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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the fortune you inherit cannot give you a reason to live?
On the Volga, barges and steamboats carry grain, timber and fortunes. Ignat Gordeyev rises from poverty to become a proud shipowner, and expects his son to inherit his world. But Foma Gordeyev is thoughtful, restless and troubled by questions that ships and deals cannot answer. Taking his place in the family business means facing a life he cannot accept.
In The Man Who Was Afraid, Maxim Gorky places Foma among people with competing ideas of how to live. His shrewd godfather, Yakov Mayakin, wants the business to prosper. Sofya Medynskaya seems to offer something finer, while Lubov Mayakina turns toward books and ideas. Around them, a river town measures worth in money; Foma searches for an honest reason to live.
What you’ll discover
- A river of fortunes Enter the Volga merchant world, where grain, timber and ships carry the promise of wealth.
- An heir at odds Follow Foma as family duty pulls against his restless need for meaning.
- A father's fierce pride Meet Ignat, whose strength and nerve build a fortune his son struggles to embrace.
- Lives beyond the business Discover Sofya, Lubov and Yozhov, whose lives and ideas draw Foma beyond the merchants.
- Questions money cannot answer Spend time with slow, thoughtful scenes that ask what makes a life worth living.
Who will love it
This book will please readers who love big Russian novels about family, money and conscience, and who like a restless hero searching for the meaning of his life.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Strength needs something to live for
- Foma begins with loss and questions
- His father's lessons expose a divide
- Generosity and love meet unexpected answers
- Mayakin offers life as a market
- Love unsettles Foma's view of people
- Rebellion without purpose puts others at risk
- Freedom threatens the people holding power
- Borrowed answers cannot give him purpose
Who’s who
- Foma GordyeeffThe millionaire's son who feels strong and lost, and who wants to know what a person is living for.
- Ignat GordyeeffFoma's father, a giant Volga merchant, greedy and repentant by turns, who longs for a son to carry on his name.
- Yakov MayakinFoma's godfather, a shrewd, wrinkled merchant who believes life is business and wants to mould the young man in his own way.
- Lubov MayakinaMayakin's daughter, a reader of books who feels trapped at home and hopes someone will share her longing for a better world.
- Sophya MedinskayaA graceful, charming lady of the town who draws Foma close and makes him doubt what he believes about people.
- YozhovFoma's old schoolmate, a poor, quick-tongued feuilleton writer who attacks society in print and fears he has wasted his gifts.
- SashaA proud singer who gives her company for money, speaks plainly and warns Foma that fear of oneself is worth nothing.
- AnfisaIgnat's gentle sister, who raises Foma on fairy tales and cares for him with warm, simple faith.
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The Man Who Was Afraid
by Maxim Gorky · 1899
A millionaire's son on the Volga cannot find a place to stand, and a crafty godfather watches him sink.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Freedom kills a man!”
In short
Picture a man who stands on the bank as ice smashes his new barge, and who cheers the river on. That is Ignat Gordyeeff, a Volga merchant who wins and loses fortunes with the same roar of laughter.
The Man Who Was Afraid at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 45 min6 h 10 min fast, 9 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 110,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1899by Maxim Gorky
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Ignat Gordyeeff carries three souls in one body
Ignat Gordyeeff starts as a water-pumper on a barge. By forty he owns three steamers and ten barges, and people call him Frantic because his life keeps boiling over its banks. Gorky says there are three Gordyeeffs inside him.
The first is greedy, a man gripped by a passion for work who cheats and laughs at his victims. Yet when the ice crushes a barge, he says the Volga gave it and the Volga has taken it back. The second soul wakes in spring and flings itself into drink. The third kneels in his room for days on bread and water.
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Details
- First published
- 1899
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Gorky, Maxim. The Man Who Was Afraid. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-who-was-afraid.
Gorky, M. (2026). The man who was afraid. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-who-was-afraid (Original work published 1899)
Gorky, Maxim. The Man Who Was Afraid. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-who-was-afraid.
@book{gorky2026man,
author = {Gorky, Maxim},
title = {The Man Who Was Afraid},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-man-who-was-afraid},
note = {First published 1899}
}
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What is The Man Who Was Afraid about?
It follows Foma Gordyeeff, the son of a rich Volga merchant, who inherits a fortune but cannot find a purpose for his life. Teachers, lovers and rivals each offer him an answer, and none satisfies him.
Who is Foma Gordyeeff afraid of?
He fears life itself and the sense that he does not belong. The merchants around him seem sure of themselves, while Foma feels hollow and watched, so he searches and drinks to escape the unease.
Who is Yakov Mayakin in the book?
Mayakin is Foma's godfather and his father's closest friend. He is a small, sharp, witty merchant who teaches that life is business, loves Foma in his own way and tries to make him a proper businessman.
The author
Maxim Gorky
1868–1936 · Russian and Soviet novelist
Maksim Gorky (1868–1936) was a Russian and Soviet writer born in Nizhny Novgorod. His real name was Aleksey Maksimovich Peshkov. He wrote novels, stories and plays, including The Lower Depths (1902) and Mother (1906). He lived in Russia and Italy and died near Moscow.
“Freedom kills a man!”
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