READING OFF THE BEATEN PATH, March, 2022
LAURUS, By Eugene Vodolazkin (Translated from the Russian by Lisa Hayden)
Laurus is the best book I’ve read in five years. It’s the story of Arseny, a simple young healer born in 1440 in medieval Russia, or “the 6,948th year since the Creation of the world.” It’s “a time of plague and pestilence,” and when he is only seven, Arseny’s parents are taken by the plague. Arseny is then raised by his grandfather Christofer, who’s a wise and caring mystical practitioner, the perfect teacher for his grandson. Living next to a cemetery and in the shadow of a monastery, the loving Christofer shows young Arseny everything he knows about healing, about being a doctor, so to speak. Arseny has an incredible aptitude for healing. At an early age he embraces nature’s grasses, wild plants, bark, seeds, the soil. He quickly grows into a gentle, giving soul who can help the most seriously ill in the village; and while he’s neither a priest nor attached to the Orthodoxy, it’s clear that Arseny yearns for both human and spiritual relationships. The themes of nature, giving, helping, and serving are set.
Arseny grows and his reputation as a brilliant healer quickly spreads across the country. But when an unspeakable tragedy befalls Arseny, he suddenly leaves his village and the people he serves and embarks on a journey that will take him through the vast Russian countryside, across the mountains of Europe, and eventually to Jerusalem. This is, of course, not merely a journey of geography; it’s a journey in search of self-knowledge and redemption; it’s the search to know nature, God, and one’s soul.
Heavy topics, to be sure. But before you think I’m handing you a boring tome on religious fanatism, Laurus is hardly that. Along his travelogue-path dogged by the plague, Arseny heals many souls afflicted with any variety of illnesses. He encounters a cast of characters who are comical, shocking, doleful, lost, violent, strange, cunning. The journey is moving, exhilarating, often disturbing.
On one level, the book is about finding faith within disaster, despair, and fallen hope. Arseny’s faith is unwavering, but then when his faith does waiver, how can he still serve? And the sick and troubled keep coming.
There’s another arc embedded in Laurus. There’s a moving love story in this book! about Arseny and a woman from his village. This thread weaves through the pages as Arseny seeks forgiveness for the one crushing act where he deems he’s failed. And along with everything else, this arc will build to a brilliant ending that I didn’t expect, yet it fits perfectly. I found myself still thinking about it days afterwards.
A note about the translation. I’m certainly not equipped to comment on anything so complex as translating a work of fiction from Russian-to-English. Having said that, however, there is a definite readability or tone to Laurus, which the translator has placed with great precision. The language is sparse, simple, and quippy. Often, there’s humor and charm. We find modern idioms, colloquialisms, and contemporary references (plastic!) that you’d never find in medieval Europe in 1510.
Yet that’s the way an author tells us his message is timeless. A medieval setting is secondary. God and faith exist apart from the calendar, clock, or time. It’s the study of modern man, merely set in ancient society. Why place it in the medieval era? Perhaps because it’s a study of things that we no longer have in our modern world.
Finally, there’s no question this is a Russian novel, with themes of suffering, wandering, human endurance. Written around 2013 in modern Russia (the English translation only recently arrived) it’s certainly a political statement and a repudiation of Soviet atheism that was forced into the country after the Revolution and Communist takeover. I merely add that because there are so many layers in this remarkable book. Read it, and you will find several of your own.
Laurus has not made the U.S. bestseller lists, although it was the winner of Russia’s Big Book Award, and the prestigious Yasnaya Polyana Book Award. Despite the subject, it’s not really heavy. It’s a simple linear story of a guy wandering through medieval Europe. Fair enough. How deep you want to go, that’s left to each reader to decide for him or herself. I found Laurus captivating, original, and impressive.
Here’s the Amazon link to Laurus: LAURUS ON AMAZON
PS: I picked this up before the invasion, so it’s only of passing interest that Eugene Vodolazkin was born in Kiev, Ukraine and lives/works in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has four books now. Can’t wait to read another one.
PS#2: The translator, Lisa Hayden, is a gifted writer in her own right and has a wonderful website called Lizok's Bookshelf, where you’ll find lots of things about Russian literature, old and new. Well worth exploring.
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Thanks for reading. I’ve written six books which are all finding their audience. March has been the best month ever for them. See all the work on all the platforms and at MIKE'S BOOKS. ( www.MichaelDaswick.com ) I’ll have some far more kitschy recommendations coming soon… and not just for books.
MD in AZ
Thanks Michael. This was interesting and something I never would have found on my own. Looking forward to the read.