The Man Who Was Afraid

'The Man Who Was Afraid' (also called Foma Gordeyev) is an 1899 novel by five time Nobel Prize nominee and Russian author Maxim Gorky. It is about an energetic, healthy man, craving for space to realize his power's potential but who ends up feeling smothered by life's conventions. Forma had always been proud of his wealthy father who had raised him albeit being a bit distant, and in many ways emulated him. Now he has a godfather and mentor in Mayakin, a totally different kind of man. Forma suspects that Mayakin wants him to marry his daughter Luba, something he is not too keen on…