the few worthy translations of his verse which exist
in English arc so widely scattered in periodicals and
anthologies as to be generally unavailable. The situa-
tion is otherwise with respect to A Hero of Our Times,
which is currently in print in good supply. Therefore,
in introducing this author and his work, I have focused
the discussion not so much on his poetry, which
would require the reader to take on faith most of what
I would say, but rather on his prose, about which my
opinions can be evaluated and, hopefully, confirmed
by readers themselves.

Those unacquainted with Lermontov should not
assume that his importance is primarily connected
with the history of the development of the Russian
novel. Such is far from the case, for though his role
was as significant as that of Richardson in the develop-
ment of the English novel, unlike Richardson he ap-
peals today to far more than a handful of connoisseurs
with singular tastes for literary dodo birds. Every liter-
ate Russian reads Lermontov, and paperback editions
of A Hero of Our Times are continually being pro-
duced in the Soviet Union. Happily, the English
speaking reader now also has easy access to this novel
in the recent excellent translation of Vladimir and
Dmitri Nabokov.

One might also be surprised -- and justifiably so --
to know that A Hero of Our Times has more than
once been appraised as the best Russian novel. Such
an opinion, even when voiced by a person as literarily
knowledgeable as the poet Balmont, seems somewhat
excessive. But Balmont's view ceases to appear quite
so extravagant when one learns that Tolstoy declared
"Taman," one of the stories forming A Hero of Our
Times, to be artistically the most perfect work in
Russian literature. High praise indeed!

The enormous prestige which this novel has en-

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