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A review by agirlandabook85
A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
4.0
Lermontov despite only living until he was 26, killed via a duel (why is it always a duel with these Russian men?) after teasing a former Cadet school friend who challenged him and went on to shoot him in the heart, is knows as a romantic poet (second only to Pushkin) and painter. He is most known for his novel A Hero of Our Time.
This is a somewhat of an ironic title as the main character Pechorin is a rather manipulative, selfish, cruel and deeply unlikeable character. This view oddly does not seem to be shared by those who come to know him, he has the power to charm those he wishes to. Similar to Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, an “anti-hero” one in which you love to hate but can’t help but be intrigued by.
I mentioned Lermontov’s death earlier at such an early age because I feel it explains some of the issues I had.
I prefix this by saying there is no doubt that Lermontov is a fantastic writer, his descriptions of places and people are vivid and paint such a rich picture in your mind, his characters have interesting complexities they draw you in to want to know more about them. There is a solid story somewhere in this book however I feel the formatting of this book has not quite been finalised.
Upon finishing my first read through I was left confused about what has happened and when. It is not told in a chronological order, there are three different narrators all telling the story of Pechorin at different times albeit they interlink and whilst you are able to piece together a vague picture it was murky. It was only through listening again to the audiobook and reading additional chapters of the story in the unfinished Princess Ligovskaya I was able to gain a sense of what this novel was trying to say.
A book I’m glad I’ve read but not jumping straight onto my list of favourites.
This is a somewhat of an ironic title as the main character Pechorin is a rather manipulative, selfish, cruel and deeply unlikeable character. This view oddly does not seem to be shared by those who come to know him, he has the power to charm those he wishes to. Similar to Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, an “anti-hero” one in which you love to hate but can’t help but be intrigued by.
I mentioned Lermontov’s death earlier at such an early age because I feel it explains some of the issues I had.
I prefix this by saying there is no doubt that Lermontov is a fantastic writer, his descriptions of places and people are vivid and paint such a rich picture in your mind, his characters have interesting complexities they draw you in to want to know more about them. There is a solid story somewhere in this book however I feel the formatting of this book has not quite been finalised.
Upon finishing my first read through I was left confused about what has happened and when. It is not told in a chronological order, there are three different narrators all telling the story of Pechorin at different times albeit they interlink and whilst you are able to piece together a vague picture it was murky. It was only through listening again to the audiobook and reading additional chapters of the story in the unfinished Princess Ligovskaya I was able to gain a sense of what this novel was trying to say.
A book I’m glad I’ve read but not jumping straight onto my list of favourites.