Twenty-six Men and a Girl - 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.