Vast Volga

I am a literary giant of the 21st century, dressed as a seven-year-old Gorky. Grandfather's whip, uncle's greed, little gypsy's death - I know better than the child himself what will happen in the next sixty years. But I can't change, I can only bear it, and then write it all down. From the coolies at the docks of the Volga River to the revolutionary writers arguing with Lenin; from the writing of "Song of the Petrel" to being under house arrest by Stalin until death - I spent two lifetimes living out all the suffering and glory of a person's life. The vast Volga, the leaden human road.