Laurus, Eugene Vodolazkin
Laurus, Eugene Vodolazkin
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Laurus

Author: Eugene Vodolazkin, Lisa C. Hayden

Narrator: James Anderson Foster

Unabridged: 13 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/20/2017


Synopsis

It is the late fifteenth century and a village healer in Russia called Laurus is powerless to help his beloved as she dies in childbirth, unwed and without having received communion. Devastated and desperate, he sets out on a journey in search of redemption. But this is no ordinary journey: it is one that spans ages and countries, and which brings him face-to-face with a host of unforgettable, eccentric characters and legendary creatures from the strangest medieval bestiaries.

Laurus's travels take him from the Middle Ages to the Plague of 1771, where as a holy fool he displays miraculous healing powers, to the political upheavals of the late-twentieth century. At each transformative stage of his journey he becomes more revered by the church and the people, until he decides, one day, to return to his home village to lead the life of a monastic hermit—not realizing that it is here that he will face his most difficult trial yet.

Laurus is a remarkably rich novel about the eternal themes of love, loss, self-sacrifice, and faith, from one of Russia's most exciting and critically acclaimed novelists.

About Eugene Vodolazkin

Eugene Vodolazkin was born in Kiev in 1964. An expert in Old Russian literature, Vodolazkin 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 Prize. Laurus is Vodolazkin's second novel. It won both of Russia's major literary awards, The Book Book Prize and the Yasnaya Polyana Award. Vodolazkin lives with his family in St Petersburg, Russia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Vit on April 23, 2020

Once upon a time… Once upon a time everything was possible… And then there is the fish with many legs. No matter what color stone it swims up to, it takes on that color: if it is white, it turns white, if it is green, it turns green. Some people, child, are the same: they are Christians with Christia......more

Goodreads review by Dragos on February 10, 2017

un roman beton! mi-a fost târșe să scriu despre romanul ăsta, dar frate! deja a trecut o groază de timp și tre' să scriu, altfel o să uit de el total. am căutat ceva pe net, pe bloguri, dar cucu, nimeni n-a avut pân-acuși sânge-n barabule să scrie (excepția e aici, la valeriu gherghel). de ce m......more

Goodreads review by Valeriu on February 25, 2023

Nu numai un roman istoric. Laur este, mai degrabă, o poveste de iubire. Și abia apoi o hagiografie. Comparația cu Numele trandafirului e gratuită, nimic n-o susține. Viziunile autorilor diferă dramatic. Citind acest roman, ceea ce m-a frapat e infailibilitatea mecanică a lui lui Arseni. Nu cunoaște......more

Goodreads review by Lark on January 30, 2019

When I got to the end of Laurus I thought: "this is the best book I've ever read." I've had that feeling before with other novels and I hope I will have it again in the future but even so Laurus will remain one of the most perfect and memorable experiences of my reading life. It probably changed my......more