Superflous With Gun or Pechorin & Princess Mary

Pechorin is quite apt in his allusion of himself to the vampire. He is the superflous man, the Byronic anti-hero, the military man who duels and procreates quite a bit. It is ironic, or perhaps only logical, that Lermontov was killed in a duel much like the one his character Pechorin fought and survived.

Pechorin is intelligent, perceptive, sophisticated, cunning, introspective, charismatic, seductive, dominant, and moody. Yes, Dracula!

I was quite entertained and absorbed in Pechorin's misadventures. With a lightning swoop of the pen Lermontov gives us all we need to formulate pictures of the mountains (A landscape painted by Lermontov. Tiflis, 1837 pictured directly below) frontier posts, and society balls.

I think Pechorin would have been much more interesting were he not so preoccupied with women, though I must admit I liked the way he handled Princess Mary. I was almost giddy over it! Not quite what how Henry Miller would have handled her, and bravo!

Many postmodern men must see themselves reflected in Pechorin (should they ever happen upon his pale countenance). In several ways I see myself in Pechorin—his cynicism, his childhood, what he finds entertaining and humorous (things such as one should never laugh out loud at)...

I did feel bad about some of the occurrences. I felt bad for Pechorin's horse. As for the fool man-boy Grushnitsky—did he get what he deserved? Those who live by the sword die by the sword...

I found 'The Fatalist' to be the most philosophical story as well as the strangest. I wish Lermontov would have placed Pechorin in more of those situations, though really I shouldn't complain—I enjoyed my read very much.