“Life is always better where people are fighting for their rights.”
My Universities is the third and final installment of Maxim Gorky’s autobiographical trilogy, following My Childhood and In the World. This volume chronicles Gorky’s formative years as a young man navigating poverty, self-education, and revolutionary ideals in late 19th-century Russia.
Early Struggles and Self-Education
The book opens with Gorky’s arrival in Kazan, hoping to attend university. Denied formal education due to poverty, he instead learns from life itself—working menial jobs, interacting with intellectuals, and absorbing radical ideas. He befriends students and revolutionaries, shaping his worldview.
Life Among the Dispossessed
Gorky immerses himself in the lives of the urban poor, working as a baker, dockworker, and vagabond. He witnesses exploitation and suffering but also resilience. His experiences harden his disdain for oppression and fuel his empathy for the working class.
Political Awakening
Exposure to underground socialist circles deepens Gorky’s political consciousness. He debates philosophy, reads banned literature, and observes the simmering discontent against the Tsarist regime. Though not yet a committed revolutionary, he begins to see collective struggle as the path to justice.
Spiritual and Intellectual Crisis
Gorky grapples with despair, attempting suicide. Yet, he rebounds through literature and friendships, finding purpose in writing. His encounters with Tolstoy’s ideas and the harsh realities of Russian life solidify his belief in art as a tool for social change.
Final Departure
The book concludes with Gorky leaving Kazan, symbolizing his transition from a restless seeker to a writer-activist. His “universities”—the streets, factories, and prisons—have forged his identity as a voice for the oppressed.
Key Ideas
- The transformative power of self-education outside formal institutions.
- The brutality of poverty and the dignity of labor.
- Early socialist thought and anti-Tsarist sentiment in pre-revolutionary Russia.
- Literature as both escape and weapon against oppression.
- The tension between individual despair and collective hope.
Who should read this book?
- Readers interested in Russian revolutionary history and literature.
- Those exploring autobiographical works about social struggle.
- Writers and activists inspired by Gorky’s journey from poverty to artistry.