▁received ▁by ▁critics , ▁not ably ▁Os ip ▁Sen kov sky ▁who ▁fav ou rab ly ▁compared ▁some ▁of ▁them ▁to ▁the ▁pro se ▁by ▁Alexander ▁P ush kin . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 8 3 0 s ▁and ▁early ▁ 1 8 4 0 s ▁Mel gun ov ▁lived ▁mostly ▁in ▁Europe ▁( G erm any , ▁Austria , ▁Italy ▁and ▁France ) ▁writing ▁critical ▁ess ays ▁on ▁Russian ▁authors , ▁like ▁G og ol ▁and ▁L erm onto v . ▁His ▁late - 1 8 3 0 s ▁works ▁were ▁published ▁in ▁mid - 1 8 4 0 s , ▁under ▁the ▁pen ▁name ▁N . ▁Liv ens ky ▁( Н . ▁Ли вен ский ) ▁which ▁he ▁started ▁to ▁use , ▁fear ing ▁the ▁host ility ▁on ▁the ▁part ▁of ▁his ▁S lav oph ile ▁oppon ents . ▁They ▁included ▁the ▁novel ▁T ma ▁i ▁sv et ▁( D ark ness ▁and ▁Light , ▁ 1 8 4 4 , ▁published ▁in ▁fragments ), ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁the ▁nov ell as ▁Zh iv aya ▁i ▁m ert v aya ▁v oda ▁( W ater ▁A live ▁and ▁Dead , ▁ 1 8 4 4 ), ▁System atic ▁( The ▁System ▁Man , ▁ 1 8 4 4 ) ▁and ▁S vid et el ▁( The ▁Wit ness , ▁ 1 8 4 5 ), ▁they ▁were ▁dismiss ed ▁by ▁some ▁critics ▁as ▁pre post er ous ▁and ▁over b low n . ▁Much ▁better ▁received ▁were ▁his ▁trav