The Washington times., 1902-04-20
Russian Realism.

'Twenty-Six and One by Maxine
| Gorky. is a book of short stories by a
| novelist whose name has already become
almost familiar to Americans as that
| of Tolstoy. This is not altogether be-
| cause of his work, but because of his
remarkable personality and history. He
is the tramp novelist of Russia. He
has lived worked, and starved with the
men of whom he writes, not through
choice, like Tolstoy, but through grim
necessity. and there is nc doubt that he
has their point OF view. and that his
realism is the genuine thing.
There are three of the tales, the one
which gives its name to the book,
''Tchelkache" and "Malva.'' sketch of
the first will serve as an example
of the general character of this authors
work. There are twentysix journeymen
who toll day after day in a dark. IN
pleasant basement, under the supervision
of brutal employer. Once a day the
one" fresh-faced little chambermaid,
comes begging for bits Of fresh bread
and her visit is the event of the day. She
brings into the lives of these wretched
laborers the one element of poetry, Of
romance, of human and natural feeling,
which can be found there. 1t is not what
she is, but what she represents to them,
as Gorky subtly indicates, which makes
her charming TO the imagination OF the
author and the reader. The story is
really, up to this point, little prose
poem.
Then the dramatic element, that is, the
human element, that is, the tragedy,
comes in. A soldier appears on the scene
and boasts of his triumphs as a lady
killer. The wretched laborers brag in
their turn Of their Tanya; the soldiers
curiosity is aroused and he pursues tie
is degradation, ruin, and squalor, without
and poetry-a denouement which seems
peculiarly attractive to the Slav imagi-
nation as to the Latin. There is, in
truth, something French in GOrky's brutal
realism, and in the finish of his style;
but then there is something French in
the subtle alertness of the Russian char
acter. Perhaps il is that both nations are
capable of great extremes. At any rate,
"Twenty-SiX and One is art, and high art
at that, whether one likes the type or not,
with the style and work of the new genius
may well begin with this.
There is an introduction to the book. by
Ivan Strannik, in which it is stated that
the life of the twenty-siX bakers is that
OF Gorky himself who once worked in a
bakery under precisely the same condi-
tions. NJ. Strannik further says:
"Gorky's tramps arc strikingly truth
full He does not idealize them; the sym
pathy that their strength, courage and
independence inspire in him does not
blind him. He conceals neither their
faults. vices, drunkenness, nor boastful-
ness. He is without indulgence for them,
and judges them Discriminatory. He
paints reality, but without, for all that,
exaggerating uglincss. He does not avoid
painful or coarse scenes, but in the most
cynical passages he does not revolt be-
cause 1t is felt that he only desires to be
truthful, and not to excite the emotions
by cheap means. He simply points out that
things are as they are, that there is moth
ing to be done about it, that they depend
upon immutable laws. Ac accordingly all
these sad, even horrible spec.dcles are ac-
cepted as life itself. To GoTky, the spec
tacle presented by these characters is
only natural he has seen them shaken by
passion as the waves by the wind, and a
smile pass over their souls like the sun
piercing the clouds. He is, in the true
acceptation of the term, realist."
And this is an adequate and truthful
estimate Of him. New York: J. f. Tay-
lor & Co. s1.25.)