Maxim Gorky & the Russian Spirit | Reading Vlog

[@MarinaMacca-i2t]

This vlog is amazing! I have always been mesmerized by both gorky as author and his work. Thank you very much. Keep reading russian literature!

[@unchartedsummits]

I am reading nothing but Russian literature lately and your videos are a big reason for that! 🦾

[@TheActiveMind1]

Stoked to hear that! What are you currently reading?

[@unchartedsummits]

@@TheActiveMind1 just finished your recommendation And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov 2 days ago, now I just finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and I’ll be starting The Gulag Archipelago Solzhenitsyn, abridged though! I always look forward to your book recommendations and your newsletter! 🦾🦾

[@ToReadersItMayConcern]

I hope you continue experimenting with this style of video. There's a brilliance to the experiential arc of it. Because it requires more commitment it may only steadily find an audience, but surely there is an audience for this. I find it refreshing.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I surely will. So far they don't seem to do wonders algorithmically, but they engender more diverse and engaging comments - which is far more rewarding than quantitative metrics. Always grateful for the support!

[@LucidProgramming]

I picked up this book the other day in a bookstore at the suggestion of the owner of the shop. I was looking for some of the more well-known Russian writers (Tolstoy, etc.), but they tend to move fast when they come in. I picked up the exact edition you have here and am about a quarter of the way through. I absolutely adore the Russian heart, the writing style, and the brutalness that comes through is so much of this literature. Indeed, I was wondering what others here on KZbin had to say about this book, and your video was the most in-depth and best one I could find. You've earned yourself another subscriber! Thank you for your take on this, you've inspired me to continue to seek out more obscure Russian literature.

[@TheActiveMind1]

You must have a wonderful local shop - I'm glad he recommended it to you! I also appreciate the kind words and support. I was impressed with the work too (as you saw) and plan to read more Gorky in the near future

[@LucidProgramming]

@@TheActiveMind1 Serendipitous as I was finishing up your video here and noticed that you mentioned you were going to be bringing "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass. Oddly enough at that same bookstore, the same individual who recommended Gorky's Childhood also put "Cat and Mouse" (the second book of the trilogy") in my hands. I've recently finished that and intend on reading "The Tin Drum" soon.

[@magnumopus7502]

"The Life of Klim Samgin" is one of the most powerful novels I have ever read. P. S. I'm so glad I discovered this channel!

[@TheActiveMind1]

It seems to not be in print in English, I'll have to do some deep searching or learn Russian faster

[@magnumopus7502]

@@TheActiveMind1 It has been translated into English. I look forward to your video about this book, it is much, much stronger than all Bulgakov and Sholokhov novels.

[@TheActiveMind1]

@@magnumopus7502 What edition do you have and where did you buy it?

[@magnumopus7502]

@@TheActiveMind1 You probably think I'm an American :) I'm writing from Georgia, not from the state, from the country. I don't know English very well, maybe it seems from my comments. However, in America, I don't think you'll have a hard time finding it, as I know it was published in quite a large circulation at the time

[@TheActiveMind1]

@@magnumopus7502 I assumed you were in Europe/eastern. I'll try to look for it!

[@davigomes1113]

Been really loving this new reading vlog format!! I'm Brazilian and I've also been learning Russian as well, so it's inspiring and motivating to see someone also learning it! Really nice video👏🏻😄

[@TheActiveMind1]

Grateful to hear that! We’ll be fluent one day haha

[@hatethenewyou]

Still loving this vlog format, really gives a better look into your reading that I appreciate. It's always interesting hearing about your journey learning Russian. I've been really inspired to take on the challenge of learning a new language recently between you and Andrei from "The Untranslated," reading these works in the native tongue just has such a draw to it.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Good to hear the format is enjoyable and yes, Russian is laborious but equally rewarding!

[@albertwastaken]

You're a great inspiration man, keep up the good work:)

[@Kindred-Lane]

Your wife and I are the same when it comes to the TBR list. I put mine in order from length and I have a smaller stack of my for sure next reads (that always changes) on a different shelf. Reorganizing a physical TBR of 70+ books is a fun little hobby all in itself. Loving the vlogs!

[@stuartreynolds4915]

Hi, I’m new to your site, thank you for your insight into Russian literature, I’m always looking for recommendations on Russian authors so am pleased to have found you! I read a wide range of literature but am drawn to Russian social history in particular. I can thoroughly recommend Life and Fate; its prequel Stalingrad is good too! Lynn

[@ev3261]

Love these videos! For the first year that I learned French, I had a notebook where I wrote song lyrics in French and their translation, and then in the train to work I listened to the songs and read the lyrics. I found that's a good way for me to learn new vocabulary, and the correct pronouncing (although I think the other people on the train found me a bit bizarre..)

[@TheActiveMind1]

Haha very neat! Learning through music/entertainment is definitely a fun way to learn and test yourself

[@tonybennett4159]

So happy that you enjoyed My Childhood. As one of (probably) your oldest commenters, I have to admit that I read this in the 60s and to this day it remains one of my all time favourite books. It was not only an insightful look into the psychology of one remarkable child, but a window into a society both different and familiar. It was also, for me, something of a portal. Let me explain : I think I might have been a bit of a philistine at the time. I thought any classic would be a tiresome bore, yet as a trainee teacher we were recommended this book as an adjunct to a child psychology course. I dismissed that, yet some time later, tiring of what I was reading (maybe there was an unfulfilled hunger), I happened upon it in a bookshop, and on an impulse bought it. It was a revelation. I was completely immersed in this world. So, I thought to myself, maybe I've been wrong about the classics, and so I ventured not only into Russian literature, but all literature, and not only that but into the transporting world of Beethoven and other great composers. I will be forever grateful to Gorky for how he opened doors that should never have been closed. Like you, I have My Childhood and one other, but in my case My Apprenticeship. This second book is good but rather pales alongside My Childhood, and the same may be true about My Universities, as MC is the easiest one to acquire, in fact it remains in print in Penguin Classics as a stand alone volume. To change the subject, I have finished Solenoid and you said you were curious to know my thoughts. Trouble is there are so many that I'm not sure how I can be brief. I'd just have to write and keep on writing, and that would eat up your space! I think I'll write to myself as I don't want to go back to listen to your thoughts before I've sorted my own. I've a feeling I might ramble!

[@TheActiveMind1]

Ah that’s fascinating you picked it up in the middle of Cold War tension! Glad to hear you loved it as well and that you finished Solenoid. Perhaps you can email your thoughts to me or summarize them in the comments

[@BobJacobs10]

Enjoyed the video, I like these vlog style ones! A recommendation for a somewhat obscure Russian work: Alexander Blok's poem The Twelve is absolutely insane. I think you might enjoy it, or at least deem it interesting.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I’ve heard of Blok so I’ll be sure to try and find his works!

[@burke9497]

The Tin Drum has been sitting on my shelf literally for 10 years-I got it on Amazon in 2014. Maybe you’ll inspire me to finally read it? I’m looking forward to your thoughts on 2666. It had a strange effect on me. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

[@arjunsharma2637]

hey there, when is the poe-tober going to start? I'm waiting excitedly to read edgar allan poe.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I’ll be posting those videos in October! Hope you join along!

[@arjunsharma2637]

@@TheActiveMind1 sure thing :)

[@JimmyBramlett]

I don't remember if you've ever mentioned Andrey Platonov's "Chevengur," but I'm almost done with it and it's a wonderful examination of early Soviet Russia on the steppes. It's pretty funny at times, and was banned in USSR for a while.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I plan to read some of Platonov’s work soon!

[@SF-my4uq]

NASTY tattoos. Why would you do that to yourself? Eeshhhh.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Haha sorry to hear my personal choices bother you so much!

[@questionnairesocionic]

Have you ever heard of Socionics?