“When we think about human society with calm and disinterested eyes at first it seems to reveal nothing but the violence of powerful men and the oppression of the weak.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau
I decided I wanted to read something by Maxim Gorky. I had seen his name on marxists.org and knew that I would be able to access anything there. Creatures that Once were Men was the first thing listed. I saw it was published in 1897. I clicked on it and saw that it contained 8 sections. I will document my impressions as I read through it. I have never heard of this title before and don’t know what it is about. Now I will begin reading.
Gorky starts by describing two rows of run down huts on either side of a road. He says:
“They cling to the ground beneath the high mountain, exposed to the sun, surrounded by decaying refuse, and their sodden appearance impresses one with the same feeling as would the half-rotten trunk of an old tree.”
He provides a pretty vidid description and it is easy to envision the scene he describes. Soon he introduces us to the character Aristid Kuvalda, who runs the dosshouse on this dilapidated street. Kuvalda is described as a:
“tall, broad-shouldered man of fifty, with a ...
