One Hundred Days Until the Flood

In the new edition of the classic works of the renowned literary scholar, educator, and writer Natalia Dolinina, two of her famous books are published under one cover: "Pechorin and Our Time" and "Let's Read "Eugene Onegin" Together". The book by N. Dolinina "Pechorin and Our Time" is dedicated to M. Yu. Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time". The author, together with the reader, flips through the pages of this remarkable novel. Along with N. Dolinina, we reflect on the contradictory, complex, and charming character of Pechorin, on the bitter fate that was destined for his generation. We ponder why M. Yu. Lermontov's novel still concerns us today; about how bitter and lonely a person's life inevitably becomes, even for the strong and vibrant, if he is deprived of the joy of friendship and love, if he is unable to be faithful, if his courage is squandered in vain, if he sees neither a high goal nor meaning in his life. Herzen, almost a contemporary of Lermontov, called his generation "poisoned from childhood". To correctly understand these words, one must first answer the question: is fifteen years a lot or a little? For a teenager, a young man - it is a lot, a whole life. For an adult - a part of life. For history - a short span of an era. Just fifteen years before Lermontov, Pushkin was born. He is a whole fifteen years older. The eternal debate: who is better - Pushkin or Lermontov - is unresolved, because these two great poets are not simply different characters, different personalities: they are heroes of different times.