“...Unloved, hunted, stinging, unbearably lonely Leskov cuts with a sharp angle into his era, which has already descended into nebula, and now it seems that it was Leskov who was the only cast form, statement and fully outlined figure of that era when everything in Russia lost its shape, confused its outlines, emanated from denial and forgiveness, shifting into the chaos of feelings and deeds in order to fade before our eyes into Russia-confusion. As if Leskov alone was resisting the approaching darkness...”