Country 17 — Russia — blurb from goodreads.com 1907. Maxim Gorky, pseudonym of Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov, Soviet novelist, playwright and essayist, who was a founder of social realism. Although known principally as a writer, he was closely associated with the tumultuous revolutionary period of his own country. The Mother, one of his best-known works, is the story of the radicalization of an uneducated woman that was later taken as a model for the Socialist Realist novel, and his autobiographical masterpiece Childhood.
My Review
Impacting, profound, deep,
Based on real events from russian revolution from events that took place during a May Day demonstration in Sormovo in 1902, when Piotr Zalomov was arrested and his mother, Anna Zalomova, a distant relative of Gorky’s, followed her son into revolutionary activity.
Mother, Pelageya Nilovna Vlasova, is an illiterate woman with a son, Pavel and a husband, who dies early on in the book. Her son starts to follow in the dark drunk footsteps of his father, until suddenly he changes for the better, reading and bringing lots of books, discussing life with his friends and revolution. Mother, Pelageya Nilovna Vlasova, is the real protagonist, is, in the beginning cautious of her son’s friends, but as time goes by, starts to help them in the revolution.
When I read, more often than not I see colours, or light and dark, in this case, the whole book was dark. This is an uncomfortable subject, hard working people, being mistreated and all they want is a better life, they often are arrested, and sometimes simply disappear, their families and friends watched.
Interesting characters, a rather long book, I felt there were parts that could have been omitted, but there were some super parts, specially the escape from prison and the fight in the park straight after, which were my favourite parts, these events were later on in the book,
When I am reading some books, I think about how they can end, in this case, my thoughts were correct. I am not going to give anything away, but, for me, this was the only ending possible.
Originally published at http://readinginecuador.wordpress.com on March 29, 2021.
