Through Russia

Name: Through Russia
ISBN: 9788726649376

Maxim GorkyProject Gutenberg1923

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Chapters: 11
ISBN: 9788726649376

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Summary

Through Russia is a collection of short stories by the Russian writer Maxim Gorky, translated into English by C. J. Hogarth and first published as a collection in 1923. It contains ten works: The Birth of a Man, The Icebreaker, Gubin, Nilushka, The Cemetery, On a River Steamer, A Woman, In a Mountain Defile, Kalinin, and The Dead Man. The book uses the wanderings of an unnamed tramp as a thread, linking the various people he meets in the Caucasus, along the Volga, on ferries and river steamers, in cemeteries and valleys: a peasant woman giving birth, dock laborers, passengers on a boat, exiles, beggars, and drunkards. Gorky on the one hand lays out the vast and magnificent natural scenery of Russia in rich, vivid strokes, and on the other calmly presents famine, poverty, class oppression, and the hopelessness and stubbornness of the lower classes, setting the splendor of nature in sharp contrast with the suffering of the human world. The work bears the imprint of the author's early firsthand experiences of walking all over Russia; it is a distinctive group of pieces from his early short fiction and an important text for understanding the social landscape of late imperial Russia and Gorky's humanist stance.

Editor's review

这是一本容易被中文读者忽略的高尔基作品：不是自传三部曲，也不是《母亲》，而是他早年漫游俄国时写下的十篇短故事。它最动人的地方在于「反差」——高尔基用几乎奢侈的笔墨写高加索的秋色、河上的雾、山间的雪，又毫不留情地写饥饿的人、醉倒的人、被生活磨平的人，美与苦并置，读来既赏心悦目又心口发闷。C. J. Hogarth 的英译保留了不少维多利亚晚期英文的浓丽句法，语言密度高、比喻繁复，正好与高尔基原文的抒情气质相配，但也意味着它不是一本「轻松快读」的英文读物。对于正在做英文名著泛读、想从狄更斯式的长篇转向俄语文学英译的读者，这十篇短篇是极好的过渡：单篇篇幅适中，情节不复杂，却足以让人窥见一个正在崩解的社会，以及高尔基一生坚持的那种「在被打碎的人身上看见人的尊严」的信念。

Who it's for

A good fit for

想以英文原文阅读俄国文学经典的读者，短篇形式负担较小
对19世纪末至20世纪初俄国底层社会史感兴趣的读者
喜欢景物描写与抒情笔法、能接受浓丽文风的读者
做英文名著泛读打卡、需要中等篇幅单篇文本的学习者

Not a good fit for

希望读到情节紧凑、强故事性的读者，本书多为氛围与人物速写
刚开始读英文原著、词汇量有限的初学者，霍加斯译文句式较长较旧
偏好轻松愉悦题材、不喜沉重苦难描写的读者

Reading tips

先读《The Birth of a Man》，它是全书的序章式开篇，最容易进入高尔基的语调。
遇到大段景物描写不必逐词查证，先读通节奏，再回头处理生僻的植物、鸟类与地貌词汇。
可把每篇当作独立速写，读完后用一两句话写下「这个人为什么会落到这般境地」，串联全书主题。
若英译读来吃力，可对照耿济之译《俄罗斯浪游散记》等中文译本辅助理解。

The Birth of a Man
One Man's Birth
The Icebreaker
Gubin
Nilushka
The Cemetery
On a River Steamer
A Woman
In a Mountain Defile
Kalinin
The Dead Man

FAQ

这本书是长篇小说还是短篇集？

是短篇集。1923年英文版共收十篇故事，依次为《The Birth of a Man》《The Icebreaker》《Gubin》《Nilushka》《The Cemetery》《On a River Steamer》《A Woman》《In a Mountain Defile》《Kalinin》《The Dead Man》。

书名里的「Through Russia」是游记吗？

不是严格意义上的游记。书中以一位无名流浪者的漫游串联各篇，带有高尔基早年徒步走遍俄国的见闻底色，但主体是虚构的短篇故事，并非纪实行程记录。

这本书在古登堡计划里能免费读到吗？

可以。Project Gutenberg 编号 #2288 即本书的 C. J. Hogarth 英译本全文，公有领域、可免费在线阅读或下载。

中文有没有对应的译本？

有旧译。耿济之曾译有《俄罗斯浪游散记》（开明书店1940年代版），安徽文艺出版社1998年亦有新版（ISBN 9787539616414），内容属同一批高尔基短篇，但篇目编选与英文版不完全一致。

英译本的语言难度如何？

中等偏难。霍加斯译于20世纪初，长句多、比喻密集、部分词汇已显陈旧，适合有一定英文原著阅读经验的读者，不太适合作为第一本英文书。

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About the author

Maxim Gorky Author · Russian/Soviet · 1868–1936

Maxim Gorky (1868–1936), born Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, was a Russian and Soviet writer and a founder of Soviet socialist realist literature. Rising from humble beginnings, he was largely self-taught and drew much of his material from the hard lives of ordinary people. His plain yet passionate prose seeks out human dignity and a longing for light amid suffering. His major works include the autobiographical trilogy Childhood, In the World and My Universities; the novel Mother; the play The Lower Depths; and the prose poem The Song of the Stormy Petrel, which uses symbolism to call for revolutionary storm, while Mother portrays awakened workers and deeply influenced later proletarian literature. This library holds his Collected Works (4 volumes), classified under foreign literature.