- Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (27 Jun 1974)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 014044291X
- ISBN-13: 978-0140442915
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 121,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Book Description
"Two beings dwelt within me: one of them, having seen too much of filth and loathsomeness, had become chastened. Life's dreadful humdrum had made him skeptical and suspicious, and he looked with helpless compassion upon all people, including himself. This individual longed to lead a quiet, retired life far away from cities and people. He dreamed of going to Persia, of entering a monastery, of living in a forester's hut or the lodge of a railway guard, or becoming a night watchman somewhere on the outskirts of town. The fewer the people and the more remote, the better.
" The other individual, baptized by the holy spirit of wise and truthful books, realized that life's dreadful humdrum exerted a ruthless power which might easily lop off his head or crush him under a grimy heel. And so he summoned all his strength in self- defense, baring his teeth, clenching his fists, ever ready for a fight or an argument."
In My Apprenticeship, Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) gives an exact account of his own adolescence. After the death of his mother, fourteen-year-old Alexei Peshkov ( Gorky ) sets out to earn his own living. First he is the errand boy in a shoe shop; then, in turn, a draughtsman's apprentice, a dishwasher on a Volga steamboat, and an apprentice in a studio where icons are painted. Repulsed by the ugly mediocrity of middle-class life, by the "senseless, stupid animosity poisoning the life around him," he constantly searches for something better.
My Apprenticeship (1916) is the second book of Gorky's autobiographical trilogy, each book of which represents and independent work. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From the Author
"Two beings dwelt within me: one of them, having seen too much of filth and loathsomeness, had become chastened. Life’s dreadful humdrum had made him skeptical and suspicious, and he looked with helpless compassion upon all people, including himself. This individual longed to lead a quiet, retired life far away from cities and people. He dreamed of going to Persia, of entering a monastery, of living in a forester’s hut or the lodge of a railway guard, or becoming a night watchman somewhere on the outskirts of town. The fewer the people and the more remote, the better.
" The other individual, baptized by the holy spirit of wise and truthful books, realized that life’s dreadful humdrum exerted a ruthless power which might easily lop off his head or crush him under a grimy heel. And so he summoned all his strength in self- defense, baring his teeth, clenching his fists, ever ready for a fight or an argument." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
" The other individual, baptized by the holy spirit of wise and truthful books, realized that life’s dreadful humdrum exerted a ruthless power which might easily lop off his head or crush him under a grimy heel. And so he summoned all his strength in self- defense, baring his teeth, clenching his fists, ever ready for a fight or an argument." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This autobiography covers the beginning of Gorky's adult years at the age of eleven (!) and goes until he decides to enter university at the age of fifteen. At the age of 9, Gorky is thrown to the wolves (`the horrors of everyday life'). His `career' goes over architect apprentice, dish-washer on boats, bird trapper, nurse, icon seller and ultimately foreman at the age of 14!
He sees around him `men with insatiable sexual hunger', `dirt and the inevitable viciousness that came with the hard, half-starved life that people had to lead' and `a corrosive, exasperating boredom enveloping everything'. A world full of promiscuity, obscenities, `where all men are enemies'. Moreover, people were living in an environment of religious fanaticism brought on by a terrifying God.
But, he also made crucial encounters with clairvoyant men, who teach him: `go on, try and find out for yourself.' They force him to take decisions and make him understand clearly: `I must do something, or I'll be finished'. At the end, he tries to enroll himself as a student at the Kazan University.
This book is also a profound laudation on reading which was crucial for Gorky's escape out of darkness: `books made me invulnerable to many things' and that notwithstanding the `deep humiliation and the many insults his passion for reading inflicted on him'.
This work is a dark and terrible portrait of Russia under the tsars at the end of the 19th century.
But it shows how an individual can succeed in keeping his self-esteem and escape a certain intellectual death, here mainly through a passion for reading and knowledge.
Not to be missed.
He sees around him `men with insatiable sexual hunger', `dirt and the inevitable viciousness that came with the hard, half-starved life that people had to lead' and `a corrosive, exasperating boredom enveloping everything'. A world full of promiscuity, obscenities, `where all men are enemies'. Moreover, people were living in an environment of religious fanaticism brought on by a terrifying God.
But, he also made crucial encounters with clairvoyant men, who teach him: `go on, try and find out for yourself.' They force him to take decisions and make him understand clearly: `I must do something, or I'll be finished'. At the end, he tries to enroll himself as a student at the Kazan University.
This book is also a profound laudation on reading which was crucial for Gorky's escape out of darkness: `books made me invulnerable to many things' and that notwithstanding the `deep humiliation and the many insults his passion for reading inflicted on him'.
This work is a dark and terrible portrait of Russia under the tsars at the end of the 19th century.
But it shows how an individual can succeed in keeping his self-esteem and escape a certain intellectual death, here mainly through a passion for reading and knowledge.
Not to be missed.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
see my review for the first part ("My Childhood"), I can't believe it took me so long to discover that treasure.
The translation by Ronald Wilks is superb.
The translation by Ronald Wilks is superb.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Obviously, in order to get the full flavour of Gorky's incredible journey through early life, it must be read in conjunction with My Childhood and afterwards with My Universities. Remarkable in its detail, frank and emotional without wishing for sympathy, an important read for anyone wishing to learn about the great man.
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