Twenty-Six Men and a Girl - Maxim Gorky

Author: Maxim Gorky

Genre: Short Story

Rating: 3.75 stars.

A short story first published in Russian in 1899 as “Dvadtsat shest i odna” (“Twenty-six and One”) and considered to be one of Maxim Gorky’s best short works.

The story is written in the first person plural narrative of one of twenty six bakers who are almost like prisoners, always in the cellar of a big stony house and working long hours of the day making kringles. The only bright spot in their dreary existence – or as they call her, "a substitute for the sun” – is sixteen year old Tanya, who works at an embroidery shop two floors above. She stops by daily asking the “prisoners” for kringles and they willingly offer her not just the pretzels but also help out in her chores. Soon, Tanya becomes an ideal girl in their minds, too pure to be teased or reprimanded or lusted after. But when an ex-soldier joins their bakery and claims he can seduce Tanya, a new tension begins and escalates. The end result of the soldier’s attempt changes many lives for the worse.

This is my first ever Gorky short tale and I was pretty impressed by the atmosphere he creates. His descriptions in the initial section about the gloominess and drudgery of the bakers’ lives is so well-written that even you feel one with their pain. His writing casts a brilliant spotlight on their psychology as they begin to idolise an ordinary girl even when she is just using them and later, when reality hits, the resulting repercussions. The extreme duality of their thinking is so evident when Tanya turns from goddess to slut in their eyes, though whatever she did was none of their business and whatever they had assumed about her wasn’t of her making. I loved how Gorky didn’t turn Tanya into an apologetic mess. Rather, she walks away with her head held high while the twenty six lose the only ray of sunshine in their miserable lives.

This classic story is in the public domain and hence available on various websites for free. You can read it within 30 minutes. I read it from THIS LINK.