Dostoevsky makes several allusions to Lermontov's Pechorin as the first literary type of the nihilist of the disillusioned Russian generation coming of age in the late nineteenth century. This is what brought me to Lermontov. What repelled me, until now, was the impression I had of him as a Byronic writer. Happily, and after reading some of his verse and this novel, I find that he's more influenced by Pushkin than Byron. In fact, he seems to be winding Byron up.

The delightful sarcasm, even of the title, reminds one of Voltaire's Candide. In fact the theme of the novel seems to be irony. Pechorin stands for no virtue except those which serve himself, the virtue of amusement. He conquers women with verbal irony, then refuses them out of ironic impulse. This self-deprecating habit, along with Pechorin's other traits, illustrates the nihilist behavior that became the norm among the following generation in Russia. Pechorin is timeless as a character type, since the "nihilist youth" has never left society to this day, and is more prevalent in the western world than ever.

The setting of the novel is unique in its vast descriptions of the Caucasus and the people who live and travel there. I would go so far as to say that Lermontov shows his romantic streak with his descriptions of nature in the novel. He does it well.

For anyone finishing Gogol and about to move on to - say, Turgenev - I suggest a quick stopover here. This novella bridges the gap.