I started reading Hero of Our Time two days after starting Interview with the Vampire . As such, I was reading them alongside each other, and indeed finished them only a day apart. The day I finished Hero of Our Time I began my third rewatch of the AMC television adaption of Interview with the Vampire , and soon after began reading The Vampire Lestat. This may have influenced my reading of this Russian classic. Or maybe it’s just me. I relish in seeing bisexuals in empty corners. This is all to say, Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin is a bit Lestat-coded. Plainly speaking, I had a great lot of fun interpreting Pechorin as kind of a combination disaster/evil bisexual. But let’s get the review out of the way before I get to the titular delusion. What this book is most famous for is 1) Pechorin, a satirical depiction of a superfluous/Byronic hero, and 2) stunning descriptions of the Caucasus. On the latter, this is absolutely where the book stands out. Lermontov’s spirit and adoration of th...
