Foma Gordejew
by Maxim Gorky
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Russian writer Maxim Gorky rocketed into the upper pantheon of his country's literary culture with Foma Hordyeff, one of his first full-length novels. The young protagonist Foma Gordyeff has been born into privilege, but he's not sure whether he wants to pursue the lifestyle of his father, a successful merchant..
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Russland des späten19. Jahrhundert. Foma, der einzige langersehnte Erbe eines Kaufmanns, der sich zum Reichtum hochgearbeitet hat. Die Mutter stirbt bei seiner Geburt. Foma wächst in der Familie des Paten auf, ebenfalls ein reicher Kaufmann. Foma wird zur Übernahme des Geschäftes erzogen, empfindet dies als Zwangsjacke, distanziert sich, wird zum Außenseiter, verachtet das prätentiöse Gebaren der reichen Kaufleute. Leere und Sinnlosigkeit sieht er überall. Was bleibt ihm außer Zynismus …
Psychologisch subtil, und auch in der Übersetzung eine eindringliche und schöne Sprache. (IV-17)
Psychologisch subtil, und auch in der Übersetzung eine eindringliche und schöne Sprache. (IV-17)
Apr 20, 2017German
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923+ Works 8,213 Members
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, better known as Maxim (Maksim) Gorky, was born on March 28th, 1968. Until the recent collapse of the Soviet state, Gorky was officially viewed as the greatest Russian writer of the twentieth century---an evaluation far above the true measure of his nevertheless considerable talent. Proclaimed the founder of socialist show more realism, he significantly influenced many Soviet writers, as well as others in Europe and in the developing world, and his works were for decades part of the Soviet school curriculum. His formal education was minimal. From the age of 11, he fended for himself with a variety of jobs. Self-taught, he published his first story, "Makar Chudra," in 1892. His first collection, Sketches and Stories (1898), is a romantic celebration of society's strong outcasts---the hobos and the drifters---and helped to popularize such literary protagonists. Foma Gordeyev (1899), Gorky's first novel, depicts generational conflict within the Russian bourgeoisie. A popular public figure on the left, Gorky was often in trouble with the tsarist government. During the 1900s, he was the central figure in the Znanie publishing house, which produced realist prose with a social conscience. Some of his own works were extremely successful. The play The Lower Depths (1902), set in a poorhouse and a strong indictment of social injustice, was not only a staple of Soviet theater but also influential in the United States. Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh was influenced by it. The propagandistic, extraordinarily influential novel Mother (1906) presents an iconic working-class woman who is transformed into a saint of the Revolution; its optimism in the ultimate triumph of the cause made it a prototype of socialist-realist fiction. During the years prior to 1917, Gorky published a number of autobiographical stories: All Over Russia (1912--18) (also Through Russia) and his memoirs; My Childhood (1913--14), My Apprenticeship (1915--16), and My Universities (1923). This trilogy shows his art at its best and includes some very lively reminiscences of such writers as Tolstoy and Chekhov. Although a Bolshevik party member since 1905, Gorky strongly criticized the new regime after the October Revolution: His collected articles from 1917-18, Untimely Thoughts, remained unpublished in the Soviet Union until recently. A cultural activist, he helped to save the lives of many writers, artists, and scholars during the cold and hungry years of the civil war. In 1921 he left Russia for Italy but returned permanently a decade later, recognized as the grand old man of Soviet literature. He then worked for Stalin's economic policies and presided over the institutionalization of socialist realism. At his death, he left unfinished a major novel of considerable interest, The Life of Klim Samgin, which he had been working on since 1925. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1899
- First words
- Sixty years ago, when fortunes reaching into the millions were being made with fabulous rapidity on the Volga, --Ignat Gordyeeff, then a young lad, worked as waterpumper on one of the barges belonging to the wealthy merchant ... (show all)Zaeff.
Preface: Russia, like the United States, is a land of vast social contrasts, and of equally vast democratic equality, which is constantly being illustrated with striking examples of the adage that "extremes meet." - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Come, now, say a few words to us about doomsday, won't you?! He-he-he! Pro-phet!"
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- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 891.7 — Literature & rhetoric Asian Literature East Indo-European and Celtic literatures Russian and East Slavic languages
- LCC
- PZ3 .G678 .F — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction in English
- BISAC
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- Reviews
- 2
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- 10 — English, Finnish, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 30
- ASINs
- 24
