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Plays 2: The Last Ones / Vassa Zheleznova / The Zykovs / Egor Bulychev
"His plays survive through their sheer emotional intensity."—Guardian
Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) was hailed by Anton Chekhov as the voice of his time. Chekhov described Gorky as "the first in Russia to have expressed contempt and loathing for the bourgeoisie, and he has done it at the precise moment when Russia is ready for protest." These four plays offer a panoramic view of Russian life during the revolutionary years and are here given accurate playable translations by Cathy Porter.
The Last Ones: "A single main conflict, that between two brothers predominates. If Enemies marks the end of Gorky's first period of play writing, then The Last Ones opens the second."—Barry Scherr
Vassa Zheleznova: "It is a startling play, clearly the work of the author of The Lower Depths, and the central responsibility it gives to women is fascinating."—Financial Times
The Zykovs: "Gorky is writing about a bourgeois society in a state of perilous drift. But what gives his play its guts and spirit is his feeling that all these characters have human potential that is being fruitlessly squandered."—Guardian
Egor Bulychev: "The study of a man at grips with the whole problem of existence ... it is the real stuff of tragedy."—The Times
Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) was hailed by Anton Chekhov as the voice of his time. Chekhov described Gorky as "the first in Russia to have expressed contempt and loathing for the bourgeoisie, and he has done it at the precise moment when Russia is ready for protest." These four plays offer a panoramic view of Russian life during the revolutionary years and are here given accurate playable translations by Cathy Porter.
The Last Ones: "A single main conflict, that between two brothers predominates. If Enemies marks the end of Gorky's first period of play writing, then The Last Ones opens the second."—Barry Scherr
Vassa Zheleznova: "It is a startling play, clearly the work of the author of The Lower Depths, and the central responsibility it gives to women is fascinating."—Financial Times
The Zykovs: "Gorky is writing about a bourgeois society in a state of perilous drift. But what gives his play its guts and spirit is his feeling that all these characters have human potential that is being fruitlessly squandered."—Guardian
Egor Bulychev: "The study of a man at grips with the whole problem of existence ... it is the real stuff of tragedy."—The Times
- GenresPlays
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 26, 2003
About the author
Maxim Gorky
1,751 books1,837 followersRussian writer Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov (Russian: Алексей Максимович Пешков) supported the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 and helped to develop socialist realism as the officially accepted literary aesthetic; his works include
The Life of Klim Samgin
(1927-1936), an unfinished cycle of novels.
This Soviet author founded the socialist realism literary method and a political activist. People also nominated him five times for the Nobel Prize in literature. From 1906 to 1913 and from 1921 to 1929, he lived abroad, mostly in Capri, Italy; after his return to the Soviet Union, he accepted the cultural policies of the time.
This Soviet author founded the socialist realism literary method and a political activist. People also nominated him five times for the Nobel Prize in literature. From 1906 to 1913 and from 1921 to 1929, he lived abroad, mostly in Capri, Italy; after his return to the Soviet Union, he accepted the cultural policies of the time.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 5, 2026
Vassa Zheleznova by Maxim Gorky is not a formidable play, if you ask me, but the performance of George Constantin as Prokhor Khrapov is magnetic, pure magic – you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera from The Greatest Books of All Time and other web pages on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and YouTube channel, my macaws are the stars of that channel
12 out of 10 for Geroge Constantin, but only 7 out of 10 for the play
I have not been elated by Mother https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... the work by Maxim Gorky which has been included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, and I was under the impression that the author has collaborated with the Soviet regime to some extent
I wonder where this work would be in one of the new book clubs; there is an article in The Economist of May 7 to 14 about these outfits, Dua Lipa appears to be not just a musician, singer, but an influential reader, should I say critic as well, she talked at The Booker Prize ceremony, interviewed one winner and has followers
She is not the only one, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow had something associated with her Goop (which sells vaginal eggs, among other outré amenities) and then there is Oprah, of course, her club has been bought, or the rights, something, by Amazon, and there is skepticism surrounding these beanos, though they sell
I wonder what Magister Ludi https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... Kingsley Amis would say about these developments, he joked on The Booker Prize and so much more – now about Vassa Zheleznova, it is interesting only as a vehicle for George Constantin, the best thespian in the world
I used to place him on the same level with Jack Nicholson, but watching him in action in this rather forgettable Russian work I was thinking that this is something else: Pure Magic on a different level, this Maestro can work with anything, make gold out of shit- well, it is not fair to Gorky, but I am just stretching a point
This Divine Artist combines, well, everything in his performance, there is humor, irony, maybe the fact that he makes this abuser, Prokhor, somehow likeable would be used by some to hit against this perspective, but this is art as Pure Joy, this Magician took the audience to another place, Heaven would be the name
https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... there was a secret shared with the public, a little lost when we watch him on YouTube, or television – George Constatin was Petru Rares last night on TVR Cultural, but the black and white, old, unrestored recording was in some ways an affront
finally, there was another aspect, of personal interest: somebody I used to love (maybe still do, who knows) had a role in the play, albeit a minor one, she used to be…Miss Romania, changed my life, I do not know if for the better https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... ‘one year of love is better than a lifetime without’, to quote Queen
12 out of 10 for Geroge Constantin, but only 7 out of 10 for the play
I have not been elated by Mother https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... the work by Maxim Gorky which has been included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, and I was under the impression that the author has collaborated with the Soviet regime to some extent
I wonder where this work would be in one of the new book clubs; there is an article in The Economist of May 7 to 14 about these outfits, Dua Lipa appears to be not just a musician, singer, but an influential reader, should I say critic as well, she talked at The Booker Prize ceremony, interviewed one winner and has followers
She is not the only one, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow had something associated with her Goop (which sells vaginal eggs, among other outré amenities) and then there is Oprah, of course, her club has been bought, or the rights, something, by Amazon, and there is skepticism surrounding these beanos, though they sell
I wonder what Magister Ludi https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... Kingsley Amis would say about these developments, he joked on The Booker Prize and so much more – now about Vassa Zheleznova, it is interesting only as a vehicle for George Constantin, the best thespian in the world
I used to place him on the same level with Jack Nicholson, but watching him in action in this rather forgettable Russian work I was thinking that this is something else: Pure Magic on a different level, this Maestro can work with anything, make gold out of shit- well, it is not fair to Gorky, but I am just stretching a point
This Divine Artist combines, well, everything in his performance, there is humor, irony, maybe the fact that he makes this abuser, Prokhor, somehow likeable would be used by some to hit against this perspective, but this is art as Pure Joy, this Magician took the audience to another place, Heaven would be the name
https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... there was a secret shared with the public, a little lost when we watch him on YouTube, or television – George Constatin was Petru Rares last night on TVR Cultural, but the black and white, old, unrestored recording was in some ways an affront
finally, there was another aspect, of personal interest: somebody I used to love (maybe still do, who knows) had a role in the play, albeit a minor one, she used to be…Miss Romania, changed my life, I do not know if for the better https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... ‘one year of love is better than a lifetime without’, to quote Queen
October 16, 2026
A masterful exploration that goes beyond superficial explanations, 'Plays 2: The Last Ones / Vassa Zheleznova / The Zykovs / Egor Bulychev' by Maxim Gorky, unraveling subtle details that are often overlooked in mainstream discussions, leaving a lasting imprint that lingers long after turning the final page.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews