A Hero of Our Time

Lermontov’s only completed novel, which stands at the origin of Russian psychological prose. The author named his complex, dangerous, and incredibly captivating hero an embodiment of the vices of his generation, but readers notice in Pechorin primarily a unique personality.

“Main Books of Russian Literature” is a joint series of the publishing house “Alpina. Proza” and the internet project “Polka.” The works included in it are selected by modern writers, critics, literary scholars, and teachers. This is both an attempt to determine what the Russian literary canon looks like today, and a fresh look at well-known works: each book is accompanied by a detailed article by the authors of “Polka.”