Project Gutenberg 1996-10-01 Public domain in the USA. 154 Gorky, Maksim 1868 1936 Peshkov, Alexey Maximiovich Горький, Максим Gorky, Maxim Gorky, Maxime Gorki, Maximo Gorki, Maxime Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith) 1874 1936 Chesterton, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Gilbert K. (Gilbert Keith) Creatures That Once Were Men Produced by Judith Boss. HTML version by Al Haines. "Creatures That Once Were Men" by Maksim Gorky is a work of fiction written during the early 20th century. This story delves into the lives of the downtrodden and marginalized individuals living in a dilapidated dosshouse, as seen through the eyes of Captain Aristid Kuvalda and his companions, who embody the struggles and despair of the lower classes. Gorky’s narrative explores themes of poverty, social injustice, and the harsh realities of life in a way that is both poignant and brutally honest. The opening of the story paints a bleak yet vivid picture of the surroundings, highlighting the squalid conditions of a poor neighborhood and the weary inhabitants of the dosshouse. Gorky introduces us to a range of characters, including the retired Captain Kuvalda, who oversees the dosshouse, and a variety of lodgers, each with their tragic backstories and dreams long abandoned. Through their interactions, the reader gains insight into their coping mechanisms and the camaraderie that forms among those left at the bottom of society. The gruesome reality they face is marked by dark humor and stark cynicism, encapsulating the essence of existence as “creatures that once were men.” (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 83.2 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Fiction PG Text Category: Novels Category: Russian Literature 181928 2025-07-01T06:48:19.535598 text/html 176420 2021-01-01T10:41:48 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 64519 2021-01-01T10:41:48 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 142891 2025-07-01T06:48:25.187547 application/epub+zip 144350 2025-07-01T06:48:22.214566 application/epub+zip 129708 2025-07-01T06:48:21.169579 application/epub+zip 303444 2025-07-01T06:48:27.373620 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 294529 2025-07-01T06:48:24.557589 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 250306 2022-09-01T07:38:17.461474 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 167223 2025-07-01T06:48:19.041556 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 167011 2021-01-01T10:41:48 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 62862 2021-01-01T10:41:48 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19254 2025-07-01T06:48:27.498519 application/rdf+xml 16728 2025-07-01T06:48:21.651600 image/jpeg 4244 2025-07-01T06:48:21.408555 image/jpeg 142055 2025-07-01T06:48:19.550574 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia en.wikipedia