A typical Byronic-hero novel, Lermontov's protagonist bombards the reader with his bipolar behavior: both sensitive and cynical, his extreme arrogance borders on deep melancholy. An existential dreamer and contemplator of the futility of life, Pechorin's free will inevitably leads him to disaster. And hand in hand with the beautiful natural descriptions, "A Hero of Our Time" is a book that never stops providing, even when one has reached its end. It was highly praised by the other great names in Russian literature – Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Anton Chekhov.