He really felt more than he let on. In those scary days revolution, when Russia was engulfed in chaos, Maxim Gorky wanted to tell the world that it was impossible to live like this. They say that if a person thinks that something needs to be changed, then he turns into a monster who has cast aside his despair and strives for change. Gorky was like that. “Untimely Thoughts” never became a hymn to the new, post-revolutionary world, but everyone who read these publications feels that they were written by a caring person. A man who understood what was happening, but he had no weapons other than words.

Creation

In literary criticism Soviet era Gorky appeared before the public as infallible and monumental; his image became a legend. But in the period 1917-1918. he had to bare his pen and write a series of journalistic articles entitled “Untimely Thoughts.” M. Gorky vehemently defends his point of view in them.

The author began publishing articles in the publication “New Life” in April 1917 - after the February Revolution. For the writer external world was inextricably linked with the inner world. His brothers in writing joyfully welcomed the revolution. Gorky believed that the new political order would require a new state of mind. Before the revolution, only a few could be considered spiritually free people, and when changes began, it was time to show their best moral qualities.

Before October revolution Gorky tried with all his might to find justifications for the destructive forces that had awakened in man. It was a time of hope and worry, a period of sorrow and powerlessness. Thanks to the bloody revolution, we have the opportunity to read Gorky’s “Untimely Thoughts,” where the author cares for his people and curses the senseless government.

Structure

Gorky’s articles “Untimely Thoughts” are today combined into one book, which consists of 66 chapters. When publishing in the newspaper, the author refused to group them into chronological order. He combined publications in accordance with the problem under consideration. So we can highlight the main topics touched upon by Gorky: the problems of revolution, historical development Russia and culture. In the book, the articles are not in the order in which they were published in the newspaper, but they still form a single whole. Even if you prepare a summary “ Untimely thoughts"Gorky by chapters, then you will end up with an extensive article, where excerpts from different sections are mixed.

During writing, the author often referred in one publication to another. In this way he strengthened his arguments and united scattered fragments of thoughts into a single whole. For example, in chapter 38 of the book (in the newspaper it was the 16th article) he writes about the destructive characteristics of the revolution and, saying that he does not want to list them, refers to already published publications in which they were mentioned more than once. Well, now we can begin to summarize Gorky’s “Untimely Thoughts.”

Russian people

In his notes, Gorky expresses his personal opinion about war, revolution, and the fate of people who are entirely dependent on culture and knowledge. His bold statements and polemics that contradicted the state apparatus of government became the reasons why the newspaper was closed. But Gorky’s words have already been written, albeit not in full, but they have sounded and continue to sound.

The first thing the author notes is the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty. This was the beginning, the first step towards complete victory. And this victory could be achieved if culture and democratized knowledge were developed. The strength of the country should be people, and their weapons should be culture and spirituality. IN summary Gorky’s “Untimely Thoughts” is worth noting that he believed dangerous people illiterate and socially illiterate. The country, the Russian people need creative forces, which are necessary during the period of transformation, like bread and air.

Fierce enemies

In the face of a cultural and organized enemy, Russia is helpless. And the war revealed this fading of spirit. Those who spoke of saving Europe from the shackles of civilization through culture quickly fell silent. As Gorky writes: “ The spirit of true culture turned out to be an ignorant stench of selfishness, laziness and carelessness" If a people cannot refuse violence against a person, they will never become free. No matter how many times the government changes, those who practice violence will forever remain its hostages.

You need to cultivate an aversion to murder and fight, fight every day with fierce enemies - stupidity and cruelty.

Truth and Atrocities

Also in Gorky’s articles “Untimely Thoughts” there are reflections on the truth. The author considers it a real art, which is so difficult to comprehend. For the average person, the truth is inconvenient and unacceptable. He will agree with the lie that suits him and will never give it up.

In the summary of Gorky’s “Untimely Thoughts,” special attention should be paid to the atrocities of war. In particular, remember that the author wrote when talented youth were taken to the battlefield. These people didn't know military service and didn't know how to shoot. On Monday they visited the shooting ranges for the first time, and on Wednesday they were sent to the front. These people did not know how to defend themselves, they did not go to fight, but went to the slaughter. Gorky laments the stupid decision of the tsarist authorities. Sending artists, writers, or musicians to war is like making gold horseshoes for a draft horse.

War is the senseless extermination of people, the destruction of fertile soil and a time of bloody chaos. And everyone is guilty of this. One can only imagine how much useful the killed soldiers could have done for the country. But as he writes."

Culture

Further in the summary of Gorky’s articles “Untimely Thoughts” the benefits are noted cultural development. According to the writer, it is culture that will save Russian people from stupidity. After the revolution, the proletariat had the opportunity to engage in creativity. But for now this segment of the population is still limited by relics of the past. It is in the proletariat that the author sees his dream - the triumph of justice and the formation of a cultured person.

Gorky considers books to be the main source of culture. She is a pure spring of spiritual food and knowledge. But valuable libraries in the country are being destroyed, and book printing has almost ceased. The author writes that the old government was incompetent, but the instinct of self-preservation told it that its worst enemy was the human brain. Therefore, she tried by all means to hinder the intellectual development of the country. Maxim Gorky actively encourages his readers to revive the country's intellectual, cultural and spiritual heritage.

Disappointment

Later, Gorky learns that even after the overthrow of monarchism, complete lawlessness reigns in the country. For the new government, representatives of the old regime were enemies who were subject to groundless arrests and ill-treatment. As soon as the revolution ended, people began to carry out acts of looting. They emptied wine cellars, but the reserves of this drink could be sold abroad to provide the country with the necessary medicines, equipment and manufactures. Even in the summary of “Untimely Thoughts” by Maxim Gorky, a strong resentment towards his compatriots is acutely felt, and yet the author seeks excuses for them.

Gorky writes that Bolshevism did not live up to the hopes of the uncultured masses and the proletariat could not win. Bank seizures, severe famine, innocent people locked in prisons. The revolution failed to bring spiritual rebirth. " There is no poison more insidious than power over people, this must be remembered so that power does not poison us».

In the summary of Gorky’s “Untimely Thoughts,” it is worth mentioning the author’s advice that he gives to his compatriots. The writer says you need to be addicted to learning European culture. It will help the stunned average person become more humane and teach him to think independently. Analyzing revolutionary realities, the author notes that people have ceased to see the difference between criticism and slander.

The revolution gave the green light to freedom of speech, which incredibly turned into freedom of libel. More than once the question was raised in the press about who was to blame for the devastation of Russia, and every publicist was sure that his opponent was guilty. Gorky emphasizes that people have a completely undeveloped sense of personal responsibility; everyone blames their neighbor for their troubles. The author sees only culture as a path to salvation. He despises stupid ignorance and yet loves his compatriots: “ The most sinful and dirty people on earth, stupid in both Good and Evil. Drunk on vodka, disfigured by violence. But still good-natured and, after all, talented».

Condemnation

Even in the summary of “Untimely Thoughts” by M. Gorky, one can see how the author calls on people to love their homeland. Calls for learning, because the true essence of culture lies in disgust for everything dirty, vicious and deceitful that makes a person suffer and belittles his dignity.

Gorky condemns the despotic methods of Trotsky and Lenin, which are completely rotten by power. Under them there is no freedom of speech, and the people are just a mechanism that allows them to build socialism. The leaders led both the revolution and the people to death. From books they knew how to raise a people, but they never knew the people themselves. The revolution was supposed to bring democracy, but in reality it became the epicenter of violence.

Slave and leader

The content of Gorky’s “Untimely Thoughts” says that there is no greater joy for a slave than to see his master defeated. He does not know the joy that is available to an intelligent person - to be free from feelings of enmity. As if from last bit of strength the author argues that there is no point in living if there is no faith in human brotherhood and confidence in the victory of love. The authorities are pursuing their line and are proud of the fact that the self-esteem of the Russian average person is increasing. The sailors proudly declare that for each of their lives they will take thousands of lives of the rich. Naturally, it is easier to kill than to convince. Nobody cares about the people becoming better; the free press is under the heel of the authorities and must make embittered, bestial violence a less disgusting reality.

The one the world needs

Only the person who knows how to love and work is needed by the world. Russian people don’t like to work, and they don’t know how to love. The revolution threw away the morality and intellectual energy of the country. Those who have brought a lot of benefit to society are imprisoned. In the eyes of the leaders, every Russian is “not yet a person,” but how beautifully the government decorates its speeches - “we express the will of the people.”

The only good thing that the revolution brought was the equality of Jews. Finally, people who can do better will do so. Gorky is amazed that Jews love Russia more than many Russians.

conclusions

Maxim Gorky believes that for the social and aesthetic education of the people, these very people need to read European literature, French comedies and Greek tragedies. He knows the needs of the working class, so he offers exactly what they will understand and assimilate.

Gorky is confident that it is necessary to unite the intellectual forces of the intelligentsia with the forces of young peasants, only then will it be possible to revive the spiritual wealth of the country. It's there true path to freedom and culture, over which politics should have no power. After all, politics is always disgusting. No matter who does it, it will always be accompanied by lies, violence, and slander. The author appeals to each reader, to his good beginnings, which must defeat the darkness. Only then is democracy and freedom possible in the country.

Here they are, “Untimely Thoughts” by Maxim Gorky. He is not completely confident in his concept and has repeatedly tried to find a compromise that even the authorities will agree to. And yet he could not remain silent about many moments. His country and people suffered, and he suffered with them, trying to reach everyone with his only weapon - the word.

I came into this world to disagree.
M. Gorky

A special place in Gorky's legacy is occupied by articles published in the newspaper Novaya Zhizn, which was published in Petrograd from April 1917 to June 1918. After the victory of October, “New Life” castigated the costs of the revolution, its “shadow sides” (robberies, lynchings, executions). For this she was sharply criticized by the party press. In addition, the newspaper was suspended twice, and in June 1918 it was closed completely.

Gorky was the first to say that one should not think that the revolution itself “spiritually crippled or enriched Russia.” Only now is “the process of intellectual enrichment of the country beginning—an extremely slow process.” Therefore, the revolution must create conditions, institutions, organizations that would help the development of the intellectual forces of Russia. Gorky believed that the people who had lived in slavery for centuries needed to be instilled with culture, give the proletariat systematic knowledge, a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities, and teach the rudiments of democracy.

During the period of the struggle against the Provisional Government and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, when blood was shed everywhere, Gorky advocated an awakening in the souls good feelings with the help of art: “For the proletariat, the gifts of art and science should have the highest value; for them, this is not idle fun, but a way to deepen into the secrets of life. It’s strange for me to see that the proletariat, in the person of its thinking and acting body, the “Council of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies,” is so indifferent to the sending to the front, to the slaughter, of soldier musicians, artists, drama artists and other people needed by its soul. After all, by sending its talents to slaughter, the country exhausts its heart, the people tear the best pieces from their flesh.” If politics separates people into sharply warring groups, then art reveals the universal in man: “Nothing straightens a person’s soul as easily and quickly as the influence of art and science.”

Gorky remembered the irreconcilable interests of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. But with the victory of the proletariat, the development of Russia had to follow a democratic path! And for this it was necessary, first of all, to stop the predatory war (on this Gorky agreed with the Bolsheviks). The writer sees a threat to democracy not only in the activities of the Provisional Government, in the armed struggle, but also in the behavior of the peasant masses with their ancient “dark instincts”. These instincts resulted in pogroms in Minsk, Samara and other cities, in lynchings of thieves, when people were killed right on the streets: “During wine pogroms, people are shot like wolves, gradually accustomed to the calm extermination of their neighbors...”

In Untimely Thoughts, Gorky approached the revolution from a moral standpoint, fearing unjustified bloodshed. He understood that with a radical break social order armed clashes cannot be avoided, but at the same time he spoke out against senseless cruelty, against the triumph of the unbridled masses, which resemble a beast that smells blood.

The main idea of “Untimely Thoughts” is the indissolubility of politics and morality. The proletariat must be generous both as a winner and as a bearer of the high ideals of socialism. Gorky protests against the arrests of students and various public figures (Countess Panina, book publisher Sytin, Prince Dolgorukov, etc.), against reprisals against cadets killed in prison by sailors: “There is no poison more vile than power over people, we must remember this so that the authorities did not poison us, turning us into cannibals even more vile than those against whom we fought all our lives.” Gorky’s articles did not go unanswered: the Bolsheviks conducted investigations and punished those responsible. Like everyone real writer, Gorky was in opposition to the authorities, on the side of those who this moment was bad. While polemicizing with the Bolsheviks, Gorky nevertheless called on cultural figures to collaborate with them, because only in this way could the intelligentsia fulfill their mission of educating the people: “I know that they are carrying out the cruelest scientific experience over the living body of Russia, I know how to hate, but I want to be fair.” Material from the site

Gorky called his articles “untimely,” but his fight for true democracy began on time. Another thing is that the new government very soon ceased to be satisfied with the presence of any opposition. The newspaper was closed. The intelligentsia (including Gorky) were allowed to leave Russia. The people very soon fell into a new slavery, covered with socialist slogans and words about good ordinary people. Gorky was deprived of the right to speak openly for a long time. But what he managed to publish—the collection “Untimely Thoughts”—will remain an invaluable lesson in civic courage. They contain the writer’s sincere pain for his people, painful shame for everything that is happening in Russia, and faith in its future, despite the bloody horror of history and the “dark instincts” of the masses, and the eternal appeal: “Be more humane in these days of universal atrocities!

Composition

I came into this world to disagree.
M. Gorky

Gorky was the first to say that one should not think that the revolution itself “spiritually crippled or enriched Russia.” Only now is “the process of intellectual enrichment of the country beginning - an extremely slow process.” Therefore, the revolution must create conditions, institutions, organizations that would help the development of the intellectual forces of Russia. Gorky believed that the people who had lived in slavery for centuries needed to be instilled with culture, give the proletariat systematic knowledge, a clear understanding of their rights and responsibilities, and teach the rudiments of democracy.

During the period of the struggle against the Provisional Government and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, when blood was shed everywhere, Gorky advocated the awakening of good feelings in the souls with the help of art: “For the proletariat, the gifts of art and science should have the highest value; for him, this is not idle fun, but paths delving into the mysteries of life. It’s strange for me to see that the proletariat, in the person of its thinking and acting body, the “Council of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies,” is so indifferent to the sending to the front, to the slaughter, of soldier musicians, artists, drama artists and other people needed by its soul. After all, by sending its talents to slaughter, the country exhausts its heart, the people tear the best pieces from their flesh.” If politics separates people into sharply warring groups, then art reveals the universal in man: “Nothing straightens a person’s soul as easily and quickly as the influence of art and science.”

In Untimely Thoughts, Gorky approached the revolution from a moral standpoint, fearing unjustified bloodshed. He understood that with a radical change in the social system, armed clashes could not be avoided, but at the same time he opposed senseless cruelty, against the triumph of the unbridled masses, which resembled an animal that smelled the smell of blood.

The main idea of “Untimely Thoughts” is the indissolubility of politics and morality. The proletariat must be generous both as a winner and as a bearer of the high ideals of socialism. Gorky protests against the arrests of students and various public figures (Countess Panina, book publisher Sytin, Prince Dolgorukov, etc.), against reprisals against cadets killed in prison by sailors: “There is no poison more vile than power over people, we must remember this so that the authorities did not poison us, turning us into cannibals even more vile than those against whom we fought all our lives.” Gorky’s articles did not go unanswered: the Bolsheviks conducted investigations and punished those responsible. Like any real writer, Gorky was in opposition to the authorities, on the side of those who were feeling bad at the moment. Polemicizing with the Bolsheviks, Gorky nevertheless called on cultural figures to collaborate with them, because only in this way could the intelligentsia fulfill their mission of educating the people: “I know that they are carrying out the most severe scientific experiments on the living body of Russia, I know how to hate, but I want to be fair."

Gorky called his articles “untimely,” but his fight for true democracy began on time. Another thing is that the new government very soon ceased to be satisfied with the presence of any opposition. The newspaper was closed. The intelligentsia (including Gorky) were allowed to leave Russia. The people very soon fell into a new slavery, covered with socialist slogans and words about the welfare of ordinary people. Gorky was deprived of the right to speak openly for a long time. But what he managed to publish - the collection “Untimely Thoughts” - will remain an invaluable lesson in civic courage. They contain the writer’s sincere pain for his people, painful shame for everything that is happening in Russia, and faith in its future, despite the bloody horror of history and the “dark instincts” of the masses, and the eternal appeal: “Be more humane in these days of universal atrocities!

I

The Russian people married Freedom. Let us believe that from this union in our country, exhausted both physically and spiritually, new strong people.

Let us firmly believe that in the Russian man the powers of his mind and will will flare up with a bright fire, powers extinguished and suppressed by the centuries-old oppression of the police system of life.

But we should not forget that we are all people of yesterday and that the great task of reviving the country is in the hands of people brought up by the painful impressions of the past, a spirit of distrust of each other, disrespect for their neighbors and ugly selfishness.

We grew up in an "underground" atmosphere; what we called legal activity was, in essence, either radiation into the void, or petty politicking of groups and individuals, the internecine struggle of people whose self-esteem had degenerated into painful pride.

Living among the soul-poisoning ugliness of the old regime, among the anarchy it gave birth to, seeing how limitless were the limits of the power of the adventurers who ruled us, we - naturally and inevitably - became infected with all the harmful properties, all the skills and techniques of the people who despised us, mocked us.

We had nowhere and nothing to develop a sense of personal responsibility for the misfortunes of the country, for its shameful life; we were poisoned by the corpse poison of dead monarchism.

Lists of “secret employees of the Security Department” published in newspapers are a shameful indictment against us, this is one of the signs of social disintegration and rotting of the country, a formidable sign.

There is also a lot of dirt, rust and all kinds of poison, all this will not disappear soon; the old order is destroyed physically, but spiritually it remains alive both around us and in ourselves. The many-headed hydra of ignorance, barbarity, stupidity, vulgarity and rudeness has not been killed; she was scared, hid, but did not lose the ability to devour living souls.

We must not forget that we live in the wilds of many millions of ordinary people, politically illiterate and socially illiterate. People who don't know what they want are politically and socially dangerous people. The mass of the average person will not soon be distributed along their class paths, along the lines of clearly recognized interests; they will not soon organize themselves and become capable of conscious and creative social struggle. And for the time being, until it is organized, it will feed with its muddy and unhealthy juice the monsters of the past, born of the police system familiar to the average person.

It would be possible to point out some other threats to the new system, but it is premature to talk about this and, perhaps, obscene.

We are experiencing a moment in highest degree complex, requiring all our strength, hard work and the greatest caution in decisions. We do not need to forget the fatal mistakes of 905-6 - the brutal massacre that followed these mistakes weakened and beheaded us for a whole decade. During this time, we were politically and socially corrupted, and the war, having exterminated hundreds of thousands of youth, further undermined our strength, undermining the economic life of the country.

The generation that will be the first to accept the new system of life got freedom cheaply; This generation knows little about the terrible efforts of people who, over the course of a whole century, gradually destroyed the gloomy fortress of Russian monarchism. The average person did not know the hellish, mole-like work that was done for him - this hard labor is unknown not only to one average person in ten hundred Russian district towns.

We gather and we must build new life on the basis of which we have long dreamed. We understand these principles with reason, they are familiar to us in theory, but these principles are not in our instinct, and it will be terribly difficult for us to introduce them into the practice of life, into ancient Russian life. It is difficult for us, because we, I repeat, are a completely ill-educated people socially, and our bourgeoisie, now moving to power, is just as little educated in this regard. And we must remember that the bourgeoisie is taking into its hands not the state, but the ruins of the state; it is taking these chaotic ruins under conditions that are immeasurably more difficult than the conditions of 5-6 years. Will she understand that her work will be successful only if there is a strong unity with democracy, and that the task of strengthening the positions taken from the old government will not be strong under all other conditions? There is no doubt that the bourgeoisie must get better, but there is no need to rush into this, so as not to repeat the dark mistake of the 6th year.

In turn, revolutionary democracy should assimilate and feel its national tasks, the need for itself to take an active part in organizing the economic strength of the country, in the development of the productive energy of Russia, in protecting its freedom from all encroachments from outside and from within.

Only one victory has been won - conquered political power, there are many more difficult victories to be won, and first of all we must defeat our own illusions.

We overthrew the old government, but we succeeded not because we are a force, but because the power that was rotting us was itself completely rotten and collapsed at the first friendly push. The mere fact that we could not decide on this push for so long, seeing how the country was being destroyed, feeling how it was being raped us - already Our long-suffering alone testifies to our weakness.

The task of the moment is to firmly strengthen, as far as possible, the positions we have taken, which is achievable only with the reasonable unity of all forces capable of working for the political, economic and spiritual revival of Russia.

Problems of “Untimely Thoughts”

Gorky puts forward a number of problems that he tries to comprehend and resolve. One of the most significant among them is historical fate Russian people.

Relying on all his previous experience and on his many deeds confirmed reputation as a defender of the enslaved and humiliated, Gorky declares: “I have the right to tell the offensive and bitter truth about the people, and I am convinced that it will be better for the people if I tell this truth about them.” first, and not those enemies of the people who are now silent and hoarding revenge and anger in order to... spit anger in the face of the people..."

The fundamental difference in views on the people between Gorky and the Bolsheviks. Gorky refuses to “half-adore the people,” he argues with those who, based on the best, democratic intentions, passionately believed “in the exceptional qualities of our Karatayevs.”

Beginning his book with the message that the revolution gave freedom of speech, Gorky announces to his people “ the honest truth", i.e. one that is above personal and group biases. He believes that he is highlighting the horrors and absurdities of the time so that people can see themselves from the outside and try to change in better side. In his opinion, the people themselves are to blame for their plight.

Gorky accuses the people of passively participating in state development countries. Everyone is to blame: in war people kill each other; fighting, they destroy what has been built; in battles, people become embittered and brutalized, lowering the level of culture: theft, lynching, and debauchery become more frequent. According to the writer, Russia is not threatened by class danger, but by the possibility of savagery and lack of culture. Everyone blames each other, Gorky bitterly states, instead of “confronting the storm of emotions with the power of reason.” Looking at his people, Gorky notes “that they are passive, but cruel when power falls into their hands, that the celebrated kindness of their soul is Karamazov’s sentimentalism, that they are terribly impervious to the suggestions of humanism and culture.”

Let's analyze an article dedicated to the “drama of the 4th of July” - the dispersal of demonstrations in Petrograd. In the center of the article, the picture of the demonstration itself and its dispersal is reproduced (precisely reproduced, not retold). And then follows the author’s reflection on what he saw with his own eyes, ending with a final generalization. The reliability of the report and the immediacy of the author's impressions serve as the basis for the emotional impact on the reader. Both what happened and the thoughts - everything happens as if in front of the reader’s eyes, which is why, obviously, the conclusions sound so convincing, as if born not only in the author’s brain, but also in our consciousness. We see participants in the July demonstration: armed and unarmed people, a “truck-car” closely packed with motley representatives of the “revolutionary army”, rushing “like a rabid pig”. (Further, the image of the truck evokes no less expressive associations: “a thundering monster”, “a ridiculous cart”.) But then the “panic of the crowd” begins, afraid of “itself”, although a minute before the first shot it “renounced the old world” and “ shook his ashes from her feet.” A “disgusting picture of madness” appears before the eyes of the observer: the crowd, at the sound of chaotic shots, behaved like a “herd of sheep” and turned into “heaps of meat, mad with fear.”

Gorky is looking for the cause of what happened. Unlike the absolute majority, who blamed everything on the “Leninists”, Germans or outright counter-revolutionaries, he calls main reason the misfortune that happened was “severe Russian stupidity,” “lack of culture, lack of historical sense.”

A.M. Gorky writes: “Reproaching our people for their inclination towards anarchism, their dislike of work, for all their savagery and ignorance, I remember: they could not be otherwise. The conditions among which he lived could not instill in him either respect for the individual, or a consciousness of the rights of a citizen, or a sense of justice - these were conditions of complete lawlessness, oppression of man, the most shameless lies and brutal cruelty.”

Another issue that attracts Gorky's close attention is the proletariat as the creator of revolution and culture.

The writer, in his very first essays, warns the working class “that miracles do not really happen, that they will face hunger, complete disruption of industry, destruction of transport, prolonged bloody anarchy... for it is impossible to pike command to make 85% of the country’s peasant population socialist.”

Gorky invites the proletariat to thoughtfully check their attitude towards the government, to treat its activities with caution: “My opinion is this: the people’s commissars are destroying and destroying the working class of Russia, they are terribly and absurdly complicating the labor movement, creating irresistibly difficult conditions for all future work of the proletariat and for the whole progress of the country."

To his opponent’s objections that workers are included in the government, Gorky replies: “From the fact that the working class predominates in the Government, it does not follow that the working class understands everything that is done by the Government.” According to Gorky, “People's Commissars treat Russia as material for experiment; the Russian people for them are the horse that bacteriologists inoculate with typhus so that the horse produces anti-typhoid serum in its blood.” “Bolshevik demagoguery, heating up the egoistic instincts of the peasant, extinguishes the germs of his social conscience, therefore the Soviet government spends its energy on inciting anger, hatred and gloating.”

According to Gorky’s deep conviction, the proletariat must avoid contributing to the destructive mission of the Bolsheviks; its purpose is different: it must become “an aristocracy among democracy in our peasant country.”

“The best thing that the revolution has created,” Gorky believes, “is a conscious, revolutionary-minded worker. And if the Bolsheviks lure him into robbery, he will die, which will cause a long and dark reaction in Russia.”

The salvation of the proletariat, according to Gorky, lies in its unity with the “class of the working intelligentsia,” for “the working intelligentsia is one of the detachments of the great class of the modern proletariat, one of the members of the great working family.” Gorky appeals to the reason and conscience of the working intelligentsia, hoping that their union will contribute to the development of Russian culture.

“The proletariat is the creator of a new culture—these words contain a wonderful dream of the triumph of justice, reason, and beauty.” The task of the proletarian intelligentsia is to unite all the intellectual forces of the country on the basis of cultural work. “But for the success of this work, we must abandon party sectarianism,” the writer reflects, “politics alone cannot educate a “new man,” by turning methods into dogmas, we do not serve the truth, but increase the number of harmful misconceptions.”

The third problematic element of “Untimely Thoughts,” closely related to the first two, were articles on the relationship between revolution and culture. This is the core problem of Gorky's journalism of 1917-1918. It is no coincidence that when publishing his “Untimely Thoughts” as a separate book, the writer gave the subtitle “Notes on Revolution and Culture.”

Gorky is ready to endure the cruel days of 1917 for the sake of the wonderful results of the revolution: “We, Russians, are a people who have not yet worked freely, who have not had time to develop all our strengths, all our abilities, and when I think that the revolution will give us the opportunity free work, comprehensive creativity - my heart is filled with great hope and joy even in these damned days, drenched in blood and wine.”

He welcomes the revolution because “it is better to burn in the fire of revolution than to slowly rot in the trash heap of the monarchy.” These days, according to Gorky, is born new person, who will finally throw off the accumulated dirt of our life over centuries, kill our Slavic laziness, and enter into the universal work of building our planet as a brave, talented Worker. The publicist calls on everyone to bring into the revolution “all the best that is in our hearts,” or at least to reduce the cruelty and anger that intoxicate and defame the revolutionary worker.

These romantic motifs are interspersed in the cycle with bitingly truthful fragments: “Our revolution has given full scope to all bad and brutal instincts... we see that among the servants Soviet power Every now and then they catch bribe-takers, speculators, swindlers, and honest people who know how to work so as not to die of hunger sell newspapers on the streets.” “Half-starved beggars deceive and rob each other - this is what the current day is filled with.” Gorky warns the working class that the revolutionary working class will be responsible for all the outrages, dirt, meanness, blood: “The working class will have to pay for the mistakes and crimes of its leaders - with thousands of lives, streams of blood.”

According to Gorky, one of the most important tasks social revolution consists in the purification of human souls - in getting rid of “the painful oppression of hatred”, in “mitigating cruelty”, “recreating morals”, “ennobling relationships”. To accomplish this task, there is only one way - the path of cultural education.

What is the main idea of “Untimely Thoughts”? main idea Gorky is still very topical today: he is convinced that only by learning to work with love, only by understanding the paramount importance of labor for the development of culture, will the people be able to truly create their own history.

He calls for healing the swamps of ignorance, because it will not take root in rotten soil. new culture. Gorky suggests, in his opinion, effective way transformations: “We treat work as if it is the curse of our life, because we do not understand the great meaning of work, we cannot love it. Facilitating working conditions, reducing its quantity, making work easy and enjoyable is possible only with the help of science... Only in the love of work will we achieve the great goal of life.”

Supreme manifestation historical creativity the writer sees in overcoming the elements of nature, in the ability to control nature with the help of science: “We will believe that a person will feel cultural significance labor and will love it. Work done with love becomes creativity.”

According to Gorky, science will help make human labor easier and make him happy: “We Russians especially need to organize our higher intelligence- science. The broader and deeper the tasks of science, the more abundant the practical fruits of its research.”

He sees a way out of crisis situations in careful attitude to the cultural heritage of the country and people, in uniting workers of science and culture in the development of industry, in the spiritual re-education of the masses.

These are the ideas that form a single book of Untimely Thoughts, a book current problems revolution and culture.