Maxim Gorki | Page 8

that Gorki delineates
for us. But the romance is not after the recipes of the old novelists:
ancient, mystic, seeking its ideals in the remote past. This is living,
actual romance. Even though some of Gorki's heroes founder like the
heroes of bygone epochs of literature upon their weakness, more of the
"Bitter One's" characters are shipwrecked on a deed.
And it is this reckless parade and apotheosis of such men of action that
accounts for Gorki's huge success in comparison with many another,
and with the writers of the preceding generation. It is for this that the
young minds of his native country rally round him--the country that is
loaded with clanking fetters.
Gorki is dominated by a characteristic passion for strong, abnormal
men. This type reappears in almost all his narratives. Here it is old
Isergil, whose Odyssey of Love swells to saga-like magnitude. There
we find the bold and fearless smuggler Chelkash, in the story of that
name. Now it is the brazen, wanton, devoted Malva, who prefers the
grown man to the inexperienced youth. Anon, the red Vaska, boots and
janitor of the brothel. And there are numbers of other such titans.
Unfortunately Gorki endows many of them with a vein of
sentimentality, on which account his works are compared with those of

Auerbach, in certain, more particularly in the aesthetic, Russian
circles . . . a reproach that is only partially justified. Emelyan, e.g., is a
notorious and professional robber. He sallies forth to attack and plunder
a merchant in the night. But he encounters a young girl of good social
position on the bridge which he has chosen for the scene of his attack.
She intends to make away with herself. And in talking to her he forgets
everything else; she moves him so profoundly that he dissuades her
from suicide and takes her back to her parents.
Despite its rank improbability and sentimental character this tale has a
fine humour of its own. And there is, in particular, one sketch that is
steeped in humour. This is the "Story of the Silver Clasp." Three casual
labourers break into an old factory and steal a silver clasp. One of them
relinquishes his share and takes back the clasp. And all the thanks he
gets is a rating from the old housekeeper.
These, of course, are only accessory productions, artistic enough, but of
a lighter character. Many of the tales unfortunately suffer from a
hackneyed use of situations, materials, and ideas, suggestive of the
hack writer. Gorki's cheap sentiment, and maudlin pity, often result in
clap-trap and padding which are foreign to the artist proper. But this is
the effect of his predilection for individuals of forcible character.
Gorki is always partial to despotic characters. And here and there he
has succeeded in creating men, who take life into their own hands,
instead of letting it take them in hand.
It was inevitable that a writer who makes positive affirmations about
life should receive a peculiar welcome in Russia, where a gloomy
pessimism has obtained the preponderance in literature. Gorki's
conception of life is expressed in the words of the engine-driver Nil, in
"The Bezemenovs" . . . a sympathetic figure, even if he be something of
a braggart. Nil, who is almost the only cheerful and courageous man
amid a handful of weaklings and degenerates, says:
"I know that Life is hard, that at times it seems impossibly harsh and
cruel, and I loathe this order of things. I know that Life is a serious
business, even if we have not got it fully organised, and that I must put

forth all my power and capacity in order to bring about this
organisation. And I shall endeavour with all the forces of my soul to be
steadfast to my inward promptings: to push my way into the densest
parts of life, to knead it hither and thither, to hinder some, to help on
others. It is this that is the joy of life!" . . .
[Illustration: Love-scene between Polja and Nil (Act III. of "The
Bezemenovs")]
Words like these were bound to have a stimulating and invigorating
effect after the despondency of the preceding epoch. This new spirit,
this new man, gripped his contemporaries in full force.
The result would undoubtedly have been even more striking if Gorki's
heroes were not invariably tainted with vestiges of the old order. They
are, indeed, men of action. A totally different life pulsates in Gorki's
works; we are confronted with far more virile characters than in the
works of other Russian authors. Even the engine driver Nil, however,
fails to relieve any one of the sufferers from his troubles. He removes
Polja confidently enough from her surroundings--but only leaves the
greater darkness behind him. Even he is as