The historical drama Boris Godunov (1831) was Pushkin's attempt to shatter the conventions of dramatic literature.

Eugene Onegin (1833), a verse-novel, is perhaps Pushkin's most famous work. The hero of the title refuses the love of a country girl, only to fall in love with her after she marries another.

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes From the Underground (1864) describes the isolation of a hyperconscious modern man.

Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) details the reactions of family members, friends, and colleagues to the death of a Russian judge.