the article deals with establishing connections between works by M. Gorky and V. Pikul‘. Gorky happens to be a character in Pikul‘s novel ―On the Outskirts of a Great Empire‖. Pikul‘ worked with Gorkiy‘s journalism, his letters and archive as with historical sources. One can sense the author‘s polemics with Gorky‘s ideological position. Within the context of 20th century culture there appears a unique dialogue of a historical novelist, recreating a certain period of life in Russia (―On the Outskirts of a Great Empire‖), and a novelist depicting the epoch that he witnessed and participated in (―Life of Klim Samgin‖).