My childhood
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- Publication date
- 1915
- Publisher
- New York : The Century co.
- Contributor
- University of California Libraries
- Language
- English
4 p.l., 3-374 p. 22 cm
- Addeddate
- 2007-07-27 19:33:42
- Bookplateleaf
- 0007
- Call number
- SRLF:LAGE-212065
- Camera
- 5D
- Collection-library
- SRLF
- Copyright-evidence
- Evidence reported by alyson-wieczorek for item mychildhood00gorkiala on July 27, 2007: visible notice of copyright; stated date is 1915.
- Copyright-evidence-date
- 20070727193310
- Copyright-evidence-operator
- alyson-wieczorek
- Copyright-region
- US
- External-identifier
- urn:oclc:record:1049893711
- Foldoutcount
- 0
- Identifier
- mychildhood00gorkiala
- Identifier-ark
- ark:/13960/t2697282b
- Identifier-bib
- LAGE-212065
- Lcamid
- 1020705138
- Lccn
- 15026651
- Ocr_converted
- abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.37
- Ocr_module_version
- 0.0.21
- Openlibrary_edition
- OL7217585M
- Openlibrary_work
- OL289010W
- Page_number_confidence
- 100
- Page_number_module_version
- 1.0.3
- Pages
- 408
- Possible copyright status
- NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT
- Ppi
- 400
- Rcamid
- 1020707243
- Scandate
- 20070730192253
- Scanner
- iala5
- Scanningcenter
- iala
- Full catalog record
- MARCXML
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Reviews
Reviewer:
Vit Babenco
-
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December 3, 2023
Subject: Surrounded with Malice
Subject: Surrounded with Malice
My Childhood begins tragically… When Alyosha is three years old his father dies…
He and his mother return to their family nest in Nijni… He stays with his grandparents… His grandmother is the only kind soul in the entire family…
His grandfather is a cruel despot… He has everybody in the family under his thumb… He and his sons apparently have sadistic inclinations… He whipped his grandson half dead so Alyosha couldn’t rise from bed for days… And his both sons terrorized their wives to death… Right from the start Alyosha couldn’t help but loathe his granddad…
So since his early childhood Alyosha was exposed to human meanness and cruelty… And his grandfather was also tutoring him:
If one’s nature is mean and beastly no social changes, however progressive, can eliminate bestiality.
In a narrow, darkened room, my father, dressed in a white and unusually long garment, lay on the floor under the window. The toes of his bare feet were curiously extended, and the fingers of the still hands, which rested peacefully upon his breast, were curved; his merry eyes were tightly closed by the black disks of two copper coins; the light had gone out of his still face, and I was frightened by the ugly way he showed his teeth.
He and his mother return to their family nest in Nijni… He stays with his grandparents… His grandmother is the only kind soul in the entire family…
Until she came into my life I seemed to have been asleep, and hidden away in obscurity; but when she appeared she woke me and led me to the light of day. Connecting all my impressions by a single thread, she wove them into a pattern of many colors, thus making herself my friend for life, the being nearest my heart, the dearest and best known of all; while her disinterested love for all creation enriched me, and built up the strength needful for a hard life.
His grandfather is a cruel despot… He has everybody in the family under his thumb… He and his sons apparently have sadistic inclinations… He whipped his grandson half dead so Alyosha couldn’t rise from bed for days… And his both sons terrorized their wives to death… Right from the start Alyosha couldn’t help but loathe his granddad…
I was very well aware that grandfather’s shrewd, sharp green eyes followed me everywhere, and I was afraid of him. I remember how I always wished to hide myself from that fierce glance. It seemed to me that grandfather was malevolent; he spoke to every one mockingly and offensively, and, being provocative, did his best to put every one else out of temper.
So since his early childhood Alyosha was exposed to human meanness and cruelty… And his grandfather was also tutoring him:
“The gentlefolk, of course, are to blame, because they have more intelligence to back them up; but that can’t be said of all of them, but only of a few good ones who have already been proved. As for the others – most of them are as foolish as mice; they will take anything you like to give them. We have plenty of nut shells amongst us, but the kernels are missing; only nut shells, the kernels have been devoured. There’s a lesson for you, man! We ought to have learned it, our wits ought to have been sharpened by now; but we are not keen enough yet.”
If one’s nature is mean and beastly no social changes, however progressive, can eliminate bestiality.
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