Overview

Monks devious and devout – and an age-defying royal pair – chronicle the history of their fictional island in this witty critique of Western civilization and history itself. Eugene Vodolazkin, internationally acclaimed novelist and scholar of medieval literature, returns with a satirical parable about European and Russian history, the myth of progress, and the futility of war. This ingenious novel, described by critics as a coda to his bestselling Laurus, is presented as a chronicle of an island from medieval to modern times. The island is not on the map, but it is real beyond doubt. It cannot be found in history books, yet the events are painfully recognizable. The monastic chroniclers dutifully narrate events they witness: quests for power, betrayals, civil wars, pandemics, droughts, invasions, innovations, and revolutions. The entries mostly seem objective, but at least one monk simultaneously drafts and hides a “true” history, to be discovered centuries later. And why has someone snipped out a key prophesy about the island’s fate? These chronicles receive commentary today from an elderly couple who are the island’s former rulers. Prince Parfeny and Princess Ksenia are truly extraordinary: they are now 347 years old. Eyewitnesses to much of their island’s turbulent history, they offer sharp-eyed observations on the changing flow of time and their people’s persistent delusions. Why is the royal couple still alive? Is there a chance that an old prophecy comes to pass and two righteous persons save the island from catastrophe? In the tradition of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, Vodolazkin is at his best recasting history, in all its hubris and horror, by finding the humor in its absurdity. For readers with an appetite for more than a dry, rational, scientific view of what motivates, divides, and unites people, A History of the Island conjures a world still suffused with mystical powers.

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9781636080680

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Reviews

Acclaim for Vodolazkin’s previous title Laurus: “A quirky, ambitious book ... Eugene Vodolazkin succeeds gloriously.” —Janet Fitch, Los Angeles Review of Books “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.” —The New Yorker “Brilliant storytelling ... a uniquely lavish, multilayered work.” —Booklist “A timeless epic ... pointed, touching, and at times humorous, unpredictably straying from the path and leading readers along a wild chase through time, language, and medieval Europe.” —Asymptote Journal “An epic journey novel in all the best traditions. There are countless colorful characters, exciting twists of fate, and profound truths in the protagonist’s words and deeds.” — Russian Life Magazine “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.…This affecting, idiosyncratic novel ... is an impressive achievement.” —Kirkus Compelling reading: brilliantly vivid and inventive, it combines magical-realist mischief with a compassionate, radically Christian perspective on the self-destroying idiocies of human history and political posturing. A masterpiece by one of Europe’s finest contemporary novelists. —Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

Acclaim for Vodolazkin's previous title Laurus: A quirky, ambitious book ... Eugene Vodolazkin succeeds gloriously. -Janet Fitch, Los Angeles Review of Books 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 cliche: the Russian soul. -The New Yorker Brilliant storytelling ... a uniquely lavish, multilayered work. -Booklist A timeless epic ... pointed, touching, and at times humorous, unpredictably straying from the path and leading readers along a wild chase through time, language, and medieval Europe. -Asymptote Journal An epic journey novel in all the best traditions. There are countless colorful characters, exciting twists of fate, and profound truths in the protagonist's words and deeds. - Russian Life Magazine 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....This affecting, idiosyncratic novel ... is an impressive achievement. -Kirkus Compelling reading: brilliantly vivid and inventive, it combines magical-realist mischief with a compassionate, radically Christian perspective on the self-destroying idiocies of human history and political posturing. A masterpiece by one of Europe's finest contemporary novelists. -Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury

Acclaim for Vodolazkin's previous title Laurus: A quirky, ambitious book ... Eugene Vodolazkin succeeds gloriously. -Janet Fitch, Los Angeles Review of Books 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 cliche: the Russian soul. -The New Yorker Brilliant storytelling ... a uniquely lavish, multilayered work. -Booklist A timeless epic ... pointed, touching, and at times humorous, unpredictably straying from the path and leading readers along a wild chase through time, language, and medieval Europe. -Asymptote Journal An epic journey novel in all the best traditions. There are countless colorful characters, exciting twists of fate, and profound truths in the protagonist's words and deeds. - Russian Life Magazine 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....This affecting, idiosyncratic novel ... is an impressive achievement. -Kirkus

Author Information

Eugene Vodolazkin’s second novel, Laurus, won both of Russia’s major literary awards, the National Big Book Award and the Yasnaya Polyana Book Award, and was shortlisted for the National Bestseller Prize and the Russian Booker Prize. His debut novel, Solovyov and Larionov, was shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Prize and the Big Book Award. Two other critically acclaimed novels, The Aviator and Brisbane, have also been translated into English. Vodolazkin was the 2019 winner of the Solzhenitsyn Prize. He was born in Kyiv in 1964 and has worked in the department of Old Russian Literature at Pushkin House since 1990. He is an expert in medieval history and folklore and has numerous academic books and articles to his name. The author lives with his family in St. Petersburg, Russia. Lisa C. Hayden’s translations from the Russian include Eugene Vodolazkin’s Solovyov and Larionov, The Aviator, and Laurus, which won the Read Russia Award in 2016 and was also shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize along with her translation of Vadim Levental’s Masha Regina. Her blog, Lizok’s Bookshelf, examines contemporary Russian fiction. She lives in Maine.

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