A masterpiece of Russian prose, Lermontov`s only novel was influential for many later nineteenth-century authors, including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky & Chekhov. Lermontov`s hero, Pechorin, is a dangerous man, Byronic in his wasted gifts & his cynicism, & desperate for any kind of action that will stave off boredom. In five linked episodes, Lermontov builds up a portrait of a man caught in & expressing the sickness of his times.