Lermontov

Alexander Blok, in a review of another book about the life and work of M. Yu. Lermontov, seemingly sympathizing with contemporary and future biographers, lamented: “There is no soil for researching Lermontov — the biography is miserable. It remains to 'foresee' Lermontov.” Nevertheless, there is still 'soil' for understanding the poet — it is his poetry. It is unlikely that in domestic literature there is another writer whose work — brilliant poems, dramas, and prose — so fully and deeply reflected his fate, life circumstances, and personal development. The creative legacy of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov speaks of him as a person more fully and deeply than the memories of his contemporaries and is undoubtedly the best source material for that 'foreseeing' that A. Blok dreamed of. The author of the new book about Lermontov, contemplating the poet's fate, analyzes in great detail primarily his works (including imperfect, early pieces), draws on the most vivid and authoritative studies of researchers from the past, as well as philosophers and writers of the Silver Age, whose opinions on M. Yu. Lermontov are unknown to the general reader, agreeing with and polemicizing against them. Lermontov is read deeply and in a new way, which is what happens when a poet (Valery Mikhailov — author of more than twenty books of poetry and prose) writes about a poet.