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Before Maxim Gorky discovered books, he had already learned the language of hunger, cruelty, and loss. Orphaned at the age of 11, he was raised in an extremely abusive and impoverished household by his maternal grandparents. He started working at the age of 8 – as dishwasher, longshoreman, baker’s apprentice, and railway porter. He lived among ‘social dregs’ like thieves, tramps, and crude labourers. The discovery of books and reading changed his life radically. So...
