Book Description
The first major prose novel in Russian literature and chief source of the Russian tradition in 19th century literature, "A Hero of Our Time" (1840) was to have a profound influence on later Russian writers. Its use of a non-chronological and multifaceted narrative structure influenced such later Russian authors as Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy and presaged the antiheroes and antinovels of 20th-century fiction.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian


The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Mikhail Lermontov, published in Russian in 1840 as Geroy nashego vremeni. Its psychologically probing portrait of a disillusioned 19th-century aristocrat and its use of a nonchronological and multifaceted narrative structure influenced such later Russian authors as Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy and presaged the antiheroes and antinovels of 20th-century fiction. The novel is set in the Russian Caucasus in the 1830s. Grigory Pechorin is a bored, self-centered, and cynical young army officer who believes in nothing. With impunity he toys with the love of women and the goodwill of men. He is brave, determined, and willful, but his energies and potential are wasted, and he dies in a duel.


From the Publisher
"A Hero of Our Time is a book comprising five stories –'Bela,' 'Maxim Maximych,' 'Taman,' 'Princess Mary,' and 'The Fatalist'– linked by a single subject. In it Lermontov describes Pechorin, the hero of the day, of a terrible era, a wasted, cruel, and useless man, who passes indifferently by majestic landscapes and plain but wonderful people with pure hearts. In his five stories he reveals perfect art, which is real, wise, masterly in style and delightful." — Alexei Tolstoy

ANNOTATION

In five linked episodes, Lermontov builds up the portrait of a man caught up in and expressing the sickness of his times. A marvelous novel and an early landmark in Russian literature, A Hero of Our Time served as an inspiration for many later Russian authors, including Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.

FROM THE PUBLISHER