The adventures of one Grigory Pechorin, soldier. He is a somewhat dashing, somewhat Byronic antihero, often bored when he achieves his goals. He's not really that nice, yet people find themselves drawn to him. Could fit these times as well as those Lermontov was writing in. Definitely worth reading if you like Byronic antiheroes. ( )

Another book that was recommended to me by a friend, probably because she was concerned for my wellbeing. First there was 'Into the Wild,' the nonfiction book concerning Christopher McCandless's disappearance and subsequent death in the wilds of Alaska - the message: don't do the same!

Now, this fine Russian novel, itself practically autobiographical, about a lost nihilist, a man who felt the decadence of his age and was repulsed by it, though who became a decadent himself. Pechorin, the titular 'hero', lives a life that he himself finds boring, where the only joys to be had are in the machinations of the society around him, which he only approaches from a distance, and always so that they have no effect on him. His tale is mysterious, and mysteriously told; I think I shall find myself returning to this book in the near future to re-examine Lermontov's ideas. Some aspects seem written for me, and perhaps here is another warning for me to heed. ( )

The book tells the story from two points of view of the middle years of life of Gregoriy Pechorin, a Russian military man in the 19th century from a noble background. The first quarter of the book is told in the first person by a narrator some years older than Pechorin who had served with him briefly; the narrator is telling the story to a fellow traveler as they climb through mountains in that land: Ossetia, Caucasus, etc - there are plenty of Ossetes, Cossacks, Chechnyans and others peppered throughout the book. Later in the book, the stories are positioned as being from Pechorin's journals. Aside from a lark into talking about mountain scenery in the manner of Thoreau, the prose is pitch-perfect and as such is just as emotional as Tolstoy where it attempts to be. Although the author, some reviewers and others have tried to paint Pechorin as a victim or a decent guy, I suspect this is a struggled approach to accommodate the title of the book. Pechorin is pretty much devoid of compassion, he's judgmental, bored, manipulative, a perfect devil, without the will to try to hurt everyone, just a few. However, the book is so well written that it could document anyone and the reader would enjoy and be hungry to read on and on in the lyrical, rythymic, hpnotic writing prowess. ( )

This is apparently the first proper novel to come out of Russian, and in fairness it hardly feels like a novel at all, more a series of short stories which happen to have the same central character. The setting, narrator and atmosphere differs throughout the different stories. Pechorin is the central character, he is bored with life and largely without emotion, so causes various trouble and scandal to try and entertain himself. Its not bad, but I found it a bit patchy - I liked the Princess Mary section, not so much the Taman section. The Pechorin character is complex and intriguing, and I liked how he was examined from various viewpoints including his own. But in the end I found it a bit disjointed and unsatisfying. ( )

read it for class... i enjoyed it, surprisingly. not exactly a must read but it kept my attention ( )