My Childhood (Twentieth Century Classics S.)

The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
The first book of an autobiographical trilogy by Maksim Gorky, published in Russian in 1913-14 as Detstvo. It was also translated into English as Childhood. Like the volumes of autobiography that were to follow, My Childhood examines the author's experiences by means of individual portraits and descriptions of events. He reveals that his mother was mostly absent after the death of his father and that his upbringing was in the hands of his brutal grandfather. He also creates a compelling portrait of his unlearned but loving grandmother. Leaving home at age 12, the young Gorky learns self-reliance and begins to educate himself by reading. The subsequent autobiographical volumes are V lyudyakh (1915-16; In the World; also published as My Apprenticeship) and Moi universitety (1923; My Universities; also published as My University Days). Considered to constitute one of the finest Russian autobiographies, the books reveal Gorky to be an acute observer with great descriptive powers.


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