankind. “The madness of the brave” brings moral satisfaction to the daredevils themselves: “I am going to burn as brightly as possible and illuminate the darkness of life more deeply. And death for me is my reward!” - Gorky Man declares. Spiridonova L.A. "I came into the world to disagree." Early romantic works Gorky was awakened by the consciousness of the inferiority of life, unfair and ugly, gave birth to a dream of heroes rebelling against the orders established by centuries.
The revolutionary-romantic idea determined and artistic originality Gorky's works: pathetic sublime style, romantic plot, fairy tale genre, legends, songs, allegories, conditionally symbolic background of the action. In Gorky's stories, it is easy to detect the exclusivity of characters, the setting of action, and language, characteristic of romanticism. But at the same time, there are features in them that are characteristic only of Gorky: a contrasting juxtaposition of the hero and the tradesman, the Man and the slave. The action of the work, as a rule, is organized around a dialogue of ideas, the romantic framing of the story creates a background against which the author's thought stands out prominently. Sometimes the landscape serves as such a frame - romantic description seas, steppes, thunderstorms. Sometimes - harmonious harmony of the sounds of the song. The significance of sound images in Gorky's romantic works cannot be overestimated: the violin melody sounds in the love story of Loiko Zobar and Rada, the whistle of the free wind and the breath of a thunderstorm - in the fairy tale about the little fairy, "wonderful music of revelation" - in the "Song of the Falcon", a formidable roar storms - in the "Song of the Petrel". The harmony of sounds complements the harmony of allegorical images. The image of an eagle as a symbol of a strong personality arises when characterizing heroes with Nietzschean features: the eagle Rada, free as an eagle, a shepherd, the son of an eagle Lara. The image of the Falcon is associated with the idea of ​​an altruistic hero. Makar Chudra calls a storyteller who dreams of making all people happy a falcon. Finally, the Petrel symbolizes the movement of the masses themselves, the image of the coming retribution.
Gorky generously uses folklore motifs and images, transcribes Moldavian, Wallachian, Hutsul legends that he overheard while wandering around Rus'. The language of Gorky's romantic works is flowery and patterned, melodiously sonorous.

Conclusion
The early work of Maxim Gorky is remarkable for its different styles, noted by L. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov and V.G. Korolenko. The work of young Gorky was influenced by many writers: A.S. Pushkin, Pomyalovsky, G. Uspensky, N.S. Leskova, M.Yu. Lermontov, Byron, Schiller.
The writer turned to both realistic and romantic directions arts, which in some cases existed independently, but were often whimsically mixed up. However, at first, Gorky's works of the romantic style dominated, standing out sharply for their brightness.
Indeed, in early stories Gorky is dominated by features of romanticism. First of all, because they depict a romantic situation of confrontation between a strong person (Danko, Lara, Sokol) with the world around him, as well as the problem of a person as a person in general. The action of stories and legends is transferred to fantastic conditions ("He stood between the boundless steppe and the endless sea"). The world of works is sharply divided into light and darkness, and these differences are important in assessing the characters: after Lara, a shadow remains, after Danko, sparks.
The gap between the heroic past and the miserable, colorless life in the present, between the “due” and the “existent”, between the great “dream” and the “gray era” was the soil on which the romanticism of early Gorky was born.
All the heroes of Gorky's early work are morally emotional and experience spiritual trauma, choosing between love and freedom, but they still choose the latter, bypassing love and preferring only freedom.
People of this type, as the writer predicted, may turn out to be great in extreme situations, in days of disasters, wars, revolutions, but they are most often not viable in the normal course. human life. Today, the problems posed by the writer M. Gorky in his early work are perceived as relevant and urgent for solving the issues of our time.
Gorky, who openly declared at the end of the 19th century about his faith in man, in his mind, in his creative, transforming possibilities, continues to arouse interest among readers to this day.

The literary activity of Maxim Gorky lasted more than forty years - from the romantic "Old Woman Izergil" to the epic "Life of Klim Samgin"

Text: Arseniy Zamostyanov, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Istorik magazine
Collage: Year of Literature. RF

In the twentieth century, he was both the master of thoughts, and a living symbol of literature, and one of the founders of not only new literature, but also the state. Do not count dissertations and monographs devoted to the "life and work" of the "classic of proletarian literature." Alas, his posthumous fate was too tightly connected with the fate of political system, which Gorky, after many years of hesitation, nevertheless blessed. After the collapse of the USSR, they began to diligently forget about Gorky. Although we have not had and will not have a better chronicler of the “era of initial capital”. Gorky found himself "in an artificial position on the sidelines." But it seems that he came out of it, and someday he will come out for real.

From a huge and multi-genre heritage, it is not easy to choose the “top ten” and therefore useful. But we will talk almost entirely about textbook works. At least in the recent past, they were diligently studied at school. I don't think it will be forgotten in the future. We don't have a second Gorky...

1. OLD WOMAN IZERGIL

This is a classic of the "early Gorky", the result of his first literary searches. A harsh parable of 1891, scary tale, the favorite (in Gorky's system) conflict of Prometheus with both Zeus and birds of prey. This new literature for that time. Not Tolstoy, not Chekhov, not Leskovsky story. The alignment turns out to be somewhat pretentious: Larra is the son of an eagle, Danko raises his own heart high above his head ... The narrator herself, an old woman, in contrast, is earthy and harsh. In this story, Gorky explores not only the essence of heroism, but also the nature of egoism. Many were hypnotized by the melody of prose.

Actually, this is a ready-made rock opera. And the metaphors are appropriate.

2. SPOUSES ORLOV

Such cruel naturalism - and even with knowledge of the environment - Russian literature did not know. Here you can’t help but believe that the author went barefoot all over Russia. Gorky spoke in detail about the life that he would like to change. Ordinary fights, a tavern, basement passions, illnesses. The light in this life is a medical student. This world wants to throw: “Oh, you bastards! Why do you live? How do you live? You are hypocritical crooks and nothing else! The spouses have the will to change the situation. They work in the cholera barracks, they work furiously.

However, Gorky does not like "happy endings". But faith in a person shows through even in the dirt.

If you think about it, this is not a banality at all. Such is the peshkovskaya grip. Such are the Gorky tramps. In the 1980s, the creators of perestroika “chernukha” worked in the style of these paintings.

3. THE SONG ABOUT THE FALCON, THE SONG ABOUT THE PETTER

All his life Alexei Maksimovich wrote poetry, although he did not consider himself a poet. Stalin's half-joking words are known: “This thing is stronger than Goethe's Faust. Love conquers death." The leader spoke about Gorky's poetic fairy tale "The Girl and Death", forgotten in our time. Gorky composed poetry in a somewhat old-fashioned way. He did not delve into the searches of the then poets, but read many. But two of his "songs", written in blank verse, cannot be deleted from Russian literature. Although ... Poems published as prose in 1895 were perceived as something outlandish:

“We sing glory to the madness of the brave!

The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life! O brave Falcon! In a battle with enemies, you bled to death ... But there will be time - and drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and will ignite many brave hearts with an insane thirst for freedom, light!

Let you die! .. But in the song of the brave and strong in spirit you will always be a living example, a proud call to freedom, to light!

We sing a song to the madness of the brave! .. "

It's about the Falcon. And Burevestnik (1901) became a real anthem of the Russian revolution. In particular - the revolution of 1905. revolutionary song illegally republished in thousands of copies. You can not accept the stormy Gorky pathos, but it is impossible to erase this melody from memory: “A petrel soars proudly between the clouds and the sea.”

Gorky himself was considered a petrel.

The petrel of the revolution, which really happened, although at first it did not please Alexei Maksimovich.

4. MOTHER

This novel, written under the impressions of the events of 1905, was considered the foundation socialist realism. At school, he was studied with special tension. Reprinted countless times, filmed several times and, between us, imposed. This caused not only respect, but also rejection.

On the barricade wave of 1905, Gorky joined the Bolshevik Party. An even more convinced Bolshevik was his companion, the actress Maria Andreeva, the most charming revolutionary of the 20th century.

The novel is tendentious. But how convincing is he emotionally

Including in their hope for the proletariat. But the main thing is that this novel is not only a historical document. The strength of the preacher and the strength of the writer multiplied, and the book turned out to be powerful.

5. CHILDHOOD, IN PEOPLE, MY UNIVERSITIES

Korney Chukovsky said after reading this book: "In his old age, Gorky was drawn to colors." Between the revolution of 1905 and the war head writer showed how a rebel, Prometheus, is born and matures in a child. During this time, Tolstoy left, and Gorky became the "main" Russian writer - in terms of influence on the minds of readers, in terms of reputation among colleagues - even as picky as Bunin. And the story with Nizhny Novgorod motives was perceived as the program of the ruler of thoughts. Comparisons with "Childhood" cannot be dismissed: half a century separates the two stories, but the main thing is that the authors are from different constellations. Gorky revered Tolstoy, but crossed out Tolstoyism. Recreate in prose real worlds he did not know how, Gorky composed a song, an epic, a ballad about the young years of the hero, about his paths, paths.

Gorky admires harsh, brave, thick-skinned people, he is admired by strength, struggle.

He shows them enlarged, neglecting halftones, but refrains from hasty judgments. He despises lack of will and humility, but even admires the cruelty of the world. You can’t say better than Gorky: “A thick, motley, inexpressibly strange life. I remember her as a harsh tale, well told by a kind, but painfully truthful genius. One of the most striking episodes in the story "Childhood" is about how Alyosha learned to read and write: "Beeches-people-az-la-bla." This became the main thing in his life.

6. AT THE BOTTOM

Here attestations are superfluous, this is just the Gorky Bible, the apotheosis of Russian outcasts. Gorky brought to the stage the inhabitants of the rooming house, vagabonds, thieves. It turns out that high tragedies and struggles take place in their world, no less significant than those of Shakespeare's kings ... "Man - that sounds proud!" - proclaims Satin, Gorky's favorite hero, a strong personality who was not broken by either prison or drunkenness. He has a strong rival - a wandering preacher of forgiveness. Gorky hated this sweet hypnosis, but refrained from unambiguously exposing Luke. Luke has his own truth.

The heroes of the Gorky rooming house were applauded not only by Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also by Berlin, Paris, Tokyo ...

And they will always put "At the bottom". And in the grumbling of Sateen - a seeker and a robber - they will find new subtexts: “There is only a person, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great!"

7. BARBARS

As a playwright, Gorky is the most interesting. And "Barbarians" in our list are represented immediately after several Gorky plays about people of the early twentieth century. "Scenes in county town” are sad: the characters turn out to be false, the provincial reality has gone and is cloudy. But in longing for a hero there is a premonition of something great.

While pumping up sadness, Gorky does not fall into straightforward pessimism.

It is not surprising that the play had a happy theatrical fate: at least two roles - Cherkun and Monakhova - are spelled out with brilliance. There is something for interpreters to look for.

8. Vassa ZHELEZNOVA

But this tragedy in our time simply needs to be re-read and reviewed. I think there is no more insightful book (not to mention plays) about Russian capitalism. Merciless play. Even in our time, hypocrites are afraid of her. It is easiest to repeat the common truth that behind every great fortune there is a crime.

And Gorky managed to show the psychology of this crime of rich quarters.

He knew how to paint vices like no one else. Yes, he exposes Vassa. And yet she came alive. Actresses play it incredibly interesting. Some even manage to justify this killer. Vera Pashennaya, Faina Ranevskaya, Nina Sazonova, Inna Churikova, Tatyana Doronina - Vassa was played by actresses whom he worshiped theater world. And the public watched how mad with fat, weird and dying Russian capitalism.

9. TOWN OF OKUROV

Gorky wrote this story in 1909. A gray county town, the eternal orphanage of fussy, unhappy people. The chronicle is complete. Gorky is observant and ironic: “The main street, Porechnaya, or Berezhok, is paved with large cobblestones; in the spring, when young grass breaks through the stones, Sukhobaev, the head of the city, calls the prisoners, and they, big and gray, heavy, silently crawl along the street, uprooting the grass. On Porechnaya, the best houses lined up harmoniously - blue, red, green, almost all with front gardens - the white house of Vogel, the chairman of the district council, with a turret on the roof; red-brick with yellow shutters - heads; pinkish - the father of Archpriest Isaiah Kudryavsky and a long row of boastful cozy houses - the authorities lodged in them: the military commander Pokivaiko, a passionate lover of singing, was nicknamed Mazepa for his big mustache and thickness; tax inspector Zhukov, a gloomy man who suffered from hard drinking; zemstvo chief Strehel, theater-goer and playwright; police officer Karl Ignatievich Worms and cheerful doctor Ryakhin, the best artist of the local circle of comedy and drama lovers.

An important topic for Gorky is the eternal dispute about philistinism. Or - "mixture"?

After all, a lot of things are mixed in a Russian person, and perhaps this is precisely his mystery.

10. THE LIFE OF KLIMA SAMGIN

The novel - the largest in Gorky's heritage, "for eight hundred people," as the parodists taunted - remained unfinished. But what remains, in terms of refinement, surpasses everything written by Gorky. It turns out that he knew how to write with restraint, almost academically, but at the same time in a Gorky way.

According to Gorky's definition, this is a book about "an intellectual of average value who goes through a whole range of moods, looking for the most independent place in life, where he would be comfortable both financially and internally."

And all this against the backdrop of the turning-point revolutionary years, right up to 1918. Gorky for the first time showed himself to be a realist, an objective analyst, found a harmonious narrative tone for his last book. He wrote "Samgin" for decades. At the same time, the author does not like the title character. Samghin is a real snake, reminiscent of Shchedrin's Judas Golovlev. But he crawls "throughout all the great Rus'" - and the space of history opens up to us. It seems that Gorky, who lived in an eternal hurry, did not want to part with this book. The result was an encyclopedia, and not an idealistic one at all. Gorky writes without hypocrisy about love and flirting, about politics and religion, about nationalism and financial scams... This is both a chronicle and a confession. Like Cervantes, he even mentions himself in the novel: the characters discuss the writer Gorky. Just like us a hundred years later.

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The great Russian writer Maxim Gorky (Peshkov Alexei Maksimovich) was born on March 16, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod- died June 18, 1936 in Gorki. IN early age"went among the people," in his own words. He lived hard, spent the night in the slums among all sorts of rabble, wandered, interrupted by a random piece of bread. He passed vast territories, visited the Don, Ukraine, the Volga region, South Bessarabia, the Caucasus and the Crimea.

Start

He was actively engaged in social and political activities, for which he was arrested more than once. In 1906 he went abroad, where he began to successfully write his works. By 1910, Gorky gained fame, his work aroused great interest. Earlier, in 1904, they began to publish critical articles, and then the book "About Gorky". Gorky's works interested politicians and public figures. Some of them believed that the writer was too free to interpret the events taking place in the country. Everything that Maxim Gorky wrote, works for the theater or journalistic essays, short stories or multi-page stories, caused a resonance and was often accompanied by anti-government speeches. During World War I, the writer took an openly anti-militarist position. met with enthusiasm, and turned his apartment in Petrograd into a turnout for politicians. Often Maxim Gorky, whose works became more and more topical, spoke with reviews on own creativity to avoid misinterpretation.

Abroad

In 1921, the writer went abroad for treatment. For three years, Maxim Gorky lived in Helsinki, Prague and Berlin, then moved to Italy and settled in the city of Sorrento. There he took up the publication of his memoirs of Lenin. In 1925 he wrote the novel The Artamonov Case. All Gorky's works of that time were politicized.

Return to Russia

The year 1928 was a turning point for Gorky. At the invitation of Stalin, he returns to Russia and for a month moves from city to city, meets people, gets acquainted with the achievements in industry, observes how socialist construction is developing. Then Maxim Gorky leaves for Italy. However, the following year (1929), the writer again comes to Russia and this time visits the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camps. At the same time, the reviews leave the most positive. Alexander Solzhenitsyn mentioned this trip of Gorky in his novel

The writer's final return to Soviet Union happened in October 1932. Since that time, Gorky has been living in the former on Spiridonovka, at a dacha in Gorki, and travels to the Crimea on vacation.

First Congress of Writers

After some time, the writer receives a political order from Stalin, who entrusts him with the preparation of the 1st Congress of Soviet Writers. In the light of this instruction, Maxim Gorky creates several new newspapers and magazines, publishes book series on the history of Soviet plants and factories, civil war and some other events of the Soviet era. Then he wrote plays: "Egor Bulychev and others", "Dostigaev and others". Some of Gorky's works, written earlier, were also used by him in the preparation of the first congress of writers, which took place in August 1934. At the congress, organizational issues were mainly resolved, the leadership of the future Union of Writers of the USSR was chosen, and writers' sections were created by genre. Gorky's works were also ignored at the 1st Congress of Writers, but he was elected chairman of the board. In general, the event was considered successful, and Stalin personally thanked Maxim Gorky for his fruitful work.

Popularity

M. Gorky, whose works for many years caused fierce controversy among the intelligentsia, tried to take part in the discussion of his books and especially theatrical plays. From time to time, the writer visited theaters, where he could see for himself that people were not indifferent to his work. Indeed, for many, the writer M. Gorky, whose works were understandable to the common man, became the conductor of a new life. Theater audience went to the performance several times, read and re-read books.

Gorky's early romantic works

The writer's work can be divided into several categories. Gorky's early works are romantic and even sentimental. They still do not feel the rigidity of political sentiments, which are saturated with later stories and novels of the writer.

The writer's first story "Makar Chudra" is about fleeting gypsy love. Not because it was fleeting because "love came and went", but because it lasted only one night, without a single touch. Love lived in the soul, not touching the body. And then the death of a girl at the hands of a loved one, the proud gypsy Rada passed away, and after her Loiko Zobar himself - sailed together through the sky, hand in hand.

Amazing plot, incredible storytelling power. The story "Makar Chudra" became long years calling card Maxim Gorky, firmly taking first place in the list of "Gorky's early works".

The writer worked hard and fruitfully in his youth. Gorky's early romantic works are a cycle of stories whose heroes are Danko, Sokol, Chelkash and others.

A short story about spiritual excellence makes you think. "Chelkash" - a story about common man carrying high aesthetic feelings. Escape from home, vagrancy, Meeting of two - one does business as usual, another case leads. Envy, distrust, readiness for submissive obedience, fear and servility of Gavrila are opposed to Chelkash's courage, self-confidence, love of freedom. However, society does not need Chelkash, unlike Gavrila. Romantic pathos is intertwined with the tragic. The description of nature in the story is also shrouded in a veil of romance.

In the stories "Makar Chudra", "Old Woman Izergil" and, finally, in "The Song of the Falcon", the motivation for "the madness of the brave" can be traced. The writer puts the characters in difficult conditions and then, without any logic, leads them to the finale. That's why the work of the great writer is interesting, that the narration is unpredictable.

Gorky's work "Old Woman Izergil" consists of several parts. The character of her first story - the son of an eagle and a woman, the sharp-eyed Larra, is presented as an egoist, incapable of high feelings. When he heard the maxim that one inevitably has to pay for what he took, he expressed disbelief, stating that "I would like to remain unharmed." People rejected him, condemning him to loneliness. Larra's pride turned out to be fatal to him.

Danko is no less proud, but he treats people with love. Therefore, he obtains the freedom necessary for his fellow tribesmen who believe him. Despite the threats of those who doubt that he is able to lead the tribe out of the young leader, he continues on his way, dragging people along with him. And when everyone was running out of strength, and the forest did not end, Danko tore his chest, took out a burning heart and lit the path that led them to the clearing with its flame. The ungrateful tribesmen, breaking free, did not even look in the direction of Danko when he fell and died. People ran away, on the run they trampled on the flaming heart, and it scattered into blue sparks.

Gorky's romantic works leave an indelible mark on the soul. Readers empathize with the characters, the unpredictability of the plot keeps them in suspense, and the ending is often unexpected. In addition, Gorky's romantic works are distinguished by deep morality, which is unobtrusive, but makes you think.

The theme of individual freedom dominates in the early work of the writer. The heroes of Gorky's works are freedom-loving and even ready to give their lives for the right to choose their own destiny.

Poem "Girl and Death" - a prime example self-sacrifice in the name of love. young, full of life the girl makes a deal with death, for the sake of one night of love. She is ready to die without regret in the morning, just to meet her beloved again.

The king, who considers himself omnipotent, dooms the girl to death only because, returning from the war, he was in a bad mood and did not like her happy laugh. Death spared Love, the girl remained alive and "bony with a scythe" already had no power over her.

Romanticism is also present in the "Song of the Petrel". The proud bird is free, it is like a black lightning, rushing between the gray plain of the sea and the clouds hanging over the waves. Let the storm blow harder, the brave bird is ready to fight. And it is important for a penguin to hide his fat body in the rocks, he has a different attitude to the storm - no matter how wet his feathers are.

Man in Gorky's works

The special, refined psychologism of Maxim Gorky is present in all his stories, while the personality is always assigned to the main role. Even homeless vagrants, the characters of the rooming house, are presented by the writer as respected citizens, despite their plight. The person in Gorky's works is put at the forefront, everything else is secondary - the events described, the political situation, even the actions of state bodies are in the background.

Gorky's story "Childhood"

The writer tells the story of the life of the boy Alyosha Peshkov, as if on his own behalf. The story is sad, begins with the death of the father and ends with the death of the mother. Left an orphan, the boy heard from his grandfather, the day after his mother's funeral: "You are not a medal, you shouldn't hang around my neck ... Go to the people ...". And kicked out.

Thus ends Gorky's Childhood. And in the middle there were several years of living in the house of his grandfather, a lean little old man who used to flog everyone who was weaker than him with rods on Saturdays. And only his grandchildren, who lived in the house, were inferior to the grandfather in strength, and he beat them backhand, putting them on the bench.

Alexei grew up, supported by his mother, and in the house hung a thick fog of enmity between everyone and everyone. The uncles fought among themselves, threatened the grandfather that they would kill him too, the cousins ​​got drunk, and their wives did not have time to give birth. Alyosha tried to make friends with the neighbor boys, but their parents and other relatives were in such a complicated relationship with his grandfather, grandmother and mother that the children could only communicate through a hole in the fence.

"At the bottom"

In 1902, Gorky turned to a philosophical theme. He created a play about people who, by the will of fate, sank to the very bottom Russian society. Several characters, the inhabitants of the rooming house, the writer described with frightening authenticity. In the center of the story are homeless people on the verge of despair. Someone is thinking about suicide, someone else is hoping for the best. M. Gorky's work "At the Bottom" is a vivid picture of the social and everyday disorder in society, often turning into a tragedy.

The owner of the doss house, Mikhail Ivanovich Kostylev, lives and does not know that his life is constantly under threat. His wife Vasilisa persuades one of the guests - Vaska Pepel - to kill her husband. This is how it ends: the thief Vaska kills Kostylev and goes to prison. The remaining inhabitants of the rooming house continue to live in an atmosphere of drunken revelry and bloody fights.

After some time, a certain Luke appears, a projector and idler. He "floods", how much in vain, conducts lengthy conversations, promises everyone indiscriminately a happy future and complete prosperity. Then Luke disappears, and the unfortunate people he has given hope to are at a loss. There was a severe disappointment. A forty-year-old homeless man, nicknamed the Actor, commits suicide. Others are not far from it either.

Nochlezhka as a symbol of the dead end of Russian society late XIX century, an undisguised ulcer of the social structure.

Creativity of Maxim Gorky

• "Makar Chudra" - 1892. A story about love and tragedy.
• "Grandfather Arkhip and Lenka" - 1893. A beggar sick old man and with him his grandson Lenka, a teenager. First, the grandfather cannot stand the hardships and dies, then the grandson dies. Good people buried the unfortunate by the road.
• "Old Woman Izergil" - 1895. A few stories of an old woman about selfishness and selflessness.
• "Chelkash" - 1895. A story about "an inveterate drunkard and a clever, bold thief."
• "Spouses Orlov" - 1897. The story of the childless married couple determined to help sick people.
• "Konovalov" - 1898. The story of how Alexander Ivanovich Konovalov, arrested for vagrancy, hanged himself in a prison cell.
• "Foma Gordeev" - 1899. The story of the events of the late XIX century, taking place in the Volga city. About a boy named Foma, who considered his father a fabulous robber.
• "Philistines" - 1901. A Tale of Petty-bourgeois Roots and a New Trend of the Times.
• "At the bottom" - 1902. A sharp topical play about homeless people who have lost all hope.
• "Mother" - 1906. A novel on the theme of revolutionary moods in society, about the events taking place within the limits of a manufactory, with the participation of members of the same family.
• "Vassa Zheleznova" - 1910. A play about a youthful 42-year-old woman, the owner of a steamship company, strong and powerful.
• "Childhood" - 1913. The story of a simple boy and his far from simple life.
• "Tales of Italy" - 1913. Cycle short stories about life in Italian cities.
• "Passion-face" - 1913. A short story about a deeply unhappy family.
• "In people" - 1914. A story about an errand boy in a fashionable shoe store.
• "My Universities" - 1923. Tale of Kazan University and students.
• "Blue Life" - 1924. A story about dreams and fantasies.
• "The Artamonov Case" - 1925. The story of the events taking place at the woven fabric factory.
• "Life of Klim Samgin" - 1936. Events of the early XX century - St. Petersburg, Moscow, barricades.

Each read story, story or novel leaves an impression of high literary skill. Characters carry a number of unique features and characteristics. An analysis of Gorky's works involves comprehensive characterizations of the characters, followed by a summary. The depth of the narrative is organically combined with difficult, but understandable literary devices. All the works of the great Russian writer Maxim Gorky are included in the Golden Fund of Russian Culture.

(ratings: 6 , average: 3,17 out of 5)

Name: Alexey Maksimovich Peshkov
Aliases: Maxim Gorky, Yehudiel Chlamyda
Birthday: March 16, 1868
Place of Birth: Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire
Date of death: June 18, 1936
A place of death: Gorki, Moscow region, RSFSR, USSR

Biography of Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1868. In fact, the writer's name was Alexei, but his father was Maxim, and the writer's surname was Peshkov. My father worked as a simple carpenter, so the family could not be called wealthy. At the age of 7, he went to school, but after a couple of months he had to quit his studies due to smallpox. As a result, the boy received a home education, and he also independently studied all subjects.

Gorky had a rather difficult childhood. His parents died too early and the boy lived with his grandfather , who had a very difficult character. Already at the age of 11 future writer went to earn his own bread, working part-time in a bakery shop, then in the dining room on the steamer.

In 1884, Gorky ended up in Kazan and tried to get an education, but this attempt failed, and he had to work hard again to earn money for his livelihood. At the age of 19, Gorky even tries to commit suicide due to poverty and fatigue.

Here he is fond of Marxism, trying to agitate. In 1888 he was arrested for the first time. He gets a job at an iron job, where the authorities keep a close eye on him.

In 1889, Gorky returned to Nizhny Novgorod, got a job with the lawyer Lanin as a clerk. It was during this period that he wrote "The Song of the Old Oak" and turned to Korolenko to appreciate the work.

In 1891, Gorky set off to travel around the country. In Tiflis, his story "Makar Chudra" is published for the first time.

In 1892, Gorky again went to Nizhny Novgorod and returned to the service of the lawyer Lanin. Here it is already published in many editions of Samara and Kazan. In 1895 he moved to Samara. At this time, he actively writes and his works are constantly printed. The two-volume Essays and Stories, published in 1898, is in great demand and is very actively discussed and criticized. In the period from 1900 to 1901 he met Tolstoy and Chekhov.

In 1901, Gorky created his first plays, The Philistines and At the Bottom. They were very popular, and "Petty Bourgeois" was even staged in Vienna and Berlin. The writer became known already at the international level. Since then, his work has been translated into different languages of the world, as well as he and his works become the object close attention foreign critics.

Gorky became a participant in the revolution in 1905, and from 1906 he leaves his country in connection with political events. He for a long time lives on the Italian island of Capri. Here he writes the novel "Mother". This work influenced the emergence of a new trend in literature as socialist realism.

In 1913, Maxim Gorky was finally able to return to his homeland. During this period, he is actively working on his autobiography. He also works as an editor for two newspapers. Then he gathered proletarian writers around him and published a collection of their works.

The period of the revolution in 1917 was ambiguous for Gorky. As a result, he joins the ranks of the Bolsheviks, despite doubts and torments. However, he does not support some of their views and actions. In particular, regarding the intelligentsia. Thanks to Gorky, most of the intelligentsia in those days escaped starvation and painful death.

In 1921 Gorky left his country. There is a version that he does this because Lenin was too worried about the health of the great writer, whose tuberculosis worsened. However, Gorky's contradictions with the authorities could also be the reason. He lived in Prague, Berlin and Sorrento.

When Gorky was 60 years old, Stalin himself invited him to the USSR. The writer was given a warm welcome. He traveled around the country, where he spoke at meetings and rallies. He is honored in every possible way, taken to the Communist Academy.

In 1932, Gorky returned to the USSR for good. He is very active literary activity, organizes the All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers, publishes a large number of newspapers.

In 1936, terrible news swept across the country: Maxim Gorky had left this world. The writer caught a cold when he visited his son's grave. However, there is an opinion that both the son and the father were poisoned due to political views, but this has never been proven.

Documentary

Your attention documentary, biography of Maxim Gorky.

Bibliography of Maxim Gorky

Novels

1899
Foma Gordeev
1900-1901
Three
1906
Mother (second edition - 1907)
1925
The Artamonov case
1925-1936
Life of Klim Samgin

Tale

1908
Life unnecessary person
1908
Confession
1909
Okurov town
Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin
1913-1914
Childhood
1915-1916
In people
1923
My universities

Stories, essays

1892
girl and death
1892
Makar Chudra
1895
Chelkash
Old Isergil
1897
former people
Spouses Orlovs
Mallow
Konovalov
1898
Essays and stories (collection)
1899
Song of the Falcon (poem in prose)
twenty six and one
1901
Song about the petrel (poem in prose)
1903
Man (poem in prose)
1913
Tales of Italy
1912-1917
In Rus' (a cycle of stories)
1924
Stories 1922-1924
1924
Notes from the diary (a cycle of stories)

Plays

1901
Philistines
1902
At the bottom
1904
summer residents
1905
Children of the Sun
Barbarians
1906
Enemies
1910
Vassa Zheleznova (revised in December 1935)
1915
Old man
1930-1931
Somov and others
1932
Egor Bulychov and others
1933
Dostigaev and others

Publicism

1906
My interviews
In America" ​​(pamphlets)
1917-1918
series of articles "Untimely Thoughts" in the newspaper "New Life"
1922
About the Russian peasantry

Years of life: from 03/28/1868 to 06/18/1936

Russian writer, playwright, public figure. One of the most popular authors turn of XIX and XX centuries.

Maxim Gorky (real name - Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov) was born (16) March 28, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod. Father, Maxim Savvatievich Peshkov (1840-71) - the son of a soldier demoted from officers, a cabinetmaker. IN last years worked as manager of a shipping office, died of cholera. Mother, Varvara Vasilievna Kashirina (1842-79) - from a bourgeois family; widowed early, remarried, died of consumption. The childhood of the writer passed in the house of his grandfather Vasily Vasilyevich Kashirin, who in his youth was bubbling, then became rich, became the owner of a dyeing establishment, and went bankrupt in old age. The grandfather taught the boy according to church books, grandmother Akulina Ivanovna introduced her grandson to folk songs and fairy tales, but most importantly - she replaced her mother, "saturating", in the words of Gorky himself, "strong strength for a difficult life."

Gorky did not receive a real education, graduating only from a vocational school. The thirst for knowledge was quenched independently, he grew up "self-taught". Hard work (a crockery worker on a ship, a “boy” in a store, a student in an icon-painting workshop, a foreman at fair buildings, etc.) and early deprivations taught a good knowledge of life and inspired dreams of rebuilding the world. Participated in illegal populist circles. After his arrest in 1889, he was under police surveillance.

I found myself in the world of great literature with the help of V.G. Korolenko. In 1892, Maxim Gorky published the first story - "Makar Chudra", and in 1899-1900 he met L.N. Tolstoy and A.P. Chekhov, is moving closer to the Moscow Art Theater, which staged his plays "Petty Bourgeois" and "At the Bottom".

The next period of Gorky's life is associated with revolutionary activity. He joined the Bolshevik Party, later, however, disagreeing with it on the issue of the timeliness of the socialist revolution in Russia. He took part in the organization of the first legal Bolshevik newspaper Novaya Zhizn. During the days of the December armed uprising of 1905 in Moscow, he supplied the workers' squads with weapons and money.

In 1906, on behalf of the party, Maxim Gorky illegally left for America, where he campaigned in support of the revolution in Russia. Among the Americans who ensured the reception of Gorky in the United States was Mark Twain.

Upon his return to Russia, he writes the play "Enemies" and the novel "Mother" (1906). In the same year, Gorky traveled to Italy, to Capri, where he lived until 1913, devoting all his strength to literary creativity. During these years, the plays "The Last" (1908), "Vassa Zheleznova" (1910), the novels "Summer", "The Town of Okurov" (1909), the novel "The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin" (1910 - 11) were written.

Using the amnesty, in 1913 he returned to St. Petersburg, collaborated in the Bolshevik newspapers Zvezda and Pravda. In 1915 he founded the journal Letopis, directed the literary department of the journal, uniting around him such writers as Shishkov, Prishvin, Trenev, Gladkov, and others.

Gorky met the February Revolution of 1917 enthusiastically. He was a member of the "Special Meeting on Art Affairs", was chairman of the Commission on Art under the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet of the RSD. After the revolution, Gorky participated in the publication of the New Life newspaper, which was the organ of the Social Democrats, where he published articles under the general title Untimely Thoughts.

In the autumn of 1921, due to the exacerbation of the tuberculosis process, he went abroad for treatment. First he lived in the resorts of Germany and Czechoslovakia, then moved to Italy in Sorrento. He continues to work hard: he finishes the trilogy - "My Universities" ("Childhood" and "In People" came out in 1913 - 16), writes the novel "The Artamonov Case" (1925). He begins work on the book "The Life of Klim Samgin", which he continued to write until the end of his life. In 1931 Gorky returned to his homeland. In the 1930s, he again turned to drama: Yegor Bulychev and Others (1932), Dostigaev and Others (1933).

Summing up the acquaintance and communication with the great people of his time, Gorky writes literary portraits L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, V. Korolenko, essay "V. I. Lenin". In 1934, through the efforts of M. Gorky, the 1st All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers was prepared and held.

On May 11, 1934, Gorky's son, Maxim Peshkov, unexpectedly dies. The writer himself died on June 18, 1936 in the town of Gorki, near Moscow, outliving his son by a little more than two years. After his death, he was cremated, the ashes were placed in an urn in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow. Before cremation, the brain of A. M. Gorky was removed and taken to the Moscow Brain Institute for further study. Around his death, as well as the death of his son Maxim, there is still a lot of obscurity.

Gorky began as a provincial newspaperman (published under the name Yehudiel Khlamida). Pseudonym M. Gorky (signed letters and documents real name- A. Peshkov) appeared in 1892 in the Tiflis newspaper "Kavkaz", where the first story "Makar Chudra" was published.

The circumstances of the death of Gorky and his son are considered "suspicious" by many. There were rumors of poisoning, which, however, were not confirmed. According to the interrogations of Genrikh Yagoda (one of the main leaders of the state security organs), Maxim Gorky was killed on the orders of Trotsky, and the murder of Gorky's son, Maxim Peshkov, was his personal initiative. Some publications blame Stalin for Gorky's death.

Bibliography

Tale
1908 - "The life of an unnecessary person."
1908 - "Confession"
1909 - "", "".
1913-1914- ""
1915-1916- ""
1923 - ""

Stories, essays
1892 - "Makar Chudra"
1895 - "Chelkash", "Old Woman Izergil".
1897 - "Former people", "Spouses Orlovs", "Malva", "Konovalov".
1898 - "Essays and Stories" (collection)
1899 - "Song of the Falcon" (poem in prose), "Twenty-six and one"
1901 - "The Song of the Petrel" (poem in prose)
1903 - "Man" (poem in prose)
1913 - "Egor Bulychov and others (1953)
Egor Bulychov and others (1971)
The Life of a Baron (1917) - based on the play "At the Bottom"
Life of Klim Samgin (TV series, 1986)
Life of Klim Samgin (film, 1986)
Well (2003) - based on the story by A.M. Gorky "Gubin"
Summer People (1995) - based on the play "Summer Residents"
Malva (1956) - based on the stories
Mother (1926)
Mother (1955)
Mother (1990)
Philistines (1971)
My Universities (1939)
At the Bottom (1952)
At the bottom (1957)
At the bottom (1972)
Washed in blood (1917) - based on the story of M. Gorky "Konovalov"
Premature Man (1971) - based on the play by Maxim Gorky "Yakov Bogomolov"
Across Rus' (1968) - based on early stories
For boredom (1967)
Tabor goes to the sky (1975)
Three (1918)
Foma Gordeev (1959)