Lermontov: The Mystical Genius

18 hrs. 5 min.

Language Russian

Author Vladimir Bondarenko

Narrator Nadezhda Vinokurova

Description

Centuries have passed since the day when the great Russian poet, the national genius Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, was killed at Mount Mashuk. In a new book about him, perhaps for the first time in 200 years, the author tells of the poet’s mystical roots reaching back to his ancient ancestors—and includes so many intriguing details that it will interest both established literary figures and the broadest readership.

The research of well-known critic and publicist Vladimir Bondarenko—unlike the many fictionalized family-and-domestic biographies—touches the most important problems of existence and reveals the foundation of Lermontov’s life position: his harsh opposition to both secular power and spiritual, as well as normative-domestic, morality. Did the authorities need such a free-spirited poet? Why did the poet’s contemporaries consider the duel to be murder, and why do some modern Lermontov scholars justify Martynov? Why did silence about the reasons for Lermontov’s death stretch out for as long as 30 years? Vasily Rozanov wrote about the “ever-sad duel,” Vladimir Bondarenko—about the “ever-criminal” one…

The author speaks out sharply against all the mystifications and rumors about the poet. For him, Lermontov in all his contradictions—despite the complexity of character—is first and foremost the greatest national Russian genius, who very early realized his tragic mission.