"A Hero of Our Time" by Mikhail Lermontov... why would a citizen of the 21st century read this book instead of a pungent
article on global warming, a book about God''s family tree or the colonization of Saturn? why make such a choice? is it worth the time?
You will not find great movies based on this book, no personality will ever tell you this is the book that changed their lives, nobody wants to go to Russia and visit the birth place of the author... yet all these might change on day. The possibilities exist.
It didn''t change my life, just the perspective I had on creative writting and literature in general, Russian lin particular. It is something you can read in a short time, but what excellent way to spend a couple of hours from your life...
Many are mislead by the presence of the term HERO in the title. We are not talking here about a conventional hero, with ideals, a brave chevalier, ready to sacrifice himself for the good of others. I myself fell into this trap at first. I took a pause to
think of this while reading. Why HERO? It doesn''t make sense... and Anti Hero would be more apropriate...And what makes this character an eponym of his
times? As the book unravels you will get your answer.
This is not a book that will shock or surprise you with the intrigue and complexity of plots, or even characters. The substance is of another origin. We are in the presence of a genuine literary master. It''s not what Lermontov writes about that is important, but HOW he is writing about this, about a seemingly common subject.
The same principle applies to movies nowdays. You may have the same old Romeo and Juliet story, modern times adaptation, but the image, sound, interpretation and manner of filming make the difference.(think of the mixed reviews of the movie "Elizabethtown": some found it profoundly boring and some delightful. Why?).
Read an excerpt of this book and you will realize that what you previously thought you knew of literature is demolished.
(quote)
Everyone read signs of non-existent evil traits in my features. But since they were expected to be there, they did make their appearance. Because I was reserved, they said I was sly, so I grew reticent. I was keenly aware of good and evil, but instead of being indulged I was insulted and so I became spiteful. I was sulky while other children were merry and talkative, but though I felt superior to them I was considered inferior. So I grew envious. I was ready to love the whole world, but no one understood me, and I learned to hate. My cheerless youth passed in conflict with myself and society, and fearing ridicule I buried my finest feelings deep in my heart, and there they died. I spoke the truth, but nobody believed me, so I began to practice duplicity. Having come to know society and its mainsprings, I became versed in the art of living and saw how others were happy without that proficiency, enjoying for free the favors I had so painfully striven for. It was then that despair was born in my heart--not the despair that is cured with a pistol, but a cold, impotent desperation, concealed under a polite exterior and a good-natured smile.
I became a moral cripple; I had lost one half of my soul, for it had shriveled, dried up and died, and I had cut it off and cast it away, while the other half stirred and lived, adapted to serve every corner. No one noticed this, because no one suspected there had been another half. Now, however, you have awakened memories of it in me, and what I have just done is to read its epitaph to you. Many regard all epitaphs as ridiculous, but I do not, particularly when I remember what rests beneath them. (unquote)
Sadly, nobody writes this way anymore... it''s like humanity has reached adulthood and lost the innoceaking with their heart... everything has to go firts through the brain... (not a bad thing when it comes to other issues) but in this case...
If you have the chance to find this book in stores buy it... I said IF for a reason, it''s not easy to find it...it''s no match for Dostoievsky''s writting but what it lacks in quantity it gains in quality...
And what better way to end this discussion but by asking you to think of the hero of our times, what his name would be, where would he live, how would life seem to him in the age we are living?