A Hero of Our Time

Book Description

Critics

• A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

  Mikhail Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time demonstrates the peculiar fascination of the Byronic antihero. First published in 1840, the novel recounts a series of adventures of the military officer Pechorin during his travels in the Caucasus. He kidnaps t ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

• In a Spa Town

  When Samuel Johnson, travelling in the Highlands with James Boswell, reaches Loch Ness, he is so overwhelmed by the massiveness of the landscape that the heavy order of his prose is briefly disarrayed. On his right, there are high and steep rocks, an ... (read full critics)

  lrb published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

2 Reviews

• 

  Certain lines of this novel just really struck me. I know that it is a translation, so aside from learning Russian there is no way to read the text as it was created, but somehow there is still such a beauty to the concepts and the way they are written. There are several different works within "a ... (continue)

  Certain lines of this novel just really struck me. I know that it is a translation, so aside from learning Russian there is no way to read the text as it was created, but somehow there is still such a beauty to the concepts and the way they are written. There are several different works within "a Hero of Our Time" that all revolve around one central protagonist. "The Fatalist" is by far my favorite of these.

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  Sarabear135 said on Mar 14, 2010 | Add your feedback

• 

  I really enjoyed this book. It felt a little odd and a little disjoiinted, the different lenghts and perspective short stories were a bit odd but it was still a very interesting read. Even in translation the writing came across beautifully and I was struck by many of the passages. (The translation I ... (continue)

  I really enjoyed this book. It felt a little odd and a little disjoiinted, the different lenghts and perspective short stories were a bit odd but it was still a very interesting read. Even in translation the writing came across beautifully and I was struck by many of the passages. (The translation I read was the revised one by Paul Foote).

  I really liked the characterisation of Pechorin. I found him interesting and complicated, while bored with everything he still managed to have very amusing adventures. He reminded me a little of Valmont, but not quite so sympathetic or charismatic. It was a bit of shame that the other characters were not so developed and felt more like stereotypes than people, but then given Pechorin's perspective of detachment this made sense. I really enjoyed the sentiment and feel of this book. You felt like you were trapped at the edge of civilisation with no real companionship, where there was nothing to look forward to.

  I would definitely recommend this book. It has the feel of a Russian tragedy, despite being terribly short and not talking at all about politics. I wish that Lermontov had written more but then the tragedy of his life adds to his storytelling. It makes me think I should look into reading Pushkin's novels as he was such an inspiration (along with Byron).

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  Robot-mel said on Jul 16, 2009 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (11)
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• English Books
• Paperback 208 Pages
• Edition: Revised
• ISBN-10: 0140447954
• ISBN-13: 9780140447958
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Pub date: Oct 01, 2001
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 65 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Libri Italiani

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