My Apprenticeship

Autobiography #2

by Maxim Gorky, Margaret Wettlin (Translator)

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 an independent work.

Genres: Russian Literature, Classics, Russia, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Literature

612 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Russian 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.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now Alyosha is eleven years old… And he is away from home… 

And so my apprenticeship began, as a shop-boy in a ‘fashionable’ shoe shop in the high street. The owner was a small fattish man with a swarthy, tired face, green teeth and eyes the colour of muddy water.

His life isn’t milk and honey… His life is bruises and scratches… He is humiliated by all the adults… After scorching his hands badly he returns to his granny and granddad and he spends his summer catching birds… In the winter he becomes an apprentice of his relative in town but instead of learning the drawing skill he is used as a deprived serf doing all the dirtiest work in the house…  Bruises and bumps is his pay… When he manages to get outdoors he observes the lives of grownup town dwellers…

I was able to look into the windows in the lower storeys of houses, if they were not too heavily frosted over or hung with curtains. Those windows revealed many different activities. I saw people praying, kissing, fighting, playing cards, chattering away in anxious, hollow-sounding voices. A mute, fishlike life opened up in front of me – just as though I had put a kopek in a slot machine.

In the spring he runs away and finds a job as a dishwasher on the riverboat… He befriends a cook and the cook makes him read books… He keeps watching all the passing folks aboard… 

I thought that these people had no idea where they were being taken and could not care less where they disembarked. Wherever they landed they would stay on the quayside for a short time and then climb on board any ship that happened to arrive and go off somewhere else. They all seemed lost and homeless, and everywhere they went appeared strange to them. And they were all terrible cowards.

In the winter he is again an apprentice of a draftsman… Disgusting squalor and meanness are all around… Reading books is his compelling and irresistible passion…

As I read I began to feel healthier and stronger, and I worked rapidly and skilfully, as I now had a purpose: the sooner I finished my chores the more time would be left over for reading. When they took books away from me I became listless and lazy, and a morbid forgetfulness which I had not known before would take hold of me.

Ignorance turns one into a slave and knowledge sets one free.

[Shuhan Rizwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

অপূর্ব! যা পড়লে জীবন বিস্তৃত হয়ে যায় আর তুচ্ছ ব্যক্তির বদলে মানুষকে আমরা চিনতে শিখি জাত হিসেবে- তেমন বইয়ের একটা।

শৈশবে এই বই না পড়ার আক্ষেপ আমাকে অনেকদিন পোড়াবে।

[Luís · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My Apprenticeship" is the second part of the trilogy #Autobiography: "My Childhood," and "My Universities," whose author, Alekseï Maksimovich Pechkov, will sign his literary work under the name of Maxime Gorki, bitter in Russian...
From an impoverished family, self-taught and a journalist, Maxime Gorky retraces his life as a teenager here and takes us into deep Russia at the end of the 19th century.
Gorki is considered one of the leaders of the "Soviet realism" movement, close to Lenin. His writings are no less interesting for all that, particularly here, where we discover the slow progression of a teenager left to himself towards adulthood (fifteen years in this case) in the middle of the environment for the less challenging end of tsarist Russia - a teenager who will save his intellectual integrity by discovering art and particularly literature, which will allow him to quench his thirst for knowledge and open up to the outside world.
A real hymn to reading.

[Cemre · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Çaldığımızla yaşıyoruz... Kazandığımızsa Tanrı'ya ve Çar'a gidiyor" (s. 362).

Ekmeğimi Kazanırken, Gorki'nin Otobiyografisini oluşturan üç kitaptan ikincisi. Kitap Gorki'nin on - on bir yaşlarında kendi "ekmeğini kazanması" (aslında sadece kendi ekmeği de değil) işe başlatılmasıyla, Çocukluğum'un son bulduğu yerden, başlıyor. Kitapta işlenen beş altı yıllık bir süre boyunca Gorki'nin çeşitli işlerde çalışarak hayatı, Rusya'yı, insanları ve de kitapları tanıma sürecini okuyoruz. Biz de Gorki ile beraber anlattığı dönemin Rusyasını net bir şekilde tanıma imkânı buluyoruz. Benim için yukarıda paylaştığım alıntı bu durumu özetler nitelikte. Bunun yanı sıra Gorki'yi adım adım yazarlığa hazırlayan o kitap okuma sevgisini adım adım izliyoruz. Ben özellikle bu durumdan büyük keyif aldım.

Benim Üniversitelerim'i de bir an önce okuyarak üçlemeyi tamamlamayı umut ediyorum.

[Elnaz sh · Rating 5 out of 5]

هی ! الکسی؛
گمان میکنی که بقیه میدونن برای چی زندگی میکنند؟!!!!...

[Pia G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

gorki, aleksey’i hayatın içine savuruyor ve her yeni işte onu bambaşka zorluklar, yeni acılar bekliyor. patronlar çoğunlukla kaba, acımasız, çocuklara karşı sevgisiz.. aleksey bazen aç, çoğu zamansa yalnız ancak yine de kitaplara sığınarak, kendi başına ve kimseye güven(e)meden biraz olsun umut bulmaya çalışıyor. bence kitabın alt metni tam da burada gizli: toplumun en altındaki bir çocuğun, kötülükle, yoksullukla ve umutsuzlukla boğuşarak büyümesi, hem kendine, hem de dünyaya giderek yabancılaşması.. buna rağmen, kitapların ve hayallerin bir çocuğu hayatta tutabileceğine dair bir umut var satırlarda.

evet, kitap yorucu ve kasvetli bir yolculuk sunuyor ancak aleksey’in her şeye rağmen umut etmekten, iyi kalmaktan ve kitaplardan vazgeçmeyişi bana da güç verdi.

[ZaRi]

شاید نسبت به همه کس مهربان باشم.اما نشان نمیدهم.آدم نباید به مهربانی و خوبی خود اعتراف کند زیرا مردم ازش سوءاستفاده خواهند کرد،همان طور که در باتلاق مشتی گل خشک متلاشی می شود،یک آدم مهربان و خوب را نیز خرد میکنند و لگدمال می سازند.

[Enis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ekmeğimi Kazanırken, Maksim Gorki'nin hayat hikayesine Çocukluğum'da kaldığı yerden devam ettiği serinin ikinci yapıtı. Aynı ilk eserde olduğu gibi yine tüm hikayeyi kendı ağzından anlatan yazar, bu eserinde yaşadığı devrin Rusyasını ve insanlarını yavaş yavaş olgunlaşmaya başlayan bir gencin gözüyle bize aktarmaya çalışmış.

Çocukluktan çıkarak, hiç eğitim göremeden çalışma hayatına atılmış bir bireyin başından geçenlere değinirken, özellike değişik insalara, zor çalışma şartlarına, bol iki yüzlülüğe, içkiye, kumara ve tabii kadınlara değin birçok düşüncesini paylaşmış Gorki. Anlatısında birden fazla karakterin yükselişine ve düşüşüne şahit olduğumuz gibi, çevresinde olanların gelişmekte olan bir birey üzerinde bıraktığı etkileri de açıkça sunmuş okuyucuya. Özellikle kitaplar, yazarlar, bu eserde kesinlikle Gorki'yle birlikte baş rolde denebilir.

Belkide daha çok hayatın içinde geçtiği için yahut yazarın maharetinden, ben bu kitabı serinin ilk kitabına göre daha doygun buldum. İlk kitaptan çok alıntı olması, seriye farklı sırayla başlayanların eksik kalmasına sebep olabilir. Buna rağmen özellikle iyi kitap, kötü kitap ayrımını çok yerinde ve doğru buldum. Genel olarak yazarın daha fazla kişisel görüş bildirdiği bir eser olarak değerlendiridim.

Eser özellikle biyografi tarzı için klasik kelimesinin hakkını sonuna kadar veren bir yapıt. Fakat sadece bu tarzı sevenlerin değil hayattan bir şeyler öğrenmek isteyen herkesin okuması gereken bir metin.

[Vladys Kovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for the entire trilogy 'My Childhood', 'My Apprenticeship', and 'My Universities'

When one thinks about Russian classical literature, two names invariably pop up: Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Often somebody would mention Chekhov in the same breath, some would rightly point out that Pushkin deserves his place on the pedestal, others would insist that Turgenev should be put side-by-side with his two most recognized contemporaries.

Ever since I read 'My Childhood' by Maxim Gorky, the first part of his autobiographic trilogy, the trio of Russian giants was firmly established for me : Dostoevsky, Gorky, Tolstoy - in that order.

The first sentence of this book sets the tone:

"Father lay on the floor, by the window of a small, darkened room, dressed in white, and looking terribly long. His feet were bare and his toes were strangely splayed out. His gentle fingers, now peacefully resting on his chest, were also distorted, and the black discs of copper coins firmly sealed his once shining eyes. His kind face had darkened and its nastily bared teeth frightened me"

I did not misspeak - this is one sentence in Russian, fittingly broken up by Ronald Wilks in his English translation (which is supposed to be quite good).

Already after reading this you realize that you are in for something unusual. The book never lets up, it holds you firmly in its grip, you are bound to remember some passages long after the book is closed and put away.

The pen name of the author - Gorky - translates from Russian as 'bitter' and you will get to taste the bitterness when you read this trilogy. Deaths are scattered around the pages, they are noted and recounted in a matter-of-fact voice of a child as regular, commonplace events. But it is not all doom and gloom, the darkness is followed by light and some of the most memorable passages are filled with tenderness and joy.

“For sadness and gladness live within us side by side, almost inseparable; the one succeeding the other with an elusive, inappreciable swiftness.”

“In recalling my childhood I like to picture myself as a beehive to which various simple obscure people brought the honey of their knowledge and thoughts on life, generously enriching my character with their own experience. Often this honey was dirty and bitter, but every scrap of knowledge was honey all the same.”

It is these "simple obscure people" that light the pages of the book. Uneducated, uncouth, rough and often violent these people from the end of the 19th century Russia come alive in short but precise descriptions of the writer at the height of his powers. It is rare to find character sketches so economically executed and yet so complete.

The main two characters are of course grandmother and grandfather of the little Alexei, seemingly representing two opposing forces shaping up his life, leaving the traces of warmth and the scars of anger behind. At the age of fourteen Alexei has to quit his grandparents' home to earn his living.

The second book is translated as 'My Apprenticeship' or 'In the World' and here the voice of a teenager, hardened beyond his years, picks up where the voice of a child left off. Dissatisfied with what he sees around him Alexei aims to break free from this monotonous existence and finds his release in books, in words. He sees education as the only way out.

The third book 'My Universities', probably the weakest of the three, was written seven years later. Alexei meets with students, idealists with a revolutionary agenda. However, he is disillusioned, having lived through the torture of his young years he no longer believes in the inherent goodness of people. There is less hope and more bitterness in this book, probably reflecting the writer's state of mind while in exile. The book ends with Alexei leaving on an aimless journey on foot across Russia that would last for five years.

Gorky was initially extremely critical of the Soviets and personally of Lenin. Gorky eventually returned from his exile in Italy to Soviet Russia and seemingly accepted the ideology of the regime. He was most likely killed by Stalin's thugs.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to say whether Gorky or Tolstoy wrote better childhood memoirs, and that’s saying something.

[Emrah Şakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

otobiyogrofik üçlemenin ikinci kitabı olan ekmeğimi kazanırken, onlu yaşlarında yavaş yavaş hayata atılmaya başlayan bir çocuğun, rus toplumunun en yozlaşmış döneminde başından geçenleri tertemiz bir dille okura aktarıyor.

yavaş yavaş çocukluktan çıktığı yıllarda yazar, fikir hayatının nasıl olgunlaştığını, tutkularının nasıl ortaya çıktığını, hayatında iz bırakan insanları ve mekanları, çok güzel tasvirlerle kaleme almış. tam olarak insan karakterinin olgunlaştığı yıllarda, içerisinde yaşanılan toplumun bireyi ne derecede etkilediğini görebilirsiniz. bu açıdan yetişkinler olarak, günümüz türkiye’sinde yetişmek zorunda kalan çocuklara karşı bakış açınızı da değerlendirebileceğiniz bir eser.

gorki'nin küçük yaşlarda ortaya çıkan okuma tutkusu insana ilham verecek cinsten. ayrıca karşısına çıkan zorluklar karşısındaki direnci, çevresindekilerden duydukları ile kendi tecrübelerini birleştirerek ortaya özgün bir karakter koyması ve bu karakterin tüm gelişim evrelerini de kaleme aldığı için okumayı, takip etmeyi kolaylaştırması okura keyifli bir okuma vadediyor.

eser içerisindeki yan karakterlerin çoğunun ağızlarından asla “tanrı” kelimesini düşürmemelerine rağmen, her türlü pisliğe bulanmaları, bunu da normalleştirmeleri, ülkemizde akşam haberlerini izliyormuşçasına nahoş bir tat bırakıyor gerçi. sanırım yozlaşmanın maskesi; doğu toplumlarında her zaman “din”, “tanrı” veya “allah” oluyor. böyle bir ortamda büyümüş ancak elinden geldiğince düşünce hayatını zenginleştirmeye çalışan gorki’nin ilerleyen yaşlarında neden devrim yanlısı olduğunu daha iyi anlayacaksınız.

büyüklerinin isteğiyle iş hayatının kucağına bırakılan 8-9 yaşındaki bir çocuğun, oradan oraya sürüklenmesini, çoğu zaman itilip kakılmasını, nadiren sevgi, saygı ve ilgi görmesini okuyacaksınız. bunun yanında aynı ilk kitaptaki gibi enfes mekân tasvirleri sizleri bekliyor.

[Masoud · Rating 4 out of 5]

زندگی، ملاحظه می کنید، همین زندگی ممکن است آن چه را که در روان ها و دل های ما، عدالت خواهی، خوبی و مهربانی است زایل کند و بزداید.

[nursish · Rating 4 out of 5]

üçlemenin ikinci kitabı bu kitap. ilk kitabı çocukluğum'dan etkilendiğim kadar etkilendim mi, hayır. ancak bu kitap da oldukça akıcıydı. ilk kitabın sonunda, dede evinden çıkan aleksey'in neredeyse her bölümde farklı bir iş kolunda çalışmasını, farklı farklı insanları tanımasını, onları anlamlandırmaya çalışmasını okuyoruz. kimilerini yine anlamakta zorluk çekerken kimilerine daha bir sıcak yaklaşıyor, ilgi duyuyor aleksey. ayrıca kitapların dünyasına giriş yapıyor. kitaplarda okuduğu insanlarla, kendi hayatını, kendi çevresini karşılaştırıyor, sorguluyor.

"pırıl pırıl, çok tatlı bir sabah, ama ben biraz keyifsizim; kimseciklerin olmadığı kırlara doğru uzaklaşmak istiyorum; çünkü, biliyorum: insanlar hep yaptıkları gibi bu aydınlık, ışıl ışıl günü de kirletecekler."

"pek çok duamı bugün bile hatırlarım. çocukluk yıllarına ait yaşanmışlıklar, insan ruhunda çoğu kez ömür boyu kapanmayan derin yara izleri açıyor."

"bizde neşe kendi başına var olamadığı gibi, ona salt neşe olarak değer de verilmez; derin Rus hüznünü bir parça olsun yatıştırabilmek için, neşeyi gömülü bulunduğu derinliklerden özel çabalarla çekip çıkarmak gerekir. kendi başına var olamayan neşede, neşeye özgü bir iç gücün olup olmadığı kuşkuludur ve bu kuşku, neşenin neşe olarak varoluşundan değil, hüznü bertaraf etmek amacıyla çağrılmış olmasından kaynaklanır."

"...çünkü insanoğlunu sabretmekten, dış koşulların gücüne boyun eğmekten daha korkunç bir şekilde sakatlayan başka hiçbir şey yoktur."

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

اولين كتاب از ادبيات روسيه براي من شد اتوبيوگرافي ماكسيم گوركي و كتابي كه نوجواني نويسنده ر توصيف مي كرد البته نويسنده خود كودكي اش رو توصيف مي كرد. پر از درد و پر از رنج . ظلم همه جاي دنيا يه معني اره به شكل هاي مختلف ظاهر مي شه و همه ي مردم تو دوران ظلم ، مي تونن زندكي رو برا خودشون و برا اطرافيان سخت تر كنن . شايد كمي مهربان تر باشيم اين همه رنج رو تو دنيا سبب نشيم . هر نسل به ادم هاي مهربون تر نياز داره .

[Arman Behrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

از نظر افراد ساكن طبقه ي بورژوا هر فرد در طبقه ي خودشون يك انسان منحصربه فرده، اما سايرين همه يك نفرن، پرولتاريا.
گوركي اين نگاه رو تو اين كار خرد ميكنه.
كتاب سفري است به دنياي ناشناخته ها، دنياي پرولتاريا

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do Russians love to suffer, or do they simply find ways to cope with the difficulties that tribe and geography have subjected them? One cannot but entertain the idea that Russians, perhaps unwillingly but certainly sometimes enthusiastically, tend to revel in their own difficulties. Lev Gumilev called it “passionarity”, the best description of which might be “Russian capacity for suffering as their special contribution to world order.” The French have philosophy, the Germans have industry, the English have law – the Russians have suffering.

That is certainly, at least, what Putin believes.

Maxim Gorky is Soviet Russia’s most important writer. The inventor of the genre of “Socialist Realism” – ‘Tractors of the world unite!!’ “My Apprenticeship” is the middle book in his three-part autobiography. A coming of age story of a young man trying to find his way in a backwater part of Tsarist Russia beside the Volga. And how he was saved by books.

There is something tremendously compelling in Gorky’s writing. I, who have read a tremendous amount of Russian literature, would place “My Apprenticeship” at the top of the pile. Like all Russian literature, but maybe more so, this book was full of humanity. It bleeds with the suffering people forced to work for nothing; it sorrows for the prostitutes of Gorky’s home town with no better option – and it seethes with contempt against the feckless moneyed classes. In short, it is perfect literature upon which to build a revolution. Stalin knew this, as did Beria and Lenin and the others. Though Gorky died early into the Soviet Russian experiment, he had a fundamental role in setting the tone that still exists today.

It is nihilistic, Gorky’s Russia. It has religion, but that faith does not provide answers. It has royalty, but to live for the pleasure of the Kings and the Tsars is not something that any longer motivates turn of the 20th century Russia. Sartre would be happy in Gorky’s world, as would Nietzsche – Camus would object to its joylessness. To be honest, I found it compelling. The powerless fight against the forces of darkness – never really hoping to win but knowing you have to fight anyway. The sadness at a life that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. The frustration at the all-to-apparent rewards for wickedness. These also affect me, bolstered by my own experiences in a world that does not seem to care (read “I, Charles, From the Camps” – my finest novel about Ugandan poverty and rebellion, a novel I believe Gorky would have loved).

I’m sure Gorky would have been tremendously disappointed by Stalin’s Russia. He died just one year before the purge (who knows, maybe had he lived he could have protected Osip Mandelstam and Gurgen Mahari and so many others from the Gulag). Yes, Gorky would have been heartbroken by Stalin’s brutality. But he would have understood it – it would have seemed to him the most natural thing in the world

[Onur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aleksey is a small and poor kid. And the book tells his life story from at the beginning. There are interesting points regarding his family, his grandma and his friends. It is nice book.

[Ceren Atlı Akgünler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"İşi hakkında şöyle derdi Ardalyon:
- Kendime tahta bir tabut yapabilmek için insanlara tuğladan evler yapıyorum." (s. 386)

Beni çok etkileyen bir durum Gorki'nin hayat hikayesini okuyor olmak. Böylesine bir insanın yaşam macerası, geçtiği patikalar, tanıştığı insanlar... Aradan yüzyıl geçse bile insanların sorunlarının değişmediğini görüyorum. Zaman ve mekanın ötesine uzanan bir ilişki kuruluyor böylece. Kurgu dışı kitapları okurken en çok da bu durum beni etkiliyor. Benim de bir emekli işçinin kızı olmam sebebiyle daha da bir özdeşleştirdim kendimi sanırım. Yukarıdaki alıntı ise beni en çok etkileyen hatta tabiri caizse can evimden vuran bir cümle oldu. Daha güzel açıklanabileceğini hiç zannetmiyorum.

[Utsob Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

ম্যাক্সিম গোর্কির আত্মজৈবনিক লেখাগুলোর দ্বিতীয় খণ্ড এটি। বোধকরি 'মাই এপ্রেন্টিসশিপ' নামও বইটি প্রচলিত। প্রথম বইটির শেষ থেকে এটি শুরু।

বইটায় গোর্কির কৈশরের কর্মজীবনের ছবি পাওয়া যায়। যদি ছবি আঁকা হত তবে পাওয়া যেত বিষাদময় অসংখ্য রঙের সমাহার।

এই বইয়ের গোর্কির স্বপ্নেও ভাবার অবকাশ ছিল না প্রথাগত শিক্ষা নেওয়ার। তবে প্রচণ্ড জ্ঞানের ক্ষুধা, গল্পের ক্ষুধা ছিল তাঁর। আর ছিল পায়ের তলায় সর্ষে। কখনো একজন জুতোর দোকানের কর্মী থেকে আর্কিটেক্টের শিক্ষানবীস, সেখান থেকে স্টীমারের রসুইয়ের কর্মী, পাখি ব্যবসায়ী, ধর্মীয় বই আর ছবির দোকানে কাজ, ছবি আঁকতে শেখা, আবার শিক্ষানবীস... এভাবেই চলতে থাকা। এরমাঝে বই পড়ার অদম্য ইচ্ছে। সুযোগ পেলেই বই নিয়ে বসা, বইয়ের জন্য অপমানিত হওয়া, বইয়ের জন্য স্নেহ পাওয়া, বই থেকে স্বপ্ন দেখা।

আর আছে মানুষ, হরেকরকমের। আইকনের ওয়ার্কশপের শিল্পীরা, জাহাজের খালাসিরা, সামরিক মানুষজন, উঁচু ও নীচুতলার দেহপসারিনী, দিনমজুর। কদাকার মানুষ, ভিতরে ও বাহিরে, সুন্দর মানুষ। গোর্কিকে দেখা যায় মানুষ বোঝার ভয়াবহ চেষ্টারত। এ যেনো জীবনপণ!

আরো দেখা যায় ক্রমশই নড়বড়ে হতে থাকা ধর্মবিশ্বাসের ভিত���তি।

মৃত্যু আছে, দৈন্য আছে, মানুষে অকারণ নিষ্ঠুরতা, মানুষের অবাধ ভালোবাসা সব আছে। একজন মানুষের হঠাৎই পচে যাওয়া, একজনের তিলে তিলে মৃত্যু, একজনের সবসময় আনন্দের সাথে বাঁচা। আবার সবকিছুতেই এক বিষাদের রঙ। বুঝি এই রঙটাই রাশিয়ার দারিদ্র্যের মূল রঙ ছিল।

'গোর্কি' মানে 'তিক্ত'। এই বইতে তার তিক্ততার একটা কৈফিয়ত পাওয়া গেলো, “Why do I relate these abominations? So that you may know, kind sirs, that is not all past and done with! You have a liking for grim fantasies; you are delighted with horrible stories well told; the grotesquely terrible excites you pleasantly. But I know of genuine horrors, everyday terrors, and I have an undeniable right to excite you unpleasantly by telling you about them, in order that you may remember how we live, and under what circumstances. A low and unclean life it is, ours, and that is the truth! I am a lover of humanity and I have no desire to make any one miserable, but one must not be sentimental, nor hide the grim truth with the motley words of beautiful lies. Let us face life as it is!” এই কথাগুলোকে বাস্তববাদী লেখার মূল সুরও বলা চলে।

এই বইটির শেষে গোর্কির বয়স হয় সবে পনের। পনেরটা বছর তার জন্য সহজ ছিল না। এই দুর্বিষহ জীবন গোর্কিকে করেছে 'গোর্কি'।

[Ubaid Talpur · Rating 3 out of 5]

completed the 2nd book of Gorkhi's autobiography, it's written like novel, a best book everyone should read it ,
if I say it's only a autobiography then it'd be unfair it's self help book as well , well he didn't write what to do or what not to do but he showed his experiences in his life...

[Despoina Despoina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πολύ ωραίο, όχι όμως τόσο όσο εκπληκτικά είναι Τα Παιδικά Χρόνια. Πάμε για το τρίτο μέρος της αυτοβιογραφίας, Τα πανεπιστήμιά μου.

[Taylor Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Gorky there lies the jewel of humanity amidst the rubble of humanity.

[Elçin Arabacı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mujikleri bir Gogol'dan bir de Gorky'den okumalıymış. Başka tüm yazarlar tam da Gorky'nin dediği gibi görmek istediklerini görüp, idealizasyona gidiyormuş. Bu romandan en iyi bunu anladım.

[Rüçhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Düzeltme-

Üçlemenin ikinci kitabı ve orta şekerli üyesi. Ne "Çocukluğum" kadar keyifli, ne "Benim Üniversitelerim" kadar kuruydu. Gorki, dedesi tarafından başıboş bırakıldıktan sonra pek çok farklı insan tanır, pek çok farklı işe atılır ve en sonunda bir üniversiteye girebilmek umuduyla Kazan'a gitmeye karar verir. Bu yıllarda tanıdığı insanların ileride vereceği eserlere esin kaynağı olduğunu, o eserleri de okuyunca anladım.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorky sees the horrors of life but remains humane and engaged.

[Banu Sancar · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Güneşi görmek şurada dursun, varlığının bile duyumsanmaz olduğu, hatta güneşin bütünüyle unutulduğu kasvetli güz günlerinde kim bilir kaç kez ormanda yolumu yitirdim! Bir keçiyolu olsun bulamadan ormanda dönüp durmuşsundur ve artık adım atacak halin kalmamıştır; sonunda dişlerini sıkıp ormanın en sık yerine dalarsın; çürümüş dallar, ayağının altında oynayan, gevşek bataklık tümsekleri arasından yürür gider ve... sonunda yolu bulursun!”

[Дмитрий · Rating 3 out of 5]

к сожалению, все, что делало первую часть трилогии такой пронизывающе-трогательной, в этой части отсутствует. зачем писать автобиографию, если писать особо не о чем?

[Awatif · Rating 1 out of 5]

مشكلتي كانت مع الترجمة! سيئة لدرجة لا تصدق!
بالإضافة إلى أن بعض الصفحات طبعت ثلاث مرات
والعديد من الصفحات مفقودة كان يجب أن تحل محل الصفحات المكررة!

[Hà · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sau khi khoắng bùn lên, họ sục sạo trong chỗ bẩn thỉu ấy như những con lợn và rống lên vì thích thú được bôi nhọ, được chế giễu những điều đẹp đẽ nhưng quá xa xôi, khó hiểu và buồn cười đối với họ".
Kiếm sống - vì không thể tìm được bản này nên đành note tạm vào bản tiếng anh. Lần thứ 2 đọc lại sau khoảng 4 năm, quyển sách như rút ruột tôi ra. Văn học Nga có phải luôn đẹp như vậy? Tôi không thể tưởng tượng được có ai đọc về những cánh rừng hùng vĩ, ấm xamova và những ngày mùa đông vô tận xứ bạch dương mà không choáng váng trước vẻ tuyệt diệu của chúng. Kí ức tuổi thơ về dãy An-pơ trong truyện cổ Andersen ùa về khiến tôi thấy mắt mình cay môi cười và trái tim cứ rạo rực mãi. Con người qua đôi mắt chú bé Aliosa 15 tuổi hiện lên sinh động tôi thấy mình dạt dào những niềm yêu ghét buồn vui lẫn thờ ơ khinh bạt, hợp ý tôi quá, chí lý quá. Có phải vì tôi ngây ngô và nhiệt thành hệt như chú hay sao. :-)

[Nancy Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

الجزء الثاني من مذكرات ماكسيم غوركي ، اثناء مراهقته و بعد وفاة والدته ،أجبر على الخروج من بيت جديه في القرية الى المدينة و جحيمها ليحصل قوت يومه ، هذا الطفل التعس الشقي ، الذكي سيتحمل الكثير من الإذلال و العنف و التحقير و التعب ولا مهرب له من هذا الشقاء الا الكتب و عشق الكتب ..
اعجبني وصفه لعلاقته بجدته و حبه لها ، كما وصفه للطاهي سموري على السفينة وولعه بالكتب ، و جارته المثقفة ، و كيف اثر كل منهم عليه و ترك بصمته في مستقبل حياته ..
يتخلل الرواية الكثير من الوصف للطبيعة و للإنسان ، و كعادة ماكسيم غوركي تظهر الطبيعة بجمالها العذري البدائي و يبهرنا بحبه للآخر و رغبته اللامتناهية في فعل شئ يعود بالفائدة على البشرية بكاملها ..
كل العشق لماكسيم غوركي و اسلوبه في وصف بشاعة الفقر و الظلم الذي يلوث الطفل داخلنا ، و كيف يقسو الإنسان على أخيه الانسان و يحول حياته الى جحيم ، بينما الحياة وجدت لنعيشها ، نحن نقتل الحياة و
نسممها بجشعنا و غرورنا ..