A Hero Of Our Time is a kind of forgotten classic of Russian literature.
Written by Mikhail Lermontov in the late 1830s, it revolves around Pechorin, a man who feels nothing about the world and is permanently looking for something to take the edge of his boredom – a nihilist.
The novel, Lermontov’s only one, consists of five separate short stories that are all linked by Pechorin.
I have a sort of vested interest, given that I did a Russian and German degree, but that doesn’t mean I’m totally biassed.
Everyone talks about the likes of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov and are mainly ignorant of the fact that Lermontov inspired all three of his better-known 19th-century contemporaries.
Hero Of Our Time is cited as the first novel of ‘psychological realism’ – in other words, it paid as much, if not more, attention to the why and wherefores of the action and characters as the what.
If you’ve ever read Crime & Punishment or Anna Karenina, then give this a try and see the inspiration.
October 5, 2008 at 9:00 pm |
this is one of the greatest books ever written. the russian-made 2-DVD movie is great too.