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{{Short description|1840 novel by Mikhail Lermontov}}
{{Other uses}}
{{infobox book
| name = A Hero of Our Time
| title_orig = Герой нашего времени
| orig_lang_code = ru
| translator =
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| series =
| genre =
| publisher = Iliya Glazunov & Co ({{lang
| release_date = 1840
| media_type =
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| followed_by =
}}
'''''A Hero of Our Time''''' ({{lang-
It is an example of the [[superfluous man]] novel, noted for its compelling [[Byronic hero]] (or [[antihero]]) Pechorin and for the beautiful descriptions of the [[Caucasus]]. There are several English translations, including one by [[Vladimir Nabokov]] and [[Dmitri Nabokov]] in 1958.
==Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin==
Pechorin is the embodiment of the [[Byronic hero]]. Byron's works were of international repute and Lermontov mentions his name several times throughout the novel. According to the Byronic tradition, Pechorin is a character of contradiction. He is both sensitive and [[Cynicism (contemporary)|cynical]]. He is possessed of extreme arrogance, yet has a deep insight into his own character and epitomizes the [[Melancholia (temperament)|melancholy]] of the [[Romantic hero]] who broods on the futility of existence and the certainty of death. Pechorin's whole philosophy concerning existence is oriented towards the nihilistic, creating in him somewhat of a distanced, alienated personality. The name Pechorin is drawn from that of the [[Pechora River]], in the far north, as a homage to [[Alexander Pushkin]]'s [[Eugene Onegin]], named after the [[Onega River]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Murray | first = Christopher
Pechorin treats women as an incentive for endless conquests and does not consider them worthy of any particular respect. He considers women such as Princess Mary to be little more than pawns in his games of romantic conquest, which in effect hold no meaning in his listless pursuit of pleasure. This is shown in his comment on Princess Mary: "I often wonder why I'm trying so hard to win the love of a girl I have no desire to seduce and whom I'd never marry."
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[[File:Mikhail Vrubel Duel Pechorin vs Grushnizky.jpg|thumb|''The duel of Pechorin and Grushnitsky'' by [[Mikhail Vrubel]]]]
However, Pechorin's behavior soon changes after Bela gets kidnapped by his enemy Kazbich, and becomes mortally wounded. After
Pechorin described his own personality as self-destructive, admitting he himself doesn't understand his purpose in the world of men. His boredom with life, feeling of emptiness, forces him to indulge in all possible pleasures and experiences, which soon, cause the downfall of those closest to him. He starts to realize this with Vera and Grushnitsky, while the tragedy with Bela soon leads to his complete emotional collapse.
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In [[Ian Fleming]]'s ''[[From Russia, with Love (novel)|From Russia with Love]]'' the plot revolves upon Soviet agent Tatiana Romanova feigning an infatuation with MI6's James Bond and offering to defect to the West provided he'll be sent to pick her up in Istanbul, Turkey. The Soviets elaborate a complex backstory about how she spotted the file about the English spy during her clerical work at [[SMERSH]] headquarters and became smitten with him, making her state that his picture made her think of Lermontov's Pechorin. The fact that Pechorin was anything but a 'hero' or even a positive character at all in Lermontov's narration stands to indicate Fleming's wry self-deprecating wit about his most famous creation; the irony is lost, however, on western readers not familiar with Lermontov's work.
In [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s 1963 film ''[[The Silence (1963 film)|The Silence]]'', the young son is seen reading the book in bed. In the opening sequence of Bergman's next film, ''[[Persona (1966 film)|Persona]]'' (1966), the same child actor is seen waking in what appears to be a mortuary and reaching for the same book.
[[Claude Sautet]]'s film ''[[A Heart in Winter]]'' (''Un cœur en hiver'') was said to be based on "his memories of" the Princess Mary section. The relationship with Lermontov's work is quite loose – the film takes place in contemporary Paris, where a young violin repairer (played by [[Daniel Auteuil]]) seeks to seduce his business partner's girlfriend, a gifted violinist named Camille, into falling for his carefully contrived charms. He does this purely for the satisfaction of gaining control of her emotionally, while never loving her sincerely. He is a modern-day Pechorin.
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*"Women love only the men they don't know."
==Screen and stage adaptations==
In 1966, the [[anthology series]] ''[[The Wednesday Play]]'' adapted the novel for television, in which [[Alan Bates]] starred as Grigory. It aired on September 28, 1966.
In 2011 Alex Mcsweeney adapted the novel into an English-language playscript. Previewed at the International Youth Arts Festival in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, UK in July, it subsequently premiered in August of the same year at Zoo Venues in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Critics received it positively, generally giving 4- and 5-star reviews.
In 2014, German stage director Kateryna Sokolova adapted the novel focusing on its longest novella, ''Princess Mary''. The play, directed by Kateryna Sokolova, premiered at the Schauspielhaus Zürich on 28 May.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.katerynasokolova.com/en/portfolio/a-hero-of-our-time/|title=A Hero of Our Time|work=Kateryna Sokolova|access-date=2017-04-07|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408084448/http://www.katerynasokolova.com/en/portfolio/a-hero-of-our-time/|archive-date=2017-04-08|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schauspielhaus.ch/de/play/421-Ein-Held-unserer-Zeit|title=Ein Held unserer Zeit {{!}} Schauspielhaus Zürich|website=www.schauspielhaus.ch|access-date=2017-04-07|archive-date=2017-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407233929/http://www.schauspielhaus.ch/de/play/421-Ein-Held-unserer-Zeit|url-status=dead}}</ref> The production received universal acclaim,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/zuercher_kultur/nihilismus-und-ehre-1.18312035|title=Lermontow-Roman in der Schauspielhaus-Kammer: Nihilismus und Ehre|last=Steiger|first=Claudio|date=2014-05-30|work=Neue Zürcher Zeitung|access-date=2017-04-07|language=de-CH|issn=0376-6829}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://bazonline.ch/kultur/theater/Kurz--kritisch-im-Mai/story/12843804|title=Kurz & kritisch im Mai|date=2014-05-30|work=Basler Zeitung, Basler Zeitung|access-date=2017-04-07|language=de|issn=1420-3006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/theater/Kurz--kritisch-im-Mai/story/12843804|title=Kurz & kritisch im Mai|date=2014-05-30|work=Tages-Anzeiger, Tages-Anzeiger|access-date=2017-04-07|language=de|issn=1422-9994}}</ref> especially praising it for not having lost "neither the linguistic finesse nor the social paralysis of Lermontov’s Zeitgeist",<ref name=":0" /> both of which constitute the novel's Byronic character.
On July 22, 2015, The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow premiered a ballet adaptation of
==Bibliography of English translations==
Translations:<ref>Based on B. L. Kandel, [http://feb-web.ru/feb/lermont/texts/selected/gnv/gnv-203-.htm ''Bibliography of translations of "A Hero of Our Time" into foreign languages''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827082110/http://feb-web.ru/feb/lermont/texts/selected/gnv/gnv-203-.htm |date=August 27, 2011 }} (Russian); published in: ''A Hero of Our Time.'' Moscow, 1962, pp. 209–210.</ref><ref>Translations from Longworth on as cited in COPAC catalogue.</ref>
#''Sketches of Russian life in the Caucasus. By a Russe, many years resident amongst the various mountain tribes.'' London
#''The hero of our days.'' Transl. by [[Theresa Pulszky
#''A hero of our own times. Now first transl. into English.'' London
#''A hero of our time.'' Transl. by R. I. Lipmann. London
#''Taman''. In: ''Tales from the Russian. Dubrovsky by Pushkin. New year's eve by Gregorowitch. Taman by Lermontoff.'' London
#''Russian reader: Lermontof's modern hero, with English translation and biographical sketch by Ivan Nestor-Schnurmann.'' Cambridge
#''Maxim Maximich.'' — In: Wiener L. ''Anthology of Russian literature''. T. 2, part 2. London—N.Y., 1903, pp. 157–164. (a reduced version of the "Maxim Maximich" chapter).
#''The heart of a Russian.'' Transl. by J. H. Wisdom and Marr Murray. London
#''The duel. Excerpt from The hero of our own time.'' Transl. by T. Pulszky. — In: ''A Russian anthology in English''. Ed. by C. E. B. Roberts. N. Y.
#''A traveling episode''. — In: ''Little Russian masterpieces''. Transl. by Z. A. Ragozin. Vol. 1. N. Y.
#''A hero of nowadays''. Transl. by John Swinnerton Phillimore. London
#''Taman'''. — In: Chamot A. ''Selected Russian short stories''. Transl. by A. E. Chamot. London, 1925—1928, pp. 84—97.
#''A hero of our time''. Transl. by Reginald Merton. Mirsky. London
#''Fatalist. Story.'' Transl. by G.A. Miloradowitch. — In: ''Golden Book Magazine''. Vol. 8. N. Y., 1928, pp. 491—493.
#''A hero of our own times''. Transl. by Eden and Cedar Paul for the Lermontov centenary. London
#''Bela''. Transl. by Z. Shoenberg and J. Domb. London
#''A hero of our time''. Transl. by Martin Parker. Moscow
#''A hero of our time. A novel.'' Transl. by [[Vladimir Nabokov]] in collab. with [[Dmitri Nabokov]]. Garden City, N.Y.
#''A hero of our time''. Translated by Philip Longworth. With an afterword by William E. Harkins, London, 1964, & New York : New American Library, 1964
#''A Lermontov reader''. Ed., transl., and with an introd. by Guy Daniels. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1965.
#''A hero of our time''. Transl. with an introduction by Paul Foote. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1966.
#''Major poetical works''. Transl., with an introduction and commentary by Anatoly Liberman. Minneapolis
#''Vadim''. Transl. by Helena Goscilo. Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1984.
#''A hero of our time''. Transl.
#''A hero of our time''.
#''A hero of our time''. Transl.
#''A hero of our time''. Transl. by Alexander Vassiliev, London: Alexander Vassiliev 2010. (a dual language edition).
#''A hero of our time''. Transl. by Nicholas Pasternak Slater, Oxford World's Classics, 2013.
==See also==
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==Further reading==
*{{cite book |title=Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time": A Critical Companion |editor1-first=Lewis |editor1-last=Bagby |year=2002 |publisher=Northwestern University Press |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-8101-1680-1
==External links==
*[http://www.eldritchpress.org/myl/hero.htm Full text (English translation) of "A Hero of Our Time" at Eldritch Press] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011112724/http://www.eldritchpress.org/myl/hero.htm |date=2004-10-11 }}. {{in lang|en}}
{{gutenberg|no=913|name=A Hero of Our Time}} {{in lang|en}}
* {{librivox book | title=A Hero of Our Time | author=Mikhail Yurevich LERMONTOV}}
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*[http://www.bibliomania.com/1/7/291/2019/frameset.html Study guides for ''A Hero of Our Time'' at Bibliomania] {{in lang|en}}
*[http://www.iyafestival.org.uk/ Website for the Premiere of the English Language Adaptation]. {{in lang|en}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110928140919/http://www.broadwaybaby.com/edinburgh-fringe/10442-a-hero-of-our-time Review of
{{Mikhail Lermontov}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hero of Our Time, A}}
[[Category:1840 Russian novels]]
[[Category:Russian-language novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Mikhail Lermontov]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 19th-century
[[Category:Russian novels adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Self-reflexive novels]]
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