A Hero of Our Time is an often overlooked classic of Russian literature regarded as the first Russian novel of Russian psychological realism. Centered around the adventures of a morally bankrupt army officer named Pechorin, the book takes place in the Caucasus in the early 19th Century. Seemingly bored with life, Pechorin draws pleasure from playing psychological games and attempting to dominate those around him. His tales of derring-do, manipulation and female seduction are enthralling in their unfolding and disturbing in their sheer pointlessness.

In the introduction Lermontov writes that the book was not just a portrait of one man but of all his generation’s vices. Many critics, however, have taken the character of Pechorin to be more of a self-portrait than Lermontov would admit...

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