in order to have the patience to live there all your life
without having the desire to flee from this circle, where so many
restrictions hinder you, restrictions sanctioned by the habit of
little poisoned lies, this sickly center of self-love, in one word,
all this vanity of vanities which chills the feelings and perverts
the mind, and which is called in general, without any good reason
and very falsely, civilization.

"I was born and brought up outside of it, and I am glad of that
fact. Because of it, I have never been able to absorb culture in
large doses, without feeling, at the end of a certain time, the
terrible need of stepping out of this frame.... It does one good to
go into the dens of the cities, where everything is dirty, but
simple and sincere; or even to rove in the fields or on the
highroads; one sees curious things there. It refreshes the mind; and
all you need in order to do it is a pair of sturdy legs...."

What then is the teaching that we get out of Gorky's works? For,
faithful to Russian tradition, he does not practise art for art's
sake. His "barefoot brigade" and his "restless" men are generally
considered as representative of his own ideals. The principle of "Do
what seems to you to be good"--a principle which is expressed by a
wandering and free life--ought to be justified, one thinks. Critics
have risen up against this ideal, trying to prove how incompatible
the kind of existence that he conceives is with a solid political
organization, and how far from reality the men are whom he
represents.

Doubtless, in real life, people are not as original and not as
heroic as Gorky represents them to be. And he himself agrees that
their inventive faculties are very highly developed. He shows this
in putting the following words into the mouth of Promtov:

"I have very probably exaggerated, but that's not of much
importance. For, if I have exaggerated what happened, my method of
exposition has shown the true state of my soul. Perhaps, I have
served you with an imaginary roast, but the sauce is made of the
purest truth."

The end that he is after, Gorky has shown us in his story, "The
Lecturer," which contains his theories on literature. In the person
of the lecturer, he addresses himself to the men who represent the
majority of the Russian cultivated classes. He begins by analyzing
himself carefully and discovers in himself many good feelings and
honest desires, but he feels that he lacks clear and ha