/lit/ - Literature

>>19583365
Pechorin represents the so-called "superfluous man". This character has been a fixed entity in our society over the last halfdozen centuries, at least since the Renaissance.

This novel really spoke to me during a course I took in the mid-2000s on "the history of the novel". We read about 10 of the greats from the 19th century and put them into historical context.

This novel did a great job of describing the deep fractures within Russian society that led to their own sort of Sonderweg towards a violent revolution and upheaval.

Cultural mores weren't at the level they've reached today, but at the time, I thought Pechorin's decadence reflected a the same sort of yolo culture that seemed prevalent on college campuses during the 2000s. The feats of drinking, the tailgaiting, the efforts made by fraternities to win the affections of the sororities, it all seemed superfluous. I think pechorin would be a frat boy.