Orthodox Life Magazine
'There are books that are necessary. Start with this one.'
Historical Novel Society Review
'Bold, rich and complex, Laurus deals with large issues: the concept of time, love and death, love and guilt.’
Asymptote
‘Laurus is in one breath, a timeless epic, trekking the well-trodden fields of faith, love and the infinite depth of loss and search for meaning. In another, it is pointed, touching, and at times humorous, unpredictably straying from the path and leading readers along a wild chase through time, language and medieval Europe...Vodolazkin has found a subtle balance and uses it to impressive effect.’
The Huffington Post UK
'A masterpiece by any standards...the novel flows in the spirit of the invincible Russian literary tradition of pathos and Dostoevskian depth; and at yet other times, it is a pure philological triumph... Vodolazkin's archaic seasoning is complemented by his sublime sense of humour... As Zachar Prileptin said before me, I am simply filled with an unending sense of happiness that such a novel exists. You open it and close it, something has happened to your soul.'
World Literature Today
'Vodolazkin’s expertise in the medieval world rounds out this tale that defies the restrictions of this long-ago time and place in its treatment of universal human pains and regrets.’
Rowan Williams
‘Laurus is not at all a typical historical novel. It uses conscious and outrageous anachronisms; it is funny, subversive and vivid in its evocation of medieval life in Russia and the Middle East; and it plants questions about faith, irony, self-deception and integrity in the style of the greatest Russian fictions.’
Aleteia
'Simply magic'
Booklist
‘Vodolazkin, an expert in medieval folklore, transforms the dreadful past into a familiar stage on which to explore love, loss, and fervent perseverance... In a stroke of brilliant storytelling, Vodolazkin forgoes historical accuracy and instead conjures a cyclical, eternal time by combining biblical quotes, Soviet bureaucratese, and linguistic conventions of the Middle Ages (in this translation, rendered into Old English). The result is a uniquely lavish, multilayered work that blends an invented hagiography with the rapturous energy of Dostoevsky’s spiritual obsessions.’
Financial Times
'Interweaving an impressive array of images, stories, parables and superstitions, Vodolazkin builds a convincing portrait of 15th-century Europe... Laurus cannot be faulted for its ambition or for its poignant humanity. It is a profound, sometimes challenging, meditation on faith, love and life's mysteries.'
The New Yorker
‘In Laurus, Vodolazkin aims directly at the heart of the Russian religious experience and perhaps even at that maddeningly elusive concept that is cherished to the point of cliché: the Russian soul.’
Washington Post
‘Vodolazkin’s spiritual odyssey transcends history, fusing archaism and slang to convey the idea that "time is a sort of misunderstanding"... Vodolazkin explores multifaceted questions of ‘Russianness’ and concludes, like the 19th-century poet Fyodor Tyutchev that Russia cannot be rationally understood. This is what leads him, with a gradual, but unstoppable momentum, to place faith and the transcendent human spirit at the center of his powerful worldview.’
Russia Beyond the Headlines
'Always rich in ideas. Vodolazkin explores multifaceted questions of "Russianness" and concludes...that Russia cannot be rationally understood. This is what leads him, with a gradual, but unstoppable momentum, to place faith and the transcendent human spirit at the centre of his powerful world view.'
Los Angeles Review of Books
'A treasure house of Russian medieval lore and customs...a very clever, self-aware contemporary novel...a quirky, ambitious book.'
TLS
'At once stylistically ornate and compulsively readable...delivered with great aplomb and narrative charm... Many readers are likely to find the book enchanting.'
Russian Life
’Vodolazkin is a beautiful storyteller...an epic journey novel in all the best traditions. There are countless colourful characters, exciting twists of fate and profound truths in the protagonist’s words and deeds... The Idiot meets The Canterbury Tales meets The Odyssey.’
author of Preparation for the Next Life Atticus Lish
‘A remarkable novel... Russia’s answer to The Name of the Rose.’
Time Out
‘A fine balance between the ancient and archaic...the ironic and the tragic.'
Complete Review
‘A gripping, weirdly fascinating read.’
From the Publisher
"Foster embodies Arseny's quiet devotion to his lost love and his focus on finding salvation, suppressed passions that can be expressed only beneath the surface of speech." ---AudioFile
Financial Times
'Interweaving an impressive array of images, stories, parables and superstitions, Vodolazkin builds a convincing portrait of 15th-century Europe... Laurus cannot be faulted for its ambition or for its poignant humanity. It is a profound, sometimes challenging, meditation on faith, love and life's mysteries.'
The New Yorker
‘In Laurus, Vodolazkin aims directly at the heart of the Russian religious experience and perhaps even at that maddeningly elusive concept that is cherished to the point of cliché: the Russian soul.’
Booklist
‘Vodolazkin, an expert in medieval folklore, transforms the dreadful past into a familiar stage on which to explore love, loss, and fervent perseverance... In a stroke of brilliant storytelling, Vodolazkin forgoes historical accuracy and instead conjures a cyclical, eternal time by combining biblical quotes, Soviet bureaucratese, and linguistic conventions of the Middle Ages (in this translation, rendered into Old English). The result is a uniquely lavish, multilayered work that blends an invented hagiography with the rapturous energy of Dostoevsky’s spiritual obsessions.’
Washington Post
‘Vodolazkin’s spiritual odyssey transcends history, fusing archaism and slang to convey the idea that "time is a sort of misunderstanding"... Vodolazkin explores multifaceted questions of ‘Russianness’ and concludes, like the 19th-century poet Fyodor Tyutchev that Russia cannot be rationally understood. This is what leads him, with a gradual, but unstoppable momentum, to place faith and the transcendent human spirit at the center of his powerful worldview.’
From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY
"Foster embodies Arseny's quiet devotion to his lost love and his focus on finding salvation, suppressed passions that can be expressed only beneath the surface of speech." —AudioFile
Library Journal
09/15/2015
Winner of Russia's National Big Book Prize, this saga of 15th-century Russia captures both its harshness and its radiant faith in a narrative touched by the miraculous. Arseny is born in 1440 near the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and raised mostly by his grandfather, who teaches him to be a healer like himself. Plague takes the remaining family, and after further tragedy our hero launches on a pilgrimage across Europe, surviving violence, princes, and holy fools before becoming Brother Laurus. VERDICT Engaging sweep; for all readers.
APRIL 2018 - AudioFile
There are many similarities between a medieval book on the lives of saints and a modern novel with magical realism, and this audiobook walks the narrow line between the two. The story, which dramatizes the religiosity of medieval Russia, contains miracles and prophetic visions enough for anyone, and James Foster's cool, almost detached, narration helps them stay almost believable. Most of the characters are underdrawn in the text, and Foster doesn’t struggle to differentiate them. The Elder, for example, is a type, rather than an individual. Even Arseny (also called Ustin, Ambrozi, and Laurus) is something of a type. But Foster embodies Arseny's quiet devotion to his lost love and his focus on finding salvation, suppressed passions that can be expressed only beneath the surface of speech. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-07-16
Love, faith, and a quest for atonement are the driving themes of an epic, prizewinning Russian novel that, while set in the medieval era, takes a contemporary look at the meaning of time.Combining elements of fairy tale, parable, and myth, Vodolazkin's second novel (after Solovyov and Larionov, to be published in English in 2016) is a picaresque story exploring 15th-century existence with gravity and a touch of ironic humor. Its language veers from archaic—"Bathe thyself, yf thou wylt"—to modern slang, and its preoccupations range across language and belief to herbalism and history. Binding all this together is a character whose name changes four times over his lifetime as he progresses through phases as healer, husband, holy fool, pilgrim, and hermit. Born in Russia in 1441, Arseny is an only child, raised by his wise grandfather Christofer after his parents die of plague. Discerning Arseny's healing gifts, Christofer passes on to his grandson his knowledge of plants and remedies and his role as village healer. After Christofer's death, Arseny's loneliness is dispelled by the arrival of plague fugitive Ustina, but the eternal love that develops between them frightens Arseny and leads to failings which will haunt him for the rest of his life. Unobtrusively translated, the novel's narration flows limpidly, touching humane depths, especially when depicting sickness, suffering, and death, which is often. Vodolazkin handles his long, unpredictable, sometimes-mystical saga and its diverse content with confident purpose, occasionally adding modern visions to the historical landscape, part of a conversation about discontinuous time. Traveling across Europe and Palestine and then back to Russia, Arseny, who will become Ustin, Amvrosy, and finally Laurus, will eventually complete his long, circular journey and reach a place of repose.With flavors of Umberto Eco and The Canterbury Tales, this affecting, idiosyncratic novel, although sometimes baggy, is an impressive achievement.
