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Gorky famous works. Gorky's works: complete list

Excellent position - to be a man on earth

1868–1936

On September 12, 1892, the story “Makar Chudra” appeared in the Tiflis newspaper “Kavkaz”. The name of its author, M. Gorky, was not previously encountered by the reader. And no wonder: a new writer appeared, who very soon made the whole of reading Russia talk about himself. And not only Russia.

The pseudonym was already unusual, chosen by the beginning writer not at all by chance. About how he lived the years preceding the appearance of his first work, he will tell later in a wonderful autobiographical trilogy"Childhood", "In People", "My Universities". Fate was extremely unfavorable to her hero: early orphanhood, life in the house of a grandfather who had a stern disposition, who soon pushed his grandson “into people”, unbearably hard work that allows you to live only half-starving, incessant wanderings around Rus' in search of daily bread, but also the impact far from immediately conscious desire to see the world, to meet new people. And here's what is striking: talking about the "lead abominations" of life, the writer is especially attentive to the bright and joyful things he has encountered.

About himself, who was taking the first steps in life, he will say this: “Two lived in me: one, having learned too much abomination and dirt, became somewhat shy from this and, suppressed by the knowledge of the everyday terrible, began to treat life, people with distrust, suspicion, with impotent pity for everyone, as well as for himself.<…>The other, baptized with the holy spirit of honest and wise books ... tensely defended himself, clenching his teeth, clenching his fists, always ready for any argument and fight. This appeal of the young hero of the trilogy to books is noteworthy - in them he finds support for the power of resistance that grows in him. And also - in the heart, kind, interesting people with whom fate so often brought him together. And how bitter it was because life often treated them too cruelly.

The story "Makar Chudra" included a writer in literature who had something to tell people. And it is surprising that he, whom life truly mercilessly ruffled, began on such a high romantic note - a love story that turns out to be disastrous for lovers. This story unfolds - or rather, a legend - almost against a fabulously beautiful background: the expanse of the steppe, the voice of the sea wave, the music floating across the steppe - from it "the blood caught fire in the veins ...". Beautiful, strong people live here, who above all value the will, despising those who live huddled together in stuffy cities.

In the center of Gorky's story is the old shepherd Makar Chudra, who convinces his interlocutor that the best life for a person is to be a tramp on earth: "Go and see, you've seen enough, lie down and die - that's all!" It is impossible to agree with this, but it is also difficult to object to someone who sees only a slave in a person (“as soon as he was born, he is a slave all his life, and that's it!”), It is difficult.

It is difficult because, in fact, the life of people about whom Makar Chudra speaks with such contempt is meaningless, their work is not inspired by a high goal: they are not able to see, feel the beauty of life, nature.

Thus, an essential motif in Gorky's work is revealed - the conviction that life is beautiful is combined with the awareness of the slavish humiliation of a person, most often without suspecting it. The old shepherd Makar Chudra is right in his own way, but only this is the truth of a man who rejected the life that most people live, and work, and without it, the author of the story is sure, human existence completely loses its meaning. The writer cannot and does not want to reconcile these two truths - he prefers poetry to logic. The legend about the beautiful Rudd and the daring Loika Zobar allows not only to marvel at the power of passion, unknown to the “huddled together” people, but also to feel what a tragedy a person’s absolute inability to submit to anyone else can turn into. Even in love! Who will undertake to condemn them? Yes, but there is no happiness for them on earth either: proud Radda loves the will most of all, and this love turns into death for her.

But it was not for nothing that the old soldier Danilo remembered the name of Kossuth, the hero of the Hungarian revolution of 1848, with whom he fought together - a significant episode in the life of one of the representatives of the nomadic gypsy tribe. But Danilo is the father of the proud Radda, who did not take over her love of freedom from him.

The author of Makar Chudra does not accept slavish humiliation, but he also does not want to follow the advice of the hero of the story: the will that the old gypsy appreciates so highly turns out to be illusory and leads a person to isolation from others. And yet people of this particular breed - free, proud, homeless - find themselves in the center of attention of a young writer who seeks - and does not find! - genuine heroes among, so to speak, normal, ordinary people. And without heroes, life is tiringly dreary, like a stagnant swamp. And he carefully peers at those who "break out" from ordinary life, loses its inner balance: in them, in their appearance and behavior, one can clearly feel the general ill-being, faults and cracks, which are increasingly found in reality itself.

Having walked hundreds of kilometers across Rus', Gorky, like perhaps no one else, knew the life of the social lower classes, kept in his memory an innumerable number of episodes, events, human destinies. He needed to tell the reader about all this. But he did not become a writer of everyday life, meticulously reproducing the details, the details of life. And when he undertook this, from his pen came out, for example, “Fair in Goltva”, striking with dazzling brightness of colors, surprisingly juicy expressiveness of verbal drawing, and the ability to reproduce a truly playful atmosphere that reigns merrily in this marketplace. Here they don’t just sell and buy - here each character has his own role, which he plays with apparent pleasure, richly filling his speech not with swearing, but with gentle humor, generously decorating speech. The mixture of Russian and Ukrainian dialects does not interfere with either those who bargain furiously at the fair, or the reader.

A motley, colorful stream is pouring, each of the characters: a sharp-bearded Yaroslavl with his simple haberdashery goods, a gypsy deftly selling a toothless horse to a bewildered naive villager, lively "women" selling "some kind of pink drink, cherries and rams", - appearing for a moment on the pages of the story, they disappear, leaving a feeling of joyful action that boils and rages on the high bank of the Pel. And around "the farm, framed by poplars and willows - everywhere you look ... the fertile land of Ukraine is densely sown with people!".

But Gorky did not want to confine himself to such painting with the word. The writer believed in the high destiny of man and it was for this that he took up the pen. It is understandable why this desire so often led him to the fact that the writer often preferred the depiction of life, which is daily revealed to the reader's gaze, to that which was generated by his imagination. He brought out on the pages of his first books bright people capable of bold and even heroic deeds. Such is his Chelkash in the story of the same name - a tramp, "an inveterate drunkard and a clever bold thief." One of his "operations" served as the plot basis of the story. But here's what's curious: the writer frankly admires his hero - his resemblance "to the steppe hawk", dexterity, strength, even his love for the sea, the ability to never get fed up with "the contemplation of this dark latitude, boundless, free and powerful." The element is raging in the soul of a person who is capable of being both cruel and recklessly generous, smiling mockingly and laughing with "fractional caustic laughter, showing his teeth angrily."

“But you are greedy! .. Not good ... However, what is it? .. A peasant ...” - Chelkash says to the young peasant guy Gavrila, who went with him on an extremely risky “business” for the sake of money. Memories of the "joys" he once also experienced peasant life, in which he himself has long been disappointed”, rise at a meeting with Gavrila in the soul of “a thief, revelers, cut off from everything native”. These two characters are sharply contrasted: Gavrila, who is able to kiss the boots of a successful thief for the sake of money, and Chelkash, who knows that he "will never be so greedy, low, not remembering himself." The breadth of his soul is revealed with special force when he gives Gavrila, who almost killed him, almost all the money received for the stolen during the night "feat".

And it would seem that there is nothing to talk about here: Chelkash, who threw money to Gavrila, “felt like a hero”, and he in response emitted “joyful cries”, his face was distorted by “delight of greed”. The assessments are very expressive, but are they quite fair? Of course, at the behest of the author, the reader's sympathy is given to Chelkash. Well, Gavrila, with his good-natured naivety, with his dream of owning his own household, of a home and family, of becoming “completely free, on his own”, “attached forever to the earth after many generations” - he is what deserve the disgrace of the reader? A greed capable of clouding his mind? So after all, she awakens in him when he sees a wad of money, "researched" in one night and intended to put them "down the drain." This is the groan of the soul of a man who really wanted to make money honestly - he went to mow in the Kuban: “We mowed a mile - we mowed a penny. Things are bad!”

The figure of Chelkash is romanticized, and a significant role in this is played by the fact that next to him appears a deliberately reduced image of a trusting and good-natured guy who deserves not condemnation, but pity. A cruel act - a stone thrown at Chelkash's head - an expression of extreme despair, which completely clouded his mind. But even Chelkash, in whose appearance and behavior rapacity is constantly emphasized, is clearly not suitable for heroes. However, Gorky gives the role of the hero to a person who stands out from the crowd, forcing the reader to believe in the superiority of his hero over the crowd of small people, "torn, sweaty, stupefied from fatigue, noise and heat." "What they created enslaved and depersonalized them."

The desire to portray the one in whom the ideal of a person, a hero would be embodied openly, fully, does not leave the young writer. Neither people immersed in their daily worries, nor those who preferred proud loneliness, vagrancy to ordinary life, also did not correspond to this role. To embody the ideal, the genre of legend, fairy tale, song, which Gorky willingly uses, was most suitable. These genres made it possible to neglect the details of everyday life, to create the world and the person in it the way he is. it should be, brushing aside the reproaches so frequent in the lips of the reader that that doesn't happen in life. But the legend (fairy tale, song) tells about what once was and should be, and the guarantee for this is the brightness, colorfulness of the world that opens here, the amazing strength and beauty of the people living in it.

And the first in this row should be the name of the daredevil Danko. With his heart torn out of his own chest, he lit the way for completely desperate people from the darkness that threatened "something terrible, dark and cold" to a world washed "by a sea of sunlight and clean air washed by rain."

This “beautiful tale” is told by the old woman Izergil, who has lived and seen a lot in her lifetime and laments that the people around her do not live, but only try on life, and “when they rob themselves, having wasted time, they will begin to cry at fate.” One can understand an old woman who was already “bent in half by time”, whose “once black eyes were dull and watery”, for her there really was a time in the past when “there was more strength and fire in a person, and therefore life was more fun and better ". Yes, but how not to notice that in her stories about this - the best - life, lived, in her own words, "greedily", it is only about passion: insane, intoxicating, pushing for reckless acts and always bringing misfortune to Izergil herself, and her many lovers. There is no need to complain about fate here - Izergil chose her own fate, easily parting with those whom she still loved yesterday. The life of the old woman was stormy: poverty was replaced by wealth, lovers arose, sometimes fought to the death for her and disappeared without a trace. Her heart flared up often, but it was never given to anyone. That is why, in the declining days, remembering hot nights and passionate caresses, she does not even try to remember whom she made happy, whose life she was able to fill.

Life is complex, it opens up with its different sides. Gorky was convinced that only a person who lives together with people and for their sake can adequately live on earth for the time allotted to him.

This wisdom was inaccessible to the old woman Izergil, but it was natural for Danko. "Young handsome man. Beautiful ones are always bold, ”says Izergil about him. Yes, and the people whom he was going to lead, "saw that he was the best of all, because in his eyes a lot of strength and living fire shone." But then they, tired of a long and difficult road, frightened by a thunderstorm, turned to Danko leading them with the words: “You are an insignificant and harmful person for us!”, And one of them, called “cautious”, saw him next to Danko’s corpse. a brave heart, “fearing something, stepped on a proud heart with his foot. And now it, crumbling into sparks, died out ... ".

Telling the legend of the daredevil Danko, the writer finds words that can convey the beauty of a feat, the power of a man who, at the cost of his life, leads people out of darkness into light. The trees in the old forest stretch out "long clumsy arms, weaving them into a dense net, trying to stop people", "people die from the poisonous breath of the swamp". The more beautiful - in contrast - the world that opens up to the gaze of those who rushed after Danko, holding his burning heart high: "The sun shone, the steppe sighed, the grass shone in the diamonds of the rain, and the river sparkled with gold." But it is worth recalling: Danko's heart "blazed as brightly as the sun, and brighter than the sun" - that's why even the thunderstorm recedes, continuing to rage over the "dense and dumb", but now left behind and therefore fearless forest.

The old woman Izergil told another "fairy tale" - about Larra, the son of an eagle and a woman, who "considered himself the first on earth" and therefore was convinced of his right to fulfill any of his desires. Immortality became his punishment: “He has no life, and death does not smile at him. And there is no place for him among people ... "

Not about pride, but about pride in question. Two legends and the story of the old Izergil together give a vivid idea of how Gorky sees (more precisely, wants to see) a person. Later, the writer will put into the mouth of Satin, one of the characters in his play “At the Bottom”, the words: “Man! It's great! It sounds… proud! You have to respect the person! About how cruel life is towards a person, how unreasonably cruel people can be towards each other, the writer knew better than many others. In his story "The Shake-Up", the little Mishka, who returned from the circus, where he was amazed by the cheerful art of the clown, again finds himself in a gloomy atmosphere of the workshop, where embittered people are sullenly swarming. And to top it off, for a tiny fault, he will be punished with unbearable pain from the “shake”, but even more - with the laughter of those who worked in the workshop. "Pain and bitterness" - this is what a boy experiences, doomed to work all day in a "dark and dirty workshop" for a piece of bread and fall asleep, remembering that in the morning he, as always, will be woken up with a kick.

The autobiographical novels “Childhood” and “In People” allow us to assert that the pain and humiliation that fell to Mishka’s lot happened to be experienced more than once by the writer himself, which is why his feeling of compassion for the downtrodden is so great. little man. But Gorky always hated suffering, preferred protest to complaint, the desire to resist the blows of fate. The hero of the story “The Shake-Up” is perhaps still too small to feel such a desire in himself, but the author of the story does not call for humility at all. He does not make a rebel out of Mishka, but simply gives him the opportunity to meet another - bright, joyful - life. Let it be just a circus, and indeed a short-lived spectacle. But after all, there is it, some other life, where people are able to bring joy to others. Say more in short story- would mean to violate the truth, but the author of a sad story keeps saying the same thing: a person was created for happiness and the life of those who maliciously step on the wings of this happiness is disgustingly meaningless.

Gorky's fairy tale and true story go hand in hand. The story of Izergil, who is living out her life, makes it possible to better understand the fairy tales she told so significant in their meaning. The “Song of the Falcon” is framed by short chapters, where the reader is faced with the sea, “sighing lazily near the shore”, mountains, “dressed in the warm and gentle darkness of the southern night”; “Something solemn, enchanting the soul, confusing the mind with the sweet expectation of some kind of revelation, is written across the dark blue sky with a golden pattern of stars.” And the “Song” itself is told in a “dull recitative” by the old Crimean shepherd Nadyr-Ragim-ogly, “a dry and wise old man who can spiritualize the waves.”

The words “madness of the brave” were uttered by the old man and therefore take on a special meaning: Rahim, who has lived a long and, of course, difficult life, has already fulfilled the “work of life”, but refuses to see in Sokol’s act a desire to hide “his unfitness” for such a thing.

In the “Song of the Falcon”, two ideas about what allows you to fill life with truly worthy content collide sharply - enjoying the proximity of the sky, “the happiness of battle” or the desire to lie quietly where it is “warm and damp”. To the pathos of Sokol, who said with conviction: “I have had a good life! I know happiness!” Opposes the sad “truth” of Uzh, for whom the sky is empty: “There is a lot of light, but there is no food there and there is no support for a living body.”

There are two characters in the “Song”, but in its title the writer took out only the name of one of them - Sokol. It is about him that the most significant words are said here: “The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life!” And Gorky composes precisely song. Rhythmic prose, emphasized unusualness of the setting of the action, the brightness of colors - everything serves to affirm the thought of the contagious power of a feat, of immortality. strong in spirit Falcon, whose name will forever sound like "a proud call to freedom, to light!". And the “Song of the Petrel”, written a little later, is completely the fruit of a free “fantasy”: the inspired “chizhik”, singing this song, remained behind the text - there is no need for it. This is where the passionate desire that owned the writer with his word to arouse in the reader the will to action, to fight, the confidence that "the clouds of the sun will not hide - no, they will not hide!"

"Song of the Petrel" soon after its appearance gained extraordinary popularity: "thirst for a storm", "confidence in victory" - that's what the reader enthusiastically accepted in the "proud Petrel". This corresponded to the mood that prevailed in Russian society at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, fraught with drastic changes and breaks. How warmly was the foreboding expressed then, expressed in the words: "Soon a storm will come!" The “Prophet of Victory” was called by the writer Burevestnik, who “flies boldly and freely over the sea, gray with foam!”. But the author of the "Song" himself was perceived as such a prophet. Her pathos, formulated in words - "the power of anger, the flame of passion and confidence in victory" - was especially understandable in that truly pre-stormy era. Complaints, whining, so common among the weak in spirit, Gorky opposes "the pleasure of the battle of life." The writer had no doubts about what the outcome of this battle would be.

In 1906, Gorky had to leave Russia: he, an active participant in the political struggle, which in December 1905 resulted in an armed uprising in Moscow, was threatened with arrest and imprisonment. After a short stay in America, he chose Italy as the place of his exile, where he lived until 1913, when an amnesty was declared for those who were accused of political crimes. In 1921, the writer, suffering from a pulmonary disease, again comes to these lands he loved so much with their healing climate. Only in 1933 did Gorky finally return to Russia, with which he never interrupted ties.

Italy did not become a second home for him, but forever entered his heart, and the most striking evidence of this is the wonderful Tales of Italy, where a world filled with joy and light opens up; where beautiful and proud people appear, whose life is truly covered with poetry; where passions rage and smiles shine, and above all this the dazzling sun shines, and so often the gentle warm sea opens up to the gaze. But even in the crowd of people appearing on Gorky's pages, Pepe stands out, a ten-year-old boy, "fragile, thin, fast, like a lizard." Surprisingly charming this little, never despondent ragamuffin is truly a child of the street, where everything is his own for him, everything is clear. The Russian writer was able to accurately convey the features of Italian national character in which unfeigned pride coexists with a cheerful disposition, and worldly wisdom finds expression in words simple and apt. Special mention should be made of the ability little hero Gorky's fairy tale, surprised that someone can eat every day - his ability to enjoy life, for a long time to look at the cracks whimsically winding along the stones or look at the flowers, "as if listening to the quiet trembling of silk petals under the breath of the sea wind." And at the same time, "he purrs something quietly - he always sings."

"Tales of Italy" was written by a man in love with life, and little Pepe turns out to be its embodiment. More precisely, the embodiment of poetry, literally spilled in the air. It pervades everything that is visible to the eye. “Pepe will be our poet,” those “who are kinder” say about the boy. And this does not mean at all that he will necessarily write poetry. He's just one of those who red life. Will! If not today, when he lives with a simple-hearted naivete and benevolence, which not everyone likes at all, then certainly in the future. The writer believes in it. After all, his hero is only ten years old: he and his fellow peers live tomorrow. And as the “wise and revered by all” old man Pasqualino says, “children will be better than us, and they will live better!”

Analysis of Gorky's main articles on children's literature.
His requirements for Soviet children's literature.
Gorky's works for children: "Sparrow", "Samovar", "The Case with Evseika", "About Ivanushka the fool"," Grandfather Arkhip and Lyonka "," Shake.
Fairy tale "Sparrow".

The work of M. Gorky (1868-1936) in the field of children's literature is striking in its breadth and scale. According to Marshak, "in literary heritage Gorky does not have a single book entirely devoted to education ... At the same time, there is hardly another person in the whole world who would do so much for children.
Articles and speech about the children's literature. Already in his first newspaper articles (1895-1896), M. Gorky demanded the obligatory study of the best examples in schools modern literature, education of artistic taste in children. Thoughts about education did not leave the writer until the end of his days, although he did not consider himself a teacher. He was convinced that “children should be brought up by people who, by their nature, gravitate towards this business, which requires great love to the children, great patience and sensitive caution in dealing with them.
Much of what Gorky said then is still relevant today. For example, his thoughts about education, free from the "decree of the state", his protest against the use of children as "a tool by which the state expands and strengthens its power." Gorky stands up for joyful childhood and for the upbringing of such a person for whom life and work are a pleasure, and not a sacrifice and a feat; and the society "like him is an environment where he is completely free and with which he is connected by instincts, sympathies, consciousness of the greatness of the tasks set by society in science, art, labor." Gorky connects the upbringing of such a person with the growth of culture and puts forward the thesis: "The protection of children is the protection of culture."
The basis of a people's culture is its language; therefore, Gorky believed, introducing children to vernacular is one of the most important tasks of an educator. Literature has a special role here, because for it language is “the primary element ... its main tool and, together with the facts, the phenomena of life, the material ...”.
In the article “The Man Whose Ears Are Plugged with Cotton” (1930), the writer spoke of the child’s natural inclination to play, which certainly includes verbal play: “He plays both with the word and in the word, it is on the game with the word that the child learns the subtleties mother tongue, assimilates his music and what is philologically called the "spirit of the language." The spirit of the language is preserved in the element of folk speech. The easiest way for children to comprehend the "beauty, strength and accuracy" of their native language is "on funny jokes, sayings, riddles."
In the same article, Gorky also advocates entertaining children's literature. A child under the age of ten, the writer declares, demands fun, and his demand is biologically legitimate. He also learns the world through the game, so a children's book should take into account the child's need for an exciting, exciting reading.
“I affirm: it is necessary to talk to a child in a funny way,” M. Gorky continues to develop this fundamental idea for him in another article of 1930, “On irresponsible people and on a children's book of our days.” The article was directed against those who believed that to amuse a child with the help of art means not to respect him. Meanwhile, the writer emphasized, even the initial idea of such complex concepts and phenomena as solar system, planet Earth, its countries, can be taught in games, toys, funny books. Even about "heavy dramas of the past can and should be told with laughter ....".
There is a great need for humorous characters who would be the heroes of entire series, Gorky continues his reasoning in the article “Literature for Children” (1933). Here is given a whole program of education and moral development of the rising generation.
He emphasized that the book should speak to the little reader in the language of images, should be artistic. "Preschoolers need simple and at the same time verses marked by high artistic skill, which would provide material for the game, counting rhymes, teasers." It is also necessary to publish several collections compiled from the best examples of folklore.
As you know, Gorky worked a lot with novice writers; some of them, under his influence, turned to children's literature. He advised young authors to read folk tales (the article "On Fairy Tales"), because they develop imagination, make the novice writer appreciate the significance of fiction for art, and most importantly, they are able to "enrich his meager language, his poor vocabulary." And children, Gorky believed, urgently need to read fairy tales, as well as works of other folklore genres ..
M. Gorky sought to bring his views to life. He initiated the creation of the world's first children's publishing house and participated in the discussion of its plans, as well as plans for children's theaters. He corresponded with young writers and even with children to find out their needs and tastes. He outlined the themes of children's books, which were then developed by writers and publicists - popularizers of science. On his initiative, the first post-revolutionary children's magazine, Northern Lights, appeared.
The theme of childhood in the works of M. Gorky. The writer's stories for children were published even before the revolution. In 1913-1916, Gorky worked on the stories "Childhood" and "In People", which continued the tradition autobiographical prose about childhood. In the stories of the writer, children often turn out to be unhappy, offended, sometimes even die, as, for example, Lenka from the story "Grandfather Arkhip and Lenka" (1894). A pair of beggars - a boy and his grandfather - in their wanderings in the south of Russia meet with human sympathy, then with indifference and malice. “Lenka was small, fragile, in rags he seemed like a clumsy branch, broken off from his grandfather - an old withered tree, brought and thrown here, on the sand, on the river bank.”
Gorky endows his hero with kindness, the ability to sympathize, and honesty. Lenka, a poet and a knight by nature, wants to stand up for a little girl who has lost her headscarf (her parents can beat her for such a loss). But the fact is that the handkerchief was picked up by his grandfather, who also stole a Cossack dagger in silver. The drama of the story is manifested not so much in the external plan (the Cossacks search the beggars and expel them from the village), but in Lenka's experiences. His pure childish soul does not accept the actions of his grandfather, although they were committed for his sake. And now he looks at things with new eyes, and the face of his grandfather, until recently dear, becomes for the boy “scary, sorry, and, arousing in Lenka that new feeling for him, makes him move away from his grandfather.” Self-esteem did not leave him, despite the impoverished life and all the humiliations associated with it; it is so strong that it pushes Lenka to cruelty: he says angry, hurtful words to the dying grandfather. And although, having come to her senses, she asks his forgiveness, but it seems that in the finale, Lenka's death comes from repentance too. “At first they decided to bury him in the churchyard, because he was still a child, but, after thinking, they laid him next to his grandfather, under the same blackberry. They poured a mound of earth and put a rough stone cross on it. Detailed descriptions of the state of mind of the child, the excited tone of the story, its vitality attracted the attention of readers. The resonance was exactly what the revolutionary-minded writers of that time were seeking: readers were imbued with sympathy for the disadvantaged, resented by the circumstances and laws of life that allow the possibility of such an existence of a child.
“He lived out a boring and difficult life,” the writer says about Mishka, the hero of the story Shake (1898). An apprentice in an icon-painting workshop, he does many different things and is beaten for the slightest mistake. But despite the severity of everyday life, the boy is drawn to beauty and perfection. Seeing a clown in the circus, he tries to convey his admiration to everyone around him - the masters, the cook. It ends in tears: carried away by the imitation of a clown, Mishka accidentally smears the paint on the still damp icon; he is severely beaten. When he, clutching his head with a groan, fell at the master's feet and heard the laughter of those around him, this laughter "cut Mishka's soul" stronger than the physical "shake". The boy's spiritual upsurge is shattered by human misunderstanding, anger and indifference, caused by the monotony, gray routine of life. Beaten, he sees himself in a dream in a clown costume: “Full of admiration for his dexterity, cheerful and proud, he jumped high into the air and, accompanied by a roar of approval, flew somewhere smoothly, flew with a sweet sinking heart ...” But life cruel, and the next day he will have to "wake up again on the ground from a kick."
The light that comes from childhood, the lessons that children give to adults, childish spontaneity, spiritual generosity, selflessness (although often they themselves have to earn a living) - this is what M. Gorky's stories about children are filled with.
Fairy tales. Gorky's "Tales of Italy" (1906-1913) have such a name conditionally: these are stories about the country in which he spent many years. But he also has real stories. The first of them were intended for the collection "The Blue Book" (1912), addressed to young children. The fairy tale "Sparrow" was included in the collection, and the other - "The Case with Evseika" - turned out to be too adult for this collection. It appeared in the same year in an appendix to the newspaper The Day. In these fairy tales there are wonderful animals that can talk, without which fairy world could not exist.
Vorobishko. Pudik didn’t know how to fly yet, but he was already looking out of the nest with curiosity: “I wanted to quickly find out what God’s world is and whether it is suitable for it.” Pudik is very inquisitive, he wants to understand everything: why the trees sway (let them stop - then there will be no wind); why are these people wingless - what, the cat broke off their wings? .. Due to exorbitant curiosity, Pudik gets into trouble - falls out of the nest; and the cat "red, green eyes" is right there. There is a battle between the sparrow mother and the red-haired robber. Pudik from fear even took off for the first time in his life ... Everything ended happily, "if you forget that mom was left without a tail."
In the image of Pudik, the character of the child is clearly visible - direct, naughty, playful. Soft humor, discreet colors create a warm and good world this fairy tale. The language is clear, simple, understandable to the baby. The speech of bird characters is based on onomatopoeia:
- I'm sorry, what? the mother sparrow asked him.
He shook his wings and, looking at the ground, chirped:
Too black, too black!
Dad flew in, brought insects to Pudik and boasted:
- Am I Chiv? Sparrow mom approved of him:
- Chiv, chiv!
The character of the hero in the fairy tale "The Case with Evseika" is more complicated, because the hero is older than Pudik in age. The underwater world, where the boy Yevseyka finds himself, is inhabited by creatures that are in a difficult relationship with each other. Small fishes, for example, tease a big crayfish - they sing a teaser in chorus:
Cancer lives under stones
Fish tail cancer chews.
The fish tail is very dry.
Cancer does not know the taste of flies.
The underwater inhabitants are trying to draw Yevseyka into their relationship. He staunchly resists: they are fish, and he is a man. He has to be cunning so as not to offend someone with an awkward word and not bring trouble on himself. Real life Yevseyki is intertwined with fantasy. Fools, he mentally addresses the fish. “I got two B’s in Russian last year.” To the finale, the action of the fairy tale moves through a chain of funny situations, witty dialogues. In the end, it turns out that all these wonderful events Yevseyka dreamed when he, sitting with a fishing rod on the seashore, fell asleep. So Gorky decided the traditional literary fairy tale the problem of interaction between fiction and reality. The Case with Yevseyka contains many light, witty verses that are readily memorized by children.
There are even more of them in the fairy tale "Samovar", which the writer included in the first book compiled and edited by him for children - "Christmas Tree" (1918). This collection is part of the writer's larger plan to create a library of children's literature. The collection was conceived as a fun book. “More humor, even satire,” Gorky admonished the authors. Chukovsky recalled: “The tale of Gorky himself“ Samovar ”, obsessed at the beginning of the whole book, is precisely a satire for children, exposing arrogance and arrogance. "Samovar" - prose interspersed with poetry. At first, he wanted to call it "About the samovar that became arrogant," but then he said: "I don't want a sermon instead of a fairy tale!" and changed the title.
The story has been reprinted many times. It reflected the views of M. Gorky on folk tale as an inexhaustible source of optimism and humor, to which children should also be introduced, as well as his approach to the literary processing of folklore.

Alexey PeshkovBorn in Nizhny Novgorod in the family of a carpenter (according to another version - the manager of the Astrakhan shipping company I. S. Kolchin) - Maxim Savvatevich Peshkov (1839-1871). Mother - Varvara Vasilievna, nee Kashirina. Orphaned at an early age, he spent his childhood in the house of his grandfather Kashirin (see Kashirin's house). From the age of 11 he was forced to go "to the people"; worked as a “boy” at a store, as a pantry utensil on a steamboat, as an apprentice in an icon-painting workshop, as a baker, etc.

In 1884 he tried to enter Kazan University. He got acquainted with Marxist literature and propaganda work.
In 1888 he was arrested for his connection with the circle of N. E. Fedoseev. He was under constant police surveillance. In October 1888 he entered as a watchman at the Dobrinka Gryaz-Tsaritsynskaya station. railway. Impressions from staying in Dobrinka will serve as the basis for the autobiographical story "The Watchman" and the story "For the sake of boredom".
In January 1889, by personal request (a complaint in verse), he was transferred to the Borisoglebsk station, then as a weigher to the Krutaya station.
In the spring of 1891 he set off to wander around the country and reached the Caucasus.
In 1892 he first appeared in print with the story Makar Chudra. Back in Nizhny Novgorod, publishes reviews and feuilletons in the Volzhsky Vestnik, Samarskaya Gazeta, Nizhny Novgorod Leaflet, etc.
1895 - "Chelkash", "Old Woman Izergil".
1897 - " former people"," Orlov's Spouses "," Malva "," Konovalov ".
From October 1897 to mid-January 1898, he lived in the village of Kamenka (now the city of Kuvshinovo, Tver Region) in the apartment of his friend Nikolai Zakharovich Vasiliev, who worked at the Kamensk paper factory and led an illegal working Marxist circle. Subsequently, the life impressions of this period served as material for the writer's novel "The Life of Klim Samgin".
1899 - the novel "Foma Gordeev", a poem in prose "The Song of the Falcon".
1900-1901 - novel "Three", personal acquaintance with Chekhov, Tolstoy.
1901 - "Song of the petrel". Participation in the Marxist workers' circles of Nizhny Novgorod, Sormov, St. Petersburg, wrote a proclamation calling for a fight against the autocracy. Arrested and expelled from Nizhny Novgorod.
In 1902 - A. M. Gorky turned to dramaturgy. Creates plays "Petty bourgeois", "At the bottom".
1904-1905 - writes the plays "Summer Residents", "Children of the Sun", "Barbarians". Meets Lenin. For the revolutionary proclamation and in connection with the execution on January 9, he was arrested, but then released under pressure from the public. Member of the revolution 1905-1907. In autumn 1905 he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party.
1906 - A. M. Gorky travels abroad, creates satirical pamphlets about the "bourgeois" culture of France and the USA ("My Interviews", "In America"). He writes the play "Enemies", creates the novel "Mother". Due to illness (tuberculosis), Gorky settled in Italy on the island of Capri, where he lived for 7 years. Here he writes "Confession" (1908), where his differences with the Bolsheviks were clearly identified (see "The Capri School").
1908 - the play "The Last", the story "The Life of an Unnecessary Man".
1909 - the novels "The Town of Okurov", "The Life of Matvey Kozhemyakin".
1913 - A.M. Gorky edits the Bolshevik newspapers Zvezda and Pravda, the art department of the Bolshevik magazine Enlightenment, published the first collection of proletarian writers. Writes Tales of Italy.

1900 Yasnaya Polyana
Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky 1912-1916 - A. M. Gorky creates a series of stories and essays that compiled the collection "Across Rus'", autobiographical novels "Childhood", "In People". The last part of the My Universities trilogy was written in 1923.
1917-1919 - A. M. Gorky does a lot of social and political work, criticizes the "methods" of the Bolsheviks, condemns their attitude towards the old intelligentsia, saves many of its representatives from Bolshevik repression and hunger. In 1917, having disagreed with the Bolsheviks on the issue of the timeliness of the socialist revolution in Russia, he did not pass the re-registration of party members and formally dropped out of it. [Source not specified 85 days]
1921 - A. M. Gorky's departure abroad. IN Soviet literature a myth arose that the reason for his departure was the resumption of his illness and the need, at the insistence of Lenin, to be treated abroad. In reality, A. M. Gorky was forced to leave because of the aggravation of ideological differences with the established government.
From 1924 he lived in Italy, in Sorrento. Published memoirs about Lenin.
1925 - the novel "The Artamonov Case".
1928 - at the invitation of the Soviet government and Stalin personally, he makes a trip around the country, during which Gorky is shown the achievements of the USSR, which are reflected in the series of essays "On the Soviet Union."
1932 - Gorky returns to Soviet Union. Here he receives an order from Stalin - to prepare the ground for the 1st Congress Soviet writers, and for this to carry out preparatory work among them. Gorky created many newspapers and magazines: the Academia publishing house, the book series History of Factories and Plants, History civil war”, the journal Literary Studies, he writes the plays “Egor Bulychev and Others” (1932), “Dostigaev and Others” (1933).

Maxim Gorky and Genrikh Yagoda. Not earlier than November 1935, 1934 - Gorky "conducts" the 1st Congress of Soviet Writers, makes a keynote speech at it.
In 1925-1936 he wrote the novel The Life of Klim Samgin, which was never completed.
On May 11, 1934, Gorky's son, Maxim Peshkov, unexpectedly dies. A.M. Gorky died on June 18, 1936 in Moscow, having outlived his son by just over 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.

[edit] Death
The circumstances of the death of Gorky and his son are considered by many to be "suspicious", there were rumors of poisoning, which, however, were not confirmed. At the funeral, among others, the coffin with the body of Gorky was carried by Molotov and Stalin. Interestingly, among other accusations of Genrikh Yagoda at the so-called Third Moscow Trial in 1938, there was an accusation of poisoning Gorky's son. Some publications blame Stalin for Gorky's death [source not specified 85 days]. An important precedent for the medical side of the accusations in the "doctors' case" was the Third Moscow Trial (1938), where among the defendants were three doctors (Kazakov, Levin and Pletnev), who were accused of killing Gorky and others.

(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 is a documentary film, a 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
The life of an unwanted 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

Maxim Gorky - pseudonym, real name - Alexander Maksimovich Peshkov; USSR, Gorki; 03/16/1868 - 06/18/1936

Maxim Gorky is one of famous writers Russian Empire and then the USSR. His works have been recognized all over the world, and many of them have been filmed both in the homeland of the writer and playwright, and beyond. And now M. Gorky is as relevant to read as it was a century ago, partly because of this, his works are presented in our rating.

Maxim Gorky biography

Alexander Maksimovich was born in 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod. His father, who worked in a shipping office, died early enough, his mother remarried, but died of consumption. Therefore, Alexander was brought up in the house of his maternal grandfather. The boy's childhood ended quickly. Already at the age of 11, he began working as a "boy" at shops, a baker and studied icon painting. Later, the writer will write in part autobiographical story"Childhood", in which he will describe all the hardships of those days. By the way, now Gorky's "Childhood" must be read according to the school curriculum.

In 1884, Alexander Peshkov tries to enter Kazan University, but gets acquainted with Marxist literature and begins to participate in propaganda work. The consequence of this is his arrest in 1888 and the constant control of the police over him. In the same year, Alexander gets a job as a watchman at railway station. He will write about this period of his life in his stories “The Watchman” and “For the sake of boredom”.

In 1891, Maxim Gorky set off to travel around the Caucasus, and in 1892 he returned to Nizhny Novgorod. Here for the first time his work "Makar Chudra" is published, and the author himself publishes articles for many local newspapers. In general, this period is called the heyday of the writer's work. He writes many new works. So in 1897 you can read "Former People". This is the very work with which the author got on the pages of our rating. The crown of this period of life is the publication of the first collection of short stories by M Gorky, published in 1898. They received recognition, and in the future the author pays more and more attention to literature.

In 1902, Gorky was elected an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, but what was under police supervision was immediately expelled from it. Because of this, Korolenko also leaves the academy. Subsequently, due to problems with the police and arrest, Gorky was forced to leave for America. Only in 1913, after a general amnesty, the author was able to return to his homeland.

After the revolution, Maxim Gorky criticizes the Bolshevik regime and rescues writers and cultural figures from shootings. As a result, he himself was forced to leave for Europe in 1921. Only in 1932, after a personal invitation from Stalin, Gorky returned to his homeland and prepared the ground for the "First Congress of Soviet Writers", which takes place in 1934. The writer dies two years later. His ashes are still kept within the walls of the Kremlin.

Maxim Gorky on the Top Books website

Maxim Gorky got into the ratings of our site due to the great demand for the novels "Former People" and "Mother", the works "Childhood", "Into People" and many others. In part, this popularity of the works is due to their presence in school curriculum, which provides the lion's share of requests. Nevertheless, the books got into our rating and took quite worthy places, and interest in Gorky's works in Lately even grows a little.