The Life of Klim Samgin. In 2 volumes. Volume 2

“At first, no one will understand this novel, it will be criticized... But in fifty years, people will say: ‘There was a writer Maxim Gorky - he wrote a lot, and everything was bad, but what remains of him is the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin”’” M. Gorky The author’s last work, the idea of which originated shortly after the first Russian Revolution. Gorky initially wanted to title it “The History of an Empty Soul” and conceived it as a “novel of the century.” It depicts not only the fate of an individual against the backdrop of historical events in Russia from the 1880s to February 1918 but also the spiritual life of the Russian intelligentsia, as well as the theme of a people capable of changing the course of history. Debates still surround the novel - should it be considered a failure of the author or, on the contrary, one of the main Russian books of the 20th century? Gorky's creation, from which went “to the people” the winged phrase “But was there a boy?”, is undoubtedly complex and still not fully deciphered.