Maxim Gorki. By Hans Ostwald. Translated by Francis A. Welby.
(W. Heinemann. ls. 6d. net.)—This account of the remarkable Russian writer was written before the " Deluge,"— i.e., before the events which have had so sinister an influence on Gorki's career. Yet what Herr Ostwald tells us of Gorki's life is very curious. It would not be easy to find a parallel to his career. Up to his twenty-fifth year he might have been thought one of the "submerged tenth." Then he almost suddenly rose into fame. But he did not rise wholly by his own strength. He had the experience which has crushed hopelessly thousands of weaker men. All his contributions to journalism were rejected— till a powerful friend intervened. Herr Ostwald is not a blind admirer ; on occasion he criticises freely. He devotes more space to "The Doss House" than to any other of Gorki's works, and he does right. It stands by itself; there is nothing quite so lurid in literature.
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