The many-sidedness of his genius--for he has more than talent--is shown, among other things, by the fact that he depicts with equal success landscapes, _genre_ scenes, portraits of women.

His episode of the singers in "Foma Gordyeeff" (pp.

217-227) is regarded by Russian critics as fully worthy of being compared with the scenes for which Turgeneff is renowned.

His landscape pictures are so beautiful that they cause a throb of pain.

But, as is almost inevitable under the circumstances, most of his stories have an element of coarseness, which sometimes repels.
In general, his subject is "the uneasy man," who is striving after absolute freedom, after light and a lofty ideal, of which he can perceive the existence somewhere, though with all his efforts he cannot grasp it.