“With all due admiration for Dostoievsky and the ablest of his confrères among the pessimists, I cannot but think it would be a better sign if Björnstjerne Björnson were to become the vogue. It is not so much a question of optimism versus pessimism as of perfect sanity of mind and body against baffling weariness, disease and despair. We have much to learn from a writer such as Dostoievsky: perhaps we have a really deeper and worthier lesson to learn from men like Björnson”
William Sharp, ‘Björnson’s In God’s Way: book review’, The Academy, London:1890
