Winner of two of the most prestigious Russian literary prizes: THE BIG BOOK PRIZE & THE YASNAYA POLYANA AWARD LAURUS Eugene Vodolazkin Translated by Lisa Hayden Published by Oneworld 29 October 2015 | Hardback £14.99 ‘Vodolazkin succeeds in walking a thin line, achieving a fine balance between the ancient and archaic, and the ultra-modern; between the ironic and the tragic' TIME OUT MOSCOW ‘Unobtrusively translated, the novel's narration flows limpidly, touching humane depths…Vodolazkin handles his long, unpredictable, sometimes-mystical saga and its diverse content with confident purpose… With flavors of Umberto Eco and The Canterbury Tales… affecting, idiosyncratic…. an impressive achievement’ KIRKUS ‘A uniquely lavish, multi-layered work…with the rapturous energy of Dostoevsky’s spiritual obsessions.’ BOOKLIST It is the late fifteenth century in rural Russia, a time of plague and pestilence. A young orphan lives by the forest with his elderly grandfather, the local healer. From him he learns the secrets of herbs and remedies, and soon follows in the old man's footsteps. But this knowledge proves powerless to save his beloved, who dies in childbirth. Overcome with guilt and seeking redemption, he embarks on a journey through plague- ridden Europe, offering his healing powers wherever he goes. But this is no ordinary journey: it is one that spans ages and countries, and brings him face-to-face with a host of unforgettable characters and legendary creatures from the strangest medieval bestiaries. Now old, and having addressed his wrongs, he returns to his home village to live out his days as a hermit – not realizing that it is here that he will face his most difficult trial yet. Winner of two of the biggest literary prizes in Russia, Laurus is a remarkably rich novel about the eternal themes of love, loss, self-sacrifice and faith, from one of the country's most exciting and critically acclaimed novelists. Eugene Vodolazkin was born in Kiev in 1964 and has worked in the department of Old Russian Literature at Pushkin House since 1990. He has numerous academic books and articles to his name, and has been awarded research and lectureship fellowships in Germany from both the Toepfer and Alexander von Humboldt Foundations. Vodolazkin’s debut novel, Solovyov and Larionov was shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Prize and The Big Book Award. Laurus is his second novel; he lives with his family in St Petersburg. Lisa Hayden is a writer, editor and translator. She lived and worked in Russia from 1992 until 1998 and now lives in Maine. She has a blog on Russian literature, Lizok’s Bookshelf. Eugene Vodolazkin will be in Britain 1-5 November 2015 and available for interview and to write pieces For further information contact Margot Weale (e) [email protected] (t) 020 7307 8908 or Lamorna Elmer (e) [email protected] (t) 020 7307 8909 ONEWORLD PUBLICATIONS, 10 Bloomsbury Street, LONDON, WC1B 3SR www.oneworld-publications.com Q&A with Eugene Vodolazkin The main character of the book, Arseny, was named after Arsenius the Great, who is known for hearing the voice of God say to him, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Their lives are very similar – wise, righteous, gifted men who renounce the world and live a life of self-imposed poverty in order to better seek God. Can you talk about Arseny and your inspiration for his character? At the beginning Arseny is an ordinary man. A boy like thousands of Russian boys of that time. He is a diligent pupil of his grandfather, a medieval doctor, but nothing more. Only after the death of his unwedded wife Ustina does he completely change. He blames himself for her death in childbirth, and devotes his life to Ustina’s salvation. He spends the rest of his life trying to redeem his sin. He heals the sick, even those stricken with the deadly plague, and performs acts that are considered miracles. The roots of his wonderful miracles lie in the sphere of human spirit and faith. In our modern consumer society this sphere is not mentioned very often, and Arseny reminds us of it. I hope he does not do it too obtrusively. During his lifetime, Arseny is called by four different names – Arseny, Ustin, Amvrosy, and Lavr (Laurus) – each corresponding to a different purpose he has at that time. Why this structure? A four-part structure is a well-known medieval form which symbolizes the four sides of the Universe. The first part of the Arseny’s life (The Book of Cognition) describes a time of his discipleship and his sin. The second part (The Book of Renunciation) dwells upon critical changes in his life. After the death of Ustina, Arseny ends his “normal” existence and begins the life of a saint. It is the hero’s free choice and his free renunciation not only of his previous life, but also of his name. His new name is Ustin, in honor of the name of his love – Ustina. His third name – Amvrosy – he receives in the end of the third book (The Book of Journey) as a monk. At the end of his life he becomes a hermit and receives his last name – Laurus. The last part of the book has a title The Book of Repose. It is a spiritual result of Arseny’s life and that is why his last name is gave the title to the whole book. At one point, Arseny becomes a “holy fool.” Can you explain what this is? What are its origins, and was it important in medieval times? The fool for Christ, or Holy Fool, is similar to a biblical prophet – prescient, but more importantly able to reveal truths. As one church hymn has it, the yurodivy (Holy Fool in Russian) strives “with imaginary insanity to reveal the insanity of the world.” He not only fights the insanity of everyday sins but the crimes of the mighty as well. It is a common fallacy that the Holy Fool is exclusively associated with Russia. However the Holy Fool existed in Byzantium, too. But it is fair to say that Russians are uniquely open toward what most cultures consider the irrational. Perhaps it is no coincidence that on the country’s main square stands St. Basil’s Cathedral, one of the most famous of Russia’s religious follies. Which portion of Arseny's life was the most difficult to write? Why? The death of Ustina was a crucial time in Arseny’s life. To quote Dostoevsky, it was a time of Arseny’s “crime and punishment.” That is why it was the most difficult part of the book for me to write. Describing a redemption is easier than describing a sin – though, to be honest, in the case of Arseny’s life it was rather hard to do both. What is it about the Middle Ages that appeals to you? Have you always been drawn to this time period? It was a surprise to me. I was always sure that the Middle Ages would be the last thing I would write about. First of all – and it sounds like a paradox – I know this time period too well. I am a medievalist and Old Rus’ is, so to say, my job. That kind of extensive knowledge puts pressure on any writer. Second – I don’t like historical novels with their stressed ethnographies, superfluous historical details, and so on. Still I chose to write a novel about the Middle Ages. Why? I tried to find a protagonist that was not typical for our modern society, and I found it in the Middle Ages. The ancient times had their problems, but in this particular case they were more attractive than our time. ONEWORLD PUBLICATIONS, 10 Bloomsbury Street, LONDON, WC1B 3SR www.oneworld-publications.com The novel has an interesting blend of prose styles – sometimes the characters speak in a kind of Old English or Medieval dialect, but then there are instances of modern slang. For example, when Arseny's grandfather dies, and young Arseny cannot stop crying, an elder says to him, “Be a pal, please stop howling already.” People are kept “in the loop,” Arseny and his friend “hit the road,” being cheated is “a total rip-off.” Why use this modern language? This strange mixture reflects one of the most important ideas of the novel: that time does not exist. From the everyday-life point of view it exists, of course, but from the point of view of eternity, “sub specie aeternitatis” time is a sort of misunderstanding. Besides that the mixture of styles and times removes an unnecessary pathos that usually accompanies “spiritual stories.” For the excellent translation of all these peculiarities into English my special thanks go to my translator Lisa Hayden. Let’s talk more, then, about the novel’s treatment of time. We read about Arseny’s life in a linear timeframe, but he begins to believe that “time is discontinuous and its individual parts are not connected to one another.” One elder likens time to a spiral, involving “the experience of something new but not from a clean slate — with the memory of what was experienced previously.” Can you tell us more about why time is important to Arseny’s story and the novel? My novel is about the love that is longer than earthly life. If we use the category of time, such a love is impossible. To describe this love — the love of two souls — we must refuse the idea of time. How long did it take you to write LAURUS? Approximately three years.