“Despite the variety of demands and aspirations of our modern criticism of the elegant, one can, it seems, discern two main principles in its assessment of current works of literature. These principles have previously been the subject of active polemics between writers, and in the last five years they have turned into almost the only serious question that arose from time to time in the noisy field of so-called reviews, notes, and journalism. The principles we are talking about are, in essence, still so important in relation to Russian literature, still so full of life and meaning for it, that there was only a sensible word where they were touched upon, there only personal passions and easy jury work disappeared rejector of literature, where they came to the fore..."