Gorky and Soviet Children's Literature

High-flying birds and burning hearts are typical images in the works of Maxim Gorky (1868-1936). His Song of the Falcon and Song of the Stormy Petrel were paeans to the forthcoming Revolu-tion, and the image of Danko saving his people from the dark forest by holding his own ripped-out heart, burning like the sun, above his head is well-known to Gorky readers. Gorky himself was all fire and flight. His brilliant humanitarian spirit soared above the world of nan'ow-minded politicking and for this reason he is regarded with a combination of respect, rever-ence, and awe in the Soviet Union by liberal and dissident thinkers as well as by orthodox communists—a rare accomplishment in a country where heroism is often determined by the ideological camp one belongs to. Though he is the acknowledged father of Socialist Realism, it is not so much Gorky's greatness as a writer, which is questionable, that Russians admire so deeply in him. Rather, it i