12 October 2011

Lermontov: Magic Scenes

"Anyone who has chanced like me to roam through desolate mountains and studied at length their fantastic shapes and drunk the invigorating air of their valleys can understand why I wish to describe and depict these magic scenes for others."

Mikhail Lermontov, Hero of Our Time (1839)

3 comments:

The Ancient said...

At such a great distance, the only advice I can give to the young is this: If a girl ever gives you any of Lermontov's works, go there.

Unknown said...

Russian Romanticism? I'm there.

Son of Anomie said...

Caucasia?

I am reminded of the following from Bowden's Killing Pablo:

The joke Colombians told was that God had made their land so beautiful, so rich in every natural way, that it was unfair to the rest of the world; He had evened the score by populating it with the most evil race of men.

Dzhokhar Dudayev, a Chechen nationalist and politician, was a big fan of Lermontov. The resemblance is striking:

http://topwar.ru/uploads/posts/2010-12/1293478881_dgahar-dudaev01.jpg