A Hero of Our Time
A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontovby Mikhail Lermontov
Shares rank 74 of 122 novels by recommenders
People recommend it for poetic prose packed with street wisdom, and say it is short yet still reads as modern. No critics or caveats were recorded.
People recommend it for poetic prose packed with street wisdom, and say it is short yet still reads as modern. No critics or caveats were recorded.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Poetic prose and street wisdom
“if you want to see poetry in prose, and also learn a lot of street wisdom”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “Attention is all you have” Small book packed with wisdom
“the book is small but it's jampacked with a lot of wisdom”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you” Still reads as modern
“One of my all-time favorites. Still reads like a 'modern' book.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult” Moving, leaves reader sorry for author
“Upon reading it, I felt really sorry the author died an early death.”
Comment from 25 Jun 2026 in “Dostoyevsky Isn't Difficult”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| A Hero of Our Timeby Mikhail LermontovThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“if you want to see poetry in prose, and also learn a lot of street wisdom”
“the book is small but it's jampacked with a lot of wisdom”
“One of my all-time favorites. Still reads like a 'modern' book.”
“Upon reading it, I felt really sorry the author died an early death.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.