The Lower Depths

By Maxim Gorky

Set amongst the whores, alcoholics, cynics and doss house dreamers of a Russia on the brink of revolution, The Lower Depths is a harrowing, violent and uncompromising portrayal of the human spirit at its lowest ebb, with destitution and death an ever present spectre.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oberon Modern Plays
• Release date: Aug 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781783193936

Reviews for The Lower Depths

[iowalawyer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well worth reading.

[g026r · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Though this is technically still socialist realism, it's early enough that the term hadn't yet hist the heights of self-parodying, straitjacketing genre description that it — and Gorky himself — would reach in post-Revolution Russia.Decent, though a lot of the newness of the ideas are now long since old hat. The relentless pessimism particularly with regards to the ending, for example, now seems like what you'd expect from a student just out of art school rather than an established writer.

[currerbell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Of interest for its apparent influence on The Iceman Cometh, but this translation might not be of the best. Additionally, note that this is an inexpensive Kindle edition and is not text-digitized; instead, the pages are simply scanned images.Still, 3½*** considering that doesn't seem to be an easy title to find in translation and that it's important for its association with Eugene O'Neill.