On the formation of the novel “A Hero of Our Time”

This is a new version of a story of Lermontov’s “A Hero of Our Time” creation. The story begins in the end of 1837 with creation of an independent tale (novella) “Taman”. Creative success stimulated Lermontov to continue work in the genre of notes as it is reflected in the subtitle of journal publication of “Bela”: “From the notes of a military officer on the Caucasus”. But the new story has changed the original plan. Now the figure of the hero became the basis for the cycle. The book has integrity, which is not provided by the initial strict plan. It is based on dialog links of the cycle novels.