«Twenty-six Men and a Girl» by Maxim Gorky

In a hypnotizingly crazy daily routine, twenty-six men are locked in the production of kringles (a typical Scandinavian pastry) in a basement kitchen. Their only real connection with the life outside is Tanya, a sixteen-year-old girl who visits them for baked goods. One day, one of the bun bakers, who stand higher than the kringle bakers, tells them that he seduced Tanya, shattering their vision of the girl and the world. The idolization of innocence and beauty clashes with the harsh reality of life, reflecting the stillborn hopes and desires of the twenty-six men. A painful and terribly realistic story that deserves to be read by everyone.



Maxim Gorky (1868–1936) has its place among the most talented and original Russian modern writers. A five-time Nobel Prize nominee, Gorky’s position in Russian literature is indisputable. He led a turbulent life of an exile, a dissenter, and a Bolshevik associate, which severely marked his literary endeavours. A strong supporter of Russia’s political, social, and cultural transformation, Gorky’s name still echoes in the annals of history. His best-known works include “The Lower Depths”, “My Childhood,”, “Mother”, and “Children of the Sun”.