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{{Short description| |
{{Short description|1897 novella by Maxim Gorky}} |
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[[File:Aleksey Maksimovich Gorkiy.jpg|left|250px|thumb|Maksim Gorki, sometime in 1890—1900.]] |
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{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] --> |
{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] --> |
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| name = Creatures That Once Were Men |
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| alt = The image is a faded black-and-white photo of writer Maxim Gorky, taken in 1889. |
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| title_orig = Бывшие люди |
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| image = Maxim_Gorki_im_Jahre_1889.jpg |
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| caption = Maxim Gorky, writer of Creatures That Once Were Men in 1889. |
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| author = [[Maxim Gorky]] |
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| title_orig = Бывшие люди |
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| translator = |
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| country = [[Russian Empire]] |
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| language = [[Russian language|Russian]] |
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| pub_date = 1897 |
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| preceded_by_italics = |
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| ⚫ | "'''Creatures That Once Were Men'''" ({{langx|ru|Бывшие люди}}, literally, "former people") is a 1897 [[novella]] by the Russian writer [[Maxim Gorky]]. It is regarded as a work of [[social realism]], and it depicts the bottom of Russian society (like Gorky's other early works, including his most famous play ''[[The Lower Depths]]'')<ref name="André Forget">{{Cite web |last=Forget |first=André |date=September 20, 2019 |title=Creatures that Once Were Men |url=https://andre-forget.com/2019/09/20/creatures-that-once-were-men/}}</ref> The novella was included in Gorky's collection ''[[Sketches and Stories]]'' (1899). |
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{{Wikisource|1=Creatures That Once Were Men|2 = for Creatures That Once Were Men}} |
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| ⚫ | '''Creatures That Once Were Men''' ({{ |
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Gorky is well known for his gritty depictions of life in [[Russia]]. In his novella ''Creatures That Once Were Men,'' he conveys a portrait of people crushed by the motions of a [[social system]] far more powerful than themselves.<ref name="CW Mars">{{Cite web |title=Creatures That Once Were Men by Maxim Gorky G. K. Chesterton |url=https://cwmars.overdrive.com/cwmars-douglassimon/content/media/2813422 |access-date=2022-02-12}}</ref> |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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| ⚫ | ''Creatures that Once Were Men'' is a novella about residents of a [[doss house]] who start a conflict with their landlord, which leads to an [[inhumane]] outcome.<ref name="Storytel">{{Cite book |title=Creatures That Once Were Men |date=8 June 2021 |isbn=9788726502107 |url=https://www.storytel.com/se/sv/books/creatures-that-once-were-men-1288107 |access-date=2022-02-12|last1=Gorky |first1=Maxim |publisher=Lindhardt og Ringhof }}</ref> |
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At the end, there's a notable dialogue between the two main characters: |
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Towards the end, there is the memorable exchange |
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<blockquote> |
<blockquote> |
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"What are you? Who are you?" shouted |
"What are you? Who are you?" shouted Petunikov. |
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"A man . . ." he answered in a hoarse voice. |
"A man . . ." he answered in a hoarse voice. |
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</blockquote> |
</blockquote> |
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== Reception == |
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{{quote|It is no exaggeration to say that these people of whom Gorky writes in such a story as this of "Creatures That Once Were Men" are to the Western mind children. They have, indeed, been tortured and broken by experience and sin. But this has only sufficed to make them sad children or naughty children or bewildered children... And this note of plainness and of something nobly prosaic is as characteristic of Gorky, the most recent and in some ways the most modern and sophisticated of Russian authors, as it is of [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]] or any of the Tolstoyan type of mind. The Russian novelist, when he describes a dosshouse, says, "Creatures That Once Were Men." And we are arrested, and regard the facts as a kind of terrible fairy tale. This story is a test case of the Russian manner, for it is in itself a study of decay, a study of failure, and a study of old age. And yet the author is forced to write even of staleness freshly; and though he is treating of the world as seen by eyes darkened or blood-shot with evil experience, his own eyes look out upon the scene with a clarity that is almost babyish. Through all runs that curious Russian sense that every man is only a man...|[[G. K. Chesterton]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/681/681-h/681-h.htm | title=The Project Gutenberg E-text of Creatures that once were Men, by Maxim Gorky }}</ref>}} |
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{{quote|About 1897 [[Literary realism|Realism]] begins to outweigh [[Romanticism]], and in "Ex-People" (Byvshii lyudi, 1897; in the English version, "Creatures That Once Were Men", an arbitrary mistranslation) Realism is dominant, and the heroic gestures of Captain Kuvalda fail to relieve the drab gloom of the setting. In this story and in all other stories of these years, a feature appears which was to be the undoing of Gorky: an immoderate love for "philosophical" conversations. As long as he kept free from it he gave proof of a great power of construction, a power which is rare in Russian writers, and which gives some of his early stories a solidness and cohesion almost comparable to [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]]'s.|[[D. S. Mirsky]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015000668403& | title=Contemporary Russian literature, 1881-1925 }}</ref>}} |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[The Lower Depths]] |
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* [[Culture of Russia]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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==External links |
==External links== |
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* {{wikisource-inline}} |
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{{Maxim Gorky}} |
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[[Category:Short stories by Maxim Gorky]] |
[[Category:Short stories by Maxim Gorky]] |
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[[Category:1897 short stories]] |
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{{story-stub}} |
{{1890s-story-stub}} |
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Latest revision as of 14:15, 4 December 2024
| "Creatures That Once Were Men" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Maxim Gorky | |
 Maxim Gorky, writer of Creatures That Once Were Men in 1889. | |
| Original title | Бывшие люди |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Language | Russian |
| Publication | |
| Publication date | 1897 |
"Creatures That Once Were Men" (Russian: Бывшие люди, literally, "former people") is a 1897 novella by the Russian writer Maxim Gorky. It is regarded as a work of social realism, and it depicts the bottom of Russian society (like Gorky's other early works, including his most famous play The Lower Depths)[1] The novella was included in Gorky's collection Sketches and Stories (1899).
The term "former people" developed other meanings, relating to Russian society.
Plot
[edit]Creatures that Once Were Men is a novella about residents of a doss house who start a conflict with their landlord, which leads to an inhumane outcome.[2]
At the end, there's a notable dialogue between the two main characters:
"What are you? Who are you?" shouted Petunikov.
"A man . . ." he answered in a hoarse voice.
Reception
[edit]It is no exaggeration to say that these people of whom Gorky writes in such a story as this of "Creatures That Once Were Men" are to the Western mind children. They have, indeed, been tortured and broken by experience and sin. But this has only sufficed to make them sad children or naughty children or bewildered children... And this note of plainness and of something nobly prosaic is as characteristic of Gorky, the most recent and in some ways the most modern and sophisticated of Russian authors, as it is of Tolstoy or any of the Tolstoyan type of mind. The Russian novelist, when he describes a dosshouse, says, "Creatures That Once Were Men." And we are arrested, and regard the facts as a kind of terrible fairy tale. This story is a test case of the Russian manner, for it is in itself a study of decay, a study of failure, and a study of old age. And yet the author is forced to write even of staleness freshly; and though he is treating of the world as seen by eyes darkened or blood-shot with evil experience, his own eyes look out upon the scene with a clarity that is almost babyish. Through all runs that curious Russian sense that every man is only a man...
About 1897 Realism begins to outweigh Romanticism, and in "Ex-People" (Byvshii lyudi, 1897; in the English version, "Creatures That Once Were Men", an arbitrary mistranslation) Realism is dominant, and the heroic gestures of Captain Kuvalda fail to relieve the drab gloom of the setting. In this story and in all other stories of these years, a feature appears which was to be the undoing of Gorky: an immoderate love for "philosophical" conversations. As long as he kept free from it he gave proof of a great power of construction, a power which is rare in Russian writers, and which gives some of his early stories a solidness and cohesion almost comparable to Chekhov's.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Forget, André (September 20, 2019). "Creatures that Once Were Men".
- ^ Gorky, Maxim (8 June 2021). Creatures That Once Were Men. Lindhardt og Ringhof. ISBN 9788726502107. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ "The Project Gutenberg E-text of Creatures that once were Men, by Maxim Gorky".
- ^ "Contemporary Russian literature, 1881-1925".
External links
[edit]
Works related to Creatures That Once Were Men at Wikisource- Creatures That Once Were Men, in several formats
- Creatures That Once Were Men, via Gutenberg
 | This article about a short story (or stories) published in the 1890s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |