6 h 41 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 41 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the most dangerous thing about a brave young officer is that nothing holds his interest?
In the Caucasus, cliffs and snowy passes surround forts and spa towns where officers, exiles and travelers cross paths. Here, Mikhail Lermontov introduces Grigory Pechorin: clever, courageous, restless and often cruel. The loyal captain Maxim Maximych tells part of his story, while a traveling narrator gathers impressions of a man who leaves others changed.
A Hero of Our Time moves through five linked tales, from other people's accounts into Pechorin's private journal. Adventure, romance and a duel draw you toward a harder puzzle: why does he pursue what he cannot enjoy? Bela and Princess Mary become objects of his attention, while his own words expose a mind that struggles to care.
What you’ll discover
- A hero without comfort Meet an officer whose courage and intelligence offer no protection against boredom or cruelty.
- Mountains and restless towns Travel rough Caucasus roads, then enter spa towns alive with gossip and social games.
- A shifting view See Pechorin through other people's eyes before weighing the words of his private journal.
- Desire with a cost Follow his interest in Bela and Princess Mary, where attraction meets a troubling appetite for control.
- A generation under scrutiny Explore Lermontov's portrait of his age through a man he asks readers not to admire.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy psychological portraits, tales of mountains and sea, duels and smugglers, and characters who think aloud about love, fate and boredom with startling honesty.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A traveler and a captain share a mountain night
- A horse and a girl change hands
- Love fades faster than the conquest took
- An old friend meets a cold greeting
- A blind boy and a smuggler's night
- A pistol at the forehead tests fate
- A spa, a rival and a game of hearts
- Boredom feeds on other people's feelings
- Fate, friendship and freedom pull against each other
- Voices, notebooks and an ironic title
Who’s who
- Grigori PechorinA bored, gifted young officer who risks his life easily and wins hearts without caring for them.
- Maksim MaksimychA kindly, plain-spoken staff captain who tells Pechorin's story and still hopes for his friendship.
- BelaA proud young princess of the mountains who is carried off to the Russian fortress and longs for love and freedom.
- KazbichA wiry mountain horseman, half friend and half robber, who loves his black horse above all else.
- GrushnitskiA vain young cadet in a soldier's cloak who dreams of being a romantic hero and resents Pechorin.
- Princess MaryA clever young woman from Moscow who wants to be entertained and finds herself drawn to Pechorin.
- VeraA sick, married woman who has loved Pechorin for years and wants only to be near him.
- Doctor WernerA sharp-tongued skeptic and Pechorin's one near friend, who sees the game and warns him of its dangers.
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Un eroe del nostro tempo
by Michail Jur'evič Lermontov · 1840
A bored officer in the Caucasus toys with a stolen horse, a smugglers' cove and a young princess's heart.
Easy read2–5 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
Would you trust a man who is bored by love, by danger and by his own life? That is Grigori Pechorin, a young Russian officer sent to the Caucasus mountains.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A traveler and a captain share a mountain night
The book opens with a traveling writer on the post road from Tiflis on an autumn evening. He climbs Mount Koishaur behind six oxen, and meets a weathered staff captain with a silver-mounted pipe and a gray mustache. A snowstorm traps them in a smoky hut, where the writer brews tea.
The captain, Maksim Maksimych, falls silent, tugs at his mustache, and at last tells of a young officer who came to his fortress five years before. This is Pechorin, twenty-five years old, elegant, in a brand-new uniform. The captain calls him splendid but peculiar. He hunts in the rain without feeling the cold, yet he turns pale when a shutter rattles.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1840
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Lermontov, Mikhail. A Hero of Our Time. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-hero-of-our-time.
Lermontov, M. (2026). A hero of our time. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-hero-of-our-time (Original work published 1840)
Lermontov, Mikhail. A Hero of Our Time. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-hero-of-our-time.
@book{lermontov2026hero,
author = {Lermontov, Mikhail},
title = {A Hero of Our Time},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-hero-of-our-time},
note = {First published 1840}
}
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What is A Hero of Our Time about?
It follows Pechorin, a young Russian officer in the Caucasus, through five linked tales: Bela, Maksim Maksimych, Taman, The Fatalist and Princess Mary. The tales show a gifted man who cannot find anything to believe in.
Who is Pechorin in A Hero of Our Time?
Pechorin, whose full name is Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin, is a bored, clever, handsome officer who risks his life lightly and treats love as a game. He is described by a captain, by a traveling writer and finally in his own diary.
Is A Hero of Our Time based on a true story?
It is fiction. In the preface to the second edition, Lermontov says Pechorin is a composite portrait made from the vices of his generation, and not a picture of any one man. The Caucasus setting draws on the author's own army service.
The author
Mikhail Lermontov
1814–1841 · Russian poet and novelist
Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov (1814–1841) was a Russian writer, poet and painter. He was born in Moscow and lived in Russia, including Saint Petersburg and the Caucasus. He wrote poems, plays and the novel A Hero of Our Time, published in 1840. He died in a duel near Pyatigorsk.
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