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wwatts1734's review against another edition
4.0
Among the greats of Russian writers of the Romantic school, Lermontov was a literary disciple of the great Russian poet Pushkin, and was an influence on the great Russian writers Dostoyevski and Chekov. It was a shame that Lermontov died as a result of a duel at the age of 25. There is no telling how Russian literature would have been different otherwise.
A Hero of Our Time is his magnum opus, and in fact one of his few non-poetic works. It is actually a collection of short stories about the hero Pechorin, a junior officer in the Czar's army stationed in the Caucasus. Pechorin, like Lermontov himself, was killed in a duel. His insights on love and life are priceless, as Lermontov draws a vivid picture of life in the semi-Slavic/semi-Middle Eastern territories of the Caucasus in the early 19th Century. Pechorin himself is an archetype of the non-traditional soldier, the sophisticated society man in uniform who does not fit the image of the disciplined military officer. In the end, Lermontov's merger of exotic locale's of the Caucasus with the interesting intellectual trends of Russian society makes for excellent reading.
The book itself is short, the stories are interesting and the characters are likeable. For the 21st Century American, Lermontov's allusions to the institutions of Czarist society and morals are obscured. However, this work is still an excellent read for modern readers.
A Hero of Our Time is his magnum opus, and in fact one of his few non-poetic works. It is actually a collection of short stories about the hero Pechorin, a junior officer in the Czar's army stationed in the Caucasus. Pechorin, like Lermontov himself, was killed in a duel. His insights on love and life are priceless, as Lermontov draws a vivid picture of life in the semi-Slavic/semi-Middle Eastern territories of the Caucasus in the early 19th Century. Pechorin himself is an archetype of the non-traditional soldier, the sophisticated society man in uniform who does not fit the image of the disciplined military officer. In the end, Lermontov's merger of exotic locale's of the Caucasus with the interesting intellectual trends of Russian society makes for excellent reading.
The book itself is short, the stories are interesting and the characters are likeable. For the 21st Century American, Lermontov's allusions to the institutions of Czarist society and morals are obscured. However, this work is still an excellent read for modern readers.
amber932212's review against another edition
4.0
wow. the separate stories made it difficult to understand the point of the novel at first, but by the end I couldn't put it down. beautiful prose at certain parts, heartbreaking at the end.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, so that's what a superfluous man is! Pechorin's callousness reminds me of Casanova. The way he makes people love him and then runs off. That's so like Casanova And there's even has a duel - and what a duel! I applauded and read it all over again. And I love this statement because it describes me:
"There’s no one so susceptible to the power of the past as I am. Every memory of past joy or sorrow stabs at my heart and strikes the same old chords. It’s silly the way I’m made: I forget nothing – absolutely nothing."
"There’s no one so susceptible to the power of the past as I am. Every memory of past joy or sorrow stabs at my heart and strikes the same old chords. It’s silly the way I’m made: I forget nothing – absolutely nothing."
haroshinka's review against another edition
4.0
I wish I had read this book when I was a little younger. The descriptions of the Caucasuses make this book fantastic for Slavophile in me - experiencing Russia as the Southern, confusing place of my childhood, that is not at all a European country. Parts of Act II appear to be the literary predecessor to Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, except our protagonist here is a bit more philosophically consistent and not so pathetically pitiful.
hwaseong's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
eliu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kimelhyung's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mallory_minerva's review against another edition
5.0
A Hero of Our Time is Mikhail Lermontov's only novel, and one of the earliest in Russia's famed tradition of novels, is a masterpiece. It follows Pechorin, one of literature's great assholes. It is broken into two overall parts. The first is written from the perspective of a narrator who meets Maxim Maximych, an old friend of Pechorin, and the two converse, and the first story of Pechorin, that of Bela, is revealed. This showcases Pechorin's character from an outsiders view, and reveals a mysterious, selfish and unpredictable man, by way of showing how he loves and interacts with women, how he interacts with friends, and how he handles personal tragedy. It ends with the narrator coming into contact with Pechorin's journal, which we then spend the rest of the book reading. This shows three episodes, two short and one novella-length. Taman is about Pechorin lodging at a village for a couple nights and learning something sobering about his place in the world. The second is Princess Mary, the book's centerpiece; a beautiful and drawn-out tragic romance. The third is The Fatalist; serving as the book's outro, is a curious tale about predestination and fatalism, and about death.
The stories in this book are beautifully and enjoyably told, and amount to an impressively deep character study. There are several lessons that can be learned from Pechorin, but the two that stick out to me are thus. Firstly, your childhood and place in society have a profound impact on your character. The mindsets you develop are significantly impacted by what impressions are made on you as a child by the social environment you are in. This is kind of obvious, but in Pechorin's case, don't take an innocent child and ruin them with an unnecessarily and avoidably depressing childhood. The second lesson is: don't be Pechorin. He is keenly aware of how his bleak childhood effected his adulthood, and at that point, he had the knowledge necessary to improve himself but didn't because he was content with himself. If you are a selfish asshole and you know it, stop being a selfish asshole. It's that simple. Pechorin being a selfish asshole is essentially what drives the plot of the two main stories, Bela and Princess Mary. In both cases, his utter disregard for the well-being and concerns of others leads to tragedy. The reason he's a selfish asshole by the way is because he's bored with life and wants to stave off boredom by entertaining himself by using other people. And if you're uneasy about a book with such a bastardious protagonist, he has the charisma (through Lermontov's writing) to make it enjoyable anyways.
Lastly, the writing is damn fine. Lermontov uses a conversational and easy-going tone with the right balance of simplicity and analysis, which I adore. Paul Foote's translation renders this superbly, and I've seen it endorsed by people who have read this book in Russian. Overall, A Hero of Our Time is a wonderful character study that channels the depressed and fatalistic attitudes of Russians, while also examining the nature of selfish assholes. Its stories are great tales on their own, Lermontov was great at prose, and its characters are deeply memorable and realized. I have absolutely no complaints and I think this one is going to stick with me for a long time.
The stories in this book are beautifully and enjoyably told, and amount to an impressively deep character study. There are several lessons that can be learned from Pechorin, but the two that stick out to me are thus. Firstly, your childhood and place in society have a profound impact on your character. The mindsets you develop are significantly impacted by what impressions are made on you as a child by the social environment you are in. This is kind of obvious, but in Pechorin's case, don't take an innocent child and ruin them with an unnecessarily and avoidably depressing childhood. The second lesson is: don't be Pechorin. He is keenly aware of how his bleak childhood effected his adulthood, and at that point, he had the knowledge necessary to improve himself but didn't because he was content with himself. If you are a selfish asshole and you know it, stop being a selfish asshole. It's that simple. Pechorin being a selfish asshole is essentially what drives the plot of the two main stories, Bela and Princess Mary. In both cases, his utter disregard for the well-being and concerns of others leads to tragedy. The reason he's a selfish asshole by the way is because he's bored with life and wants to stave off boredom by entertaining himself by using other people. And if you're uneasy about a book with such a bastardious protagonist, he has the charisma (through Lermontov's writing) to make it enjoyable anyways.
Lastly, the writing is damn fine. Lermontov uses a conversational and easy-going tone with the right balance of simplicity and analysis, which I adore. Paul Foote's translation renders this superbly, and I've seen it endorsed by people who have read this book in Russian. Overall, A Hero of Our Time is a wonderful character study that channels the depressed and fatalistic attitudes of Russians, while also examining the nature of selfish assholes. Its stories are great tales on their own, Lermontov was great at prose, and its characters are deeply memorable and realized. I have absolutely no complaints and I think this one is going to stick with me for a long time.
erodais4lovers's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75