A Hero Of Our Time (with An Introduction By George Reavey) [Paperback]

Mikhail Lermontovs pioneering psychological novel, A Hero of Our Time, is probably his most impactful work, one which influenced the works of other great Russian authors such as Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. The novels narrative is the story of Pechorin a young officer in the army whose story is told in five non-chronological parts. Drawing upon his own experiences in the military, Lermontov creates a fascinating anti-hero in Pechorin, a man who is intelligent, calculating, manipulative, emotionally unavailable, arrogant, cynical, nihilistic, yet also sensitive. The principal accomplishment of A Hero of Our Time is the introduction of the Byronic anti-hero to Russian literature, a departure from the traditional idealized protagonist of the Romantic period which signifies a pivotal move towards the realism of the Modernist literary movement. As Lermontov describes in his preface: A Hero of Our Time, my dear readers, is indeed a portrait, but not of one man. It is a portrait built up of all our generations vices in full bloom. You will again tell me that a human being cannot be so wicked, and I will reply that if you can believe in the existence of all the villains of tragedy and romance, why wouldnt believe that there was a Pechorin? This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by George Reavey.