Day August 15th in modern history. Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary

They called me an hour after Volodya’s death. I knew that his illness was serious, but the call shocked me. I believed that he would still manage. Great Russian writer.

The word big defined Sharov comprehensively. If it occurred to someone (fortunately, it did not occur) to rank Russian writers by height, I think he would be at the head of the column. According to writers and human qualities Sharov would probably end up in the same place. Volodya was embarrassed by his height. He leaned towards the ear of his interlocutor, pretending that he was the same height as him.

His work, in my opinion, was determined by two main themes - history and religion. There are only two, but they are the most important. The first has to do with time, memory and experience. Without memory there is no experience, without experience there is no consciousness. There is no personality, no people. The second theme is related to the search for what we call the meaning of life. This has already been discussed in early work Sharov - primarily in “Rehearsals” - a great, without exaggeration, novel.

The writer was interested in religiosity as such, that “gene” that is responsible for faith in a person and which was approached with a “screwdriver” after the October revolution. How did it happen that many Christians were able to so quickly believe in something the opposite of Christianity? Sharov suggested one of the answer options. The answer was controversial, but it was an attempt to explain the inexplicable.

His prose is crystalline in Bunin's style; trickery and fireworks are alien to it. Her beauty is deep and does not need special effects. I know that Volodya did not like rhythmic prose. Presumably, from the point of view of taste, it seemed dubious to him. And indeed, most often it is difficult to argue with this. An example of what rhythm should be (and, generally speaking, it should be) are the texts of Sharov himself.

This is a finely tuned rhythm, devoid of pretentiousness and natural, like the sound of rain on the roof. He created his novels by walking around the room and pronouncing phrase after phrase. So, when constructing an airplane, part by part is checked for aerodynamic properties. So that not a single extra bend. Not a single unnecessary word.

The wonderful English literary critic and translator Oliver Ready told me how, when translating “Rehearsals,” he tried to catch this rhythm, because without it Sharov’s novels cannot be understood. Even, like the author, I think he walked around the room. And I was happy when the English text sounded like Sharov’s.

We met Volodya at the London Book Fair in 2011. To be more precise, not at the fair itself: late in the evening we accidentally ran into each other on one of the streets. We both turned out to be lovers of lonely night walks. The script seemed to indicate that, having said hello, each of us followed our own course. But they didn’t follow (maybe there was no course that evening), but went on a journey through London at night. I think the reason was that the conversation somehow naturally turned to history.

The walk, I could say, ended in the morning - only she amazingly didn't end. With the same leisurely pace, we walked through Prague, Brno, and Jerusalem - speaking in our free time at the book fairs there. Volodya had a soft, shy manner of speaking, which included an ability, rare for a writer, not to go beyond the limits of the question posed. He cut off a possible, but undesirable train of thought in one way or another. Otherwise, he pronounced it in Mayakovsky, with emphasis on i. There was something free in this saying, not insisting on unambiguity - one way or another. There are always options in life.

I was once asked who is the most underrated writer in Russia. Without hesitation, I answered: “Sharov.” The press and the “general” reader really did not notice him for a long time, literary prizes. IN last years the situation began to change. Sharov received the “Russian Booker”, and against the backdrop of all the Booker scandals, this laureate seemed undisputed.

He was humanly indisputable and - rare case- I didn’t have, in my opinion, either envious people or enemies. A shy smile and complete concentration on the interlocutor. It was always easy to be with him: I never saw him in a bad mood.

A writer has few privileges. One of them is that he can continue the conversation with the reader after death. Good writer anticipates some questions from the future and gives answers to them in advance. Sharov was a responsible person and, I think, prepared for such an eventuality. The questions will not appear tomorrow, but the answers are already ready. Are waiting. The walk with Volodya continues.

Subject: I'm worried, of course

03/07/2017, 13:10:17 GMT+3

Evgeniy Germanovich, Marie Claire magazine invited me to interview you, and I immediately agreed. Firstly, I, as a musician and philologist by training, am very interested in you as creative person. As someone who also writes and creates, I am most inspired by people and conversations with people. Who knows, maybe this dialogue will force me to write more than one song? And then, it’s interesting to be in an unusual role. This is my first interview. I'm worried, of course. Despite the fact that I’m not in St. Petersburg at the moment, I’m on tour in Nizhny Novgorod, then I’m going to the closed city of Sarov - I thought that this was a challenge that I couldn’t help but accept... If you don’t mind, I’ll send you questions in the near future!
Sincerely, Evgenia Lyubich

Subject: RE: I'm worried, of course

03/07/2017, 17:20:32 GMT+3

Dear Zhenya, what a pleasure it is to deal with your namesake! My wife Tatyana and I saw you at an event in St. Petersburg. We noticed that you have a very good songs. It’s great that you agreed, because a person should try everything. Or almost everything. Send me questions – I’ll be happy to answer them.
Your Zhenya

Theme: love and justice
from: JeniaSPB, to: Evodolazkin
03/08/2017, 00:10:17 GMT+3

Evgeniy, good night! Played the second concert in Nizhny Novgorod. I’m actually writing to you from behind the scenes. It just so happens that we start on the night of March 8th. I have this question: the hero of your latest novel, “The Aviator,” claims that “love is higher than justice.” Do you agree with him?
And also, I would be interested to know: you and your wife Tatyana have been doing the same thing all your life, for thirty years in fact - both studying ancient Russian literature. This is how it is - at work about one thing and at home about one thing? In advance Thanks a lot for the answers!
Sincerely, Evgenia Lyubich
sent from iPhone

Topic: in absolute rightness
there is something soulless
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/08/2017, 15:17:32 GMT+3

Zhenya, please call me Zhenya too - there must be some kind of symmetry. :)
I continue...
My hero is a person who came from another universe, in which hardly anyone knew about March 8 - except perhaps Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg. In that coordinate system, the relationship between love and justice was, it seems to me, somewhat different. It was easier for a person of that time to understand that justice is not highest point in relation to a person. If we were all treated fairly, I’m afraid nothing good would come of it. In justice, despite the importance of this category, there is a shade of inhumanity. You know, reading the fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant” as a child, I rather sympathized with the dragonfly. There was something soulless in the ant's unconditional rightness. I know people who are always right, but there is no love in their rightness. I want to run away from their rightness. I think that justice and love should go hand in hand.
As for the second question, it’s interesting that I asked myself about the same thing 30 years ago. The answer turned out to be simpler. Life is much broader than professional topics, even if it is your favorite profession. When a child appears and you need to earn money for the family, believe me, professional conversations are not at all in the first place... As for the constant presence in sight of each other - at home and at work - then it is not in our lives: the work of a medievalist is mainly takes place in the manuscript departments of libraries. So we have time to miss each other.
Your Zhenya

Topic: about intelligence
from: JeniaSPB, to: Evodolazkin
03/08/2017, 18:15:00 GMT+3

Zhenya, I read you, and was born new question: What do you think the famous “St. Petersburg” intelligentsia is like now? I must explain: there is a version that the word “intelligentsia” was invented and introduced into the Russian language by my distant relative Pyotr Dmitrievich Boborykin. And in general, according to his definition, an intellectual is not so much a person of mind as of soul.
Sincerely yours, Zhenya

Topic: I recognize St. Petersburg residents anywhere in the world
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/08/2017, 23:36:07 GMT+3

Zhenya, dear, the fact that Pyotr Dmitrievich Boborykin is your relative is simply wonderful: family history determines a lot in a person's life. Apparently, it was Pyotr Dmitrievich who gave the word the overtone that distinguishes it from similar European ones. He did a lot for Russian culture, but for this word alone he is worthy of a monument. An intellectual is not someone who just knows a lot, but also behaves with dignity and has a decent way of thinking. As for the St. Petersburg intelligentsia, it certainly has its own characteristics. You know, a nation is sometimes defined as a system of behavioral stereotypes. This is a way of behaving different situations. Well, relatively speaking, give way to a woman, sit on the edge at the table, etc. This system of stereotypes defines, if you like, the St. Petersburg nation. I recognize St. Petersburg residents anywhere in the world.
Your Zhenya

Topic: your notebooks
from: JeniaSPB, to: Evodolazkin
03/09/2017, 01:17:32 GMT+3

Zhenya, I apologize for writing so late, but as long as there is Wi-Fi nearby, I will use it. When writing lyrics for songs, I use the most different sources impressions and record them in different ways. Your prose is a lace of details, very exquisitely chosen words. This is in pure form derivative of intelligence, erudition? Perhaps you keep notebooks, recording what you hear from other people?
sent from iPhone

Subject: RE: your notebooks
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/09/2017, 10:17:32 GMT+3

Dear Zhenya, the specifics of the work are dictated by the material. In the case of "Laurel" I had to work with medieval texts - quote them, retell them, or compose them myself in Old Russian manner. But the main thing is, of course, personal observations. The crackle of damp branches in a fire, the blow of a clumsily taken oar on the water, etc. - this is our common fund with the Middle Ages. I observe these details here and then transfer them there. And when the reader recognizes feelings close to him in a foreign environment, it ceases to be foreign to him. I hunt for these parts and collect them, often placing them in notebook- This is a common story for a writer. In this regard, I remember a wonderful letter from one of my readers. She praises my novel “Laurel,” but complains that one of the fragments remained incomprehensible to her. This refers to a description of a medieval forest in which a plastic bottle melts from under the snow. I needed this slight hooliganism in order to express the idea of ​​the passage of time in all directions. So, the reader mentions notebooks as one of the writing methods and describes it skillfully. This is followed by a question: maybe you have mixed up your notebooks?
Your Zhenya

Subject: men's style in literature
from: JeniaSPB, to: Evodolazkin
03/09/2017, 12:17:32 GMT+3

In literature, poetry and even music, I have always liked the masculine style. Because men, as a rule, gravitate towards generalizations and, in general, towards some kind of philosophical truth. These are not pity letters to a friend. Do you divide literature into men's and women's?

Topic: floor for great literature doesn't matter
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/09/2017, 13:20:32 GMT+3

It is commonly said that there is only one division: literature and non-literature. I would probably agree with this - with a slight amendment in the spirit that there is still a special feminine intonation, and it, of course, only decorates the text. Take, for example, the novels of the wonderful English writer Muriel Spark. The quality of prose can be compared with it rare man. Gender, age, and nationality are not of decisive importance for great literature. Best Writers reach those heights where only angels fly, who have neither the first, nor the second, nor the third.

Topic: RE: gender does not matter for great literature

03/09/2017, 13:40:32 GMT+3

Our interview in letters is already reminiscent of an interview in WhatsApp in terms of the speed of responses)) Is literature a way to create life or a way to escape reality?
sent from iPhone

Topic: to each his own
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/09/2017, 15:30:32 GMT+3

Topic: songs are written on the road
from: JeniaSPB, to: Evodolazkin
03/09/2017, 18:50 GMT+3

Zhenya, I am writing to you from the city of Sarov, the journey to which from Nizhny took me 4.5 hours, I am standing backstage right before the start of the performance. I want to say that songs are written beautifully on the road. What about novels?

Topic: outside the office you “grab” life
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/09/2017, 23:50:32 GMT+3

Dear Zhenya, the most I can do outside my office is to describe a specific thing or person. I see, say, a man sleeping with his mouth open on a high-speed train. Such an amazing contrast: maximum speed and complete peace. And the citizen sits unusually: the back of his head is on the glass, his face is turned inside the carriage. Sometimes the eyes open (no pupils, just whites), and then the mouth closes. Then in reverse order. The train, by the way, is Milan-Venice, outside the window there is unearthly beauty, and here is such an attraction. You take out your notebook and try to “grab” what is happening as accurately as possible – in two or three strokes. For example, you describe the passenger’s face as a Venetian mask.

Subject: RE:
from: JeniaSPB to: Evodolazkin
03/10/2017, 14:17:32 GMT+3

Is there a writing schedule for Evgeniy Vodolazkin, for example: today I’m just writing, even on phone calls I don’t answer, but tomorrow I teach, I rest? For example, I’m trying to come to such a schedule, but it’s not working, and right now I’m simultaneously recording an album and preparing for an important concert, which will take place on April 16 at the St. Petersburg club “Cosmonaut”.
Zhenya, I wrote you a question about the announcement of my flight at the airport, which I miraculously heard! I'm returning to St. Petersburg.
sent from iPhone

Subject: RE: RE:
from: Evodolazkin, to: JeniaSPB
03/10/2017, 17:17:32 GMT+3

Dear Zhenya, congratulations on your return! The graph exists, but has nothing to do with reality. Simultaneously with the decision to write, for example, a call comes from an aspiring poetess: “Look at my poems.” I take a breath to talk about the lack of time - she beats me to it: “One condition: no praise - only about shortcomings!” It is impossible to refuse a person who sets conditions for you... Calls from the library, several publications and even the Moscow Zoo. After a short lull, calls again - clarifying my position regarding the fight against icing of sidewalks, juvenile justice and genitive case the words “tangerines”... I have not yet learned not to answer, contrary to advice. Previously, however, I ran to a village where there was poor telephone and Internet connection, but a few weeks ago my house burned down there. In the fact that there is nowhere to run now, I see a kind of call not to shy away from public responsibilities. I'm not complaining: attention to you is a form of love, and you need to be grateful for love.
Zhenya, I suggest leaving other matters until our meeting. So we waited for her. That's all for now.
Your Zhenya

A personal meeting

Evgenia Lyubich: Zhenya, very glad to see you! We finally met after three days of correspondence in our native St. Petersburg. And I’ve already started to get used to writing to you... I really like that we call each other Zhenya. In general, it is very interesting that behind one name there are two hidden different worlds: male and female, two different attitudes. Curious to know your understanding of these two worlds.

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: Zhenya, I’m glad to meet you... It seems to me that women are much better than men. I say this without the slightest coquetry. Just like the experience of your life. I was raised by women - my grandmother and mother. Mostly grandma. Then I smoothly flowed from my grandmother’s hands into the hands of my wife, a wonderful, amazing person. She is from Russian Germans, from Karaganda, and happily combines the best features of two peoples. Naturally, I could only have a daughter. It’s easy for a man and a woman because they are built differently. Russian women are especially well and, probably, correctly arranged.

You guessed mine next question. I know that you lived in Munich for several years. I also lived for some time abroad, in Paris. And I felt the difference between Russian women and European women.

The fact is that Western women, in particular German women whom I know from Munich and Berlin, are always thinking about, God forbid, not losing equality with men. Our woman doesn't think about it. If she loves, then she loves. She can be a cat in a man's hands, or she can be a tigress. Everything depends on you, on your desire, and in a sense, on your ability to cope with her temperament. But Western people are structured a little differently. For example, at one time I was terribly shocked that couples draw up a marriage contract, divorce is initially built into the system. Our woman has enough wisdom not to fall for this nonsense.

For a Western woman, justice is higher than love.

Who needs this justice if it crosses out love?

It seems to me that for Russian women, and in general for our person, it is very important to love. In the sense - to forgive, endure, wait, hope, believe. In Europe, the emphasis is still on the material side of the issue. Yes, there's a lot beautiful women. Especially French women. But at home there is no soup prepared. Personally, I find it warmer to live here. The fact that in the end I live, for example, not in France, not in Paris, but in St. Petersburg, is a conscious choice. Is this a conscious choice for you too?

My wife and I had no doubt that we would return. And I still don’t regret it. The fact is that abroad is a temptation mainly for those who have never lived there for a long time. They go there for happiness. Yes, the wages are higher there, the streets are cleaner there... The list can go on and on. But you are always a stranger there. Alien, not even in an aggressive sense - no one presses you for not being German or French. There is simply a polite distance that prevents a person from getting any closer to becoming one of their own. I have observed this in the most different countries. In England, in Germany. At some point this puts a lot of pressure on the nerves. You know, it can be compared to rain. Not with the refreshing one that flies from the Niagara sky. It's about about the rain, which is barely dripping, which is almost still foggy. And you go. And you walk a kilometer - and you feel that you are absolutely wet. You have no immunity against it. That is, when you get caught in heavy rain, you mobilize. And here is this growing dampness...

A successful person often has to deal with Moscow. You probably had the opportunity to move to the capital. Nevertheless, you still, perhaps even in spite of everything, live in St. Petersburg. Is this city in some way a conducive environment for creativity?

If you want to do anything seriously, you need to go to Moscow. But there are two areas that are exceptions to this rule.

Is it music and literature?

This is science and literature.

Then three spheres.

Yes. Then three. We talked about this more than once with Mikhail Shemyakin. He likes to elaborate: “There is something in the vapors of these swamps that fuels creativity.”

I wonder what you think about literary awards?

Awards are important. From several points of view. First and foremost: this is a guide for the reader. Take the five main Russian awards: “ Big Book", "Yasnaya Polyana", "National bestseller", "Russian Booker", "NOS" - it seems that I haven’t forgotten anything. And look at the shortlist of each - you will find similarities. This is something you can read calmly - high class literature. Second: awards raise interest. This means they increase circulation, which means they increase royalties. Finally, the bonus is in some cases a lot of money. “Big Book” – first prize three million rubles, second prize – 1.5 million, third prize – 1 million. Noticeable for a writer who, in general, doesn’t earn much! For a year or two he can live peacefully, without thinking about how to support his family. Another thing is that bonuses are rarely given twice. I was lucky enough to receive the Big Book twice.

If you don't take prizes into account, how does a writer live?

For additional earnings, if we consider the main one literary work. For example, I am an employee of the Pushkin House. It’s impossible to say that I make money there, because the salary of a doctor of sciences, oddly enough, is very small. But I get it in aggregate: the salary of a philologist, researcher Ancient Rus', plus I receive royalties from my novels. All this helps to stay afloat. I could well earn much more if I started writing detective stories or romance novels. But I'm interested in other prizes. I am proud that I can well describe the view from the window, the conversation in the room, you never know. And I wouldn’t trade it for any royalties for trash.

I have exactly the same attitude towards music. This is great because it frees you from the temptation to write for money. Another question is to write for what? In correspondence we talked about how literature is a way of escaping reality.

For me, this is not so much a way of leaving as an attempt to cope with the existing reality. Deal with it personally. Cope with your fears. Sometimes with bouts of despair. I can't say that I exist in constant hysteria. No. But sometimes a terrible melancholy comes over me. And the only treatment here can only be the creation of texts. How do you, I think, create music? You know, this is the first time I’ve said something like this. But we have a very unexpected genre: you are not a journalist, you are a person of art, so I feel in a sense more free... You, Zhenya, are young. At your age, I wasn’t afraid of much, because I didn’t fully feel life.

Some people become stale over the years. And someone, perhaps, on the contrary, is ready to be naked.

I was shocked at one time: here is Viktor Astafiev - great writer. Do you know what his terrible will is? I’m afraid I won’t reproduce it verbatim, but close to the text: “I came into this world full of joy, but now I don’t have one for it.” kind words" And I was tormented by this incomprehensible statement of his. And then I began to understand a little. Young people don't know how scary life is.

Experience can be very early and very different.

Happens. But in youth a person is able to rehabilitate and recover. He formats even very terrible things that happen to him into a separate “Exceptions” folder. And returns to solar life as the norm of life. And a person who has crossed a certain threshold understands that these are no exceptions, that life is not easy for a number of reasons. This feeling arises, and it is no longer so easy to get distracted. For me literature is great help and consolation, which is much more expensive than money or fame. All those things that seem so attractive.

A question I can't help but ask as a musician. Your texts are very musical and poetic. I feel this rhythm. I'm interested in your attitude to the connection between music and literature.

You know, I write the most important and dramatic fragments of texts to music - for example, I turn on Bach. When I describe pathetic plots – Mozart’s “Requiem”. But I don't allow myself to constantly listen to music when I write. Because sometimes the qualities of good music can involuntarily spread into the lyrics in my mind, and the lyrics will be bad. I generally work in silence.

It surprisingly resonates with my completely opposite experience. I can't read lyrics to music. Because for me music is an independent text. And vice versa. If we talk about my songs, I cannot separate the text from the music, because the text loses its meaning and depth.

Yes Yes. Zhenya, you are absolutely right in the sense that in songs the text and music are inseparable. The word has its limits. And where his possibilities end, music or painting begins. Mine past romance I dedicated “Aviator” to the artist. Now I’m writing a novel that will be dedicated to a musician. And there I am trying, among other things, to understand where the very limits of the word are and where music enters. Because without music you have to stop. And so we all go and go.

Letter after

Topic: question about the heroine of the novel
from: Evodolazkin to: JeniaSPB
14.03.2017, 22:29

Zhenya, dear, I have returned from Greece and am flying to Japan. I discovered in the mail that I still haven’t answered one of your questions. You ask: Do I plan to write a novel? the main character which will be a woman. You see, Zhenya, in order to write about a woman, you need to unravel her. Until I succeed, I will write about men: they are simpler.
Cordially, Zhenya
sent from a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

You are not a slave!
Closed educational course for children of the elite: "The true arrangement of the world."
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Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Evgeniy Germanovich Vodolazkin(genus. February 21 ( 19640221 ) , Kyiv) - Russian literary critic and writer.

Biography

Graduated from the Faculty of Philology of KSU named after. T. G. Shevchenko (1986). In the same year, he entered graduate school at the Institute of Russian Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House), in the Department ancient Russian literature, headed by Academician D.S. Likhachev. During three years wrote a dissertation on the translation of the Byzantine Chronicle of George Amartol and, after defending it, has been working there since 1990.

Doctor philological sciences, defended in 2000, dissertation topic: “ The World History in the literature of Ancient Rus' (based on the material of chronographic and pale narrative of the 11th-15th centuries).”

Works

• Dmitry Likhachev and his era: Memoirs. Essay. Documentation. Photos. - St. Petersburg: Logos, 2002. 424 p. - 2000 copies.
• The Rape of Europa. - St. Petersburg: Logos, 2005. - 416 p. - 2000 copies.
• Solovyov and Larionov - M.: New Literary Review, 2009. - 342 p. - 1000 copies.
• A piece of land surrounded by sky: Solovetsky texts and images. - St. Petersburg: Logos, 2011. - 784 p. - 1000 copies.
• Laurel. - M.: AST: Editorial office of Elena Shubina, 2012. - 448 p. - 43,000 copies.
• A completely different time. Storybook. - M.: AST, 2013. - 480 p. - 4000 copies.
• Red Arrow: [stories, essays] / Comp. S. Nikolavech and E. Shubina. - M.: AST, 2013. - 703 p. - 4000 copies.
• Russian children: 48 stories about children / Comp. P. Krusanov, A. Etoev. - St. Petersburg,: Azbuka-Atticus, 2013. - 800 p. - 10,000 copies.
• Text and tradition. Almanac. T. 1-3. - St. Petersburg: Rostock, 2013-2015. - 1000 copies.
• House and Island, or Tool of Language: An Essay. - M.: AST, 2014. - 377 p. - 3000 copies.
• Russian women: 47 stories about women / Comp. P. Krusanov, A. Etoev. - St. Petersburg: Azbuka-Atticus, 2014. - 640 p. - 7000 copies.
• Children's World: Collection of Stories / Comp. D. Bykov. - M.: Editorial office of Elena Shubina, 2014. - 432 p. - 7000 copies.
• A couple of plays. - Irkutsk: Publisher Sapronov, 2014. - 174 p. - 1300 copies.
• All about my house: [stories, essays] / Comp. S. Nikolaevich and E. Shubina. - M.: AST, 2014. - 781 p. - 3500 copies.
• Freeze. Nostalgia: [stories, essays] / Comp. S. Nikolaevich, E. Shubina. - M.: AST: Editorial office of Elena Shubina, 2015. - 476 p. - 3000 copies.
• Big book of winners / Comp. and preparation texts by Elena Shubina. - M., 2015.- 560 p. - 6000 copies.
• Russia - Italy: Literary travels. M.: Vremya, 2016. - 448 p. - 1000 copies.
• Aviator. - M.: AST, Edited by Elena Shubina, 2016. - 416 p. - 15,000 copies.
• Everything in the Garden: [stories, essays] / Comp. S. Nikolaevich, E. Shubina. - M.: AST: Editorial office of Elena Shubina, 2016. - 478 p. - 2500 copies.

Awards

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Notes

Links

• in the "Magazine Hall"
• on the IRL RAS website
• on the website “New literary map of Russia”
• // “Literary Russia”, 2014, No. 23
• // Russian newspaper, 2010, №5208

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Excerpt characterizing Vodolazkin, Evgeniy Germanovich

S. KOROLYOV: Sergei Korolev is at the microphone. Once again, good evening everyone, today our guest is writer and philologist Evgeny Vodolazkin. Evgeniy Germanovich, good evening!

E. VODOLAZKIN: Good evening, Sergey!

S.K.: Evgeniy is in touch with us. He is now in the St. Petersburg studio. But the connection, as far as I understand, is normal, the audibility is excellent. I'm waiting for your questions now. We will, of course, also accept calls, but a little later. Evgeniy Germanovich, I wanted to start with latest events, from the Olympics. Last hour we discussed the news about who might not be allowed to take part in the games in Rio de Janeiro; the IOC has already spoken out about Mutko and deprived him of accreditation. People have this position: do we need this, do we need to go to these courts, listen to these humiliating accusations, which are largely unfounded? I am referring to the report prepared for WADA by McLaren. Maybe some time ago, when all this was just beginning, or even now, it was worth proudly abandoning the Olympic Games?

E.V: It seems to me that the position of pride in our case is not very appropriate, because, as far as I understand, some individual cases there were, but it seems to me that some such sudden movements should not be made. At least because our authorities treated the matter very well. They immediately decided to see what was happening, temporarily suspended some leaders, if I’m not mistaken, they will check everything. I think that any situation is controlled not from the outside, but from the inside. You have to start, as they say, with yourself, and this is the most important thing. You have to be honest with yourself. As for the accusations, which are really unfounded in some parts, because we haven’t heard any specific names or specific cases, then, well, that’s why the pike is in the pool so that the crucian doesn’t sleep. I think we need to look around less and look at ourselves more. To proceed from the fact that this is our very important business - to be clean, correct, and other things, believe me, are secondary.

S.K.: So, we are talking about the fact that there are cases of doping, and they are fully proven, but our position is that the presumption of guilt cannot be applied to everyone. A priori, athletes must prove that they are clean, and not vice versa - WADA or some other structures that athletes use doping. And secondly, we are not playing by our own rules, because all these laboratories, all these international commissions, everything is on the other side. How can you survive in this situation? And how can you not see the politics here?

E.V: No, the politics here are obvious, as in almost all areas human activity. And you need to understand that different groups, countries have their own interests, which they defend quite firmly. In general, in my opinion, there is no need to be offended and blame the whole world for your troubles, because if you proceed from the fact that the world as a whole is not the best comfortable place, then one should rather be surprised at what good things happen. And specifically about this situation, I would say that I am also very surprised by the sweeping accusations against our athletes, because the basis of the law is that responsibility is personal, starting from jurisprudence and ending with the Last Judgment.

“And when everyone must answer, it reminds me of the responsibility of the Mongol-Tatar troops, when a hundred were destroyed for the misconduct of a dozen.”

Of course, here we cannot but agree that if we are supporters of European law, then we must proceed from the fact that those who are guilty should be punished, and not everyone.

S.K.: From your point of view, Russia now, its role in the world, its position in the world, how would you characterize it?

"Russia is looking for a new geopolitical place, a new geopolitical role, because this role has changed a lot over the past 25 years"

S.K.: Which one?

E.V: Which one, perhaps, we ourselves don’t really know, but at least not the one that existed during the times of the Soviet Union. I think, as far as I know the official doctrine on this matter, Russia is not going to play superpower in the Soviet sense. This is very expensive games. They are draining both energetically and financially. Russia must occupy a worthy place, must have a position that allows or ensures that other countries take it into account. But at the same time, Russia must not only be strong, it must be respected. Strength matters, I say as a historian. Experience shows that strength means a lot in respect of the state, but not only that. After all, there is still truth.

S.K.: What's the truth?

E.V: The truth, in general, is that you take into account the interests of other countries, you understand that you cannot live as if only you exist. There is a certain geopolitical ethics, and in former times this ethics was somehow respected. And now it is being violated everywhere, on both sides of the barricades, and this is very sad.

S.K.:“But Crimea is ours!” writes a listener. “Or has everyone forgotten how it all began: the crisis and hostility with the whole world?!” What is your answer?

E.V: It didn’t start with Crimea, it started much earlier. It began at least in 1991, when the world had great hopes for a new world order, when Russia abolished the Warsaw bloc. And after that, unfortunately, nothing changed for the better, because in the absence of one bloc, the other bloc remained, and here lamentation and tears are not very appropriate, because it is clear why NATO remained. NATO is not only a military organization, it is financial institution, which ensures the production of weapons and many other things. It was probably very difficult for that side to abolish this bloc. But I want to say that it all started a very long time ago. In fact, of course, much earlier than 1991. But since we will probably take some visible period, this is the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. And, of course, there was parity between the two forces. The world is polar, just like almost any structure under this sky is polar. And suddenly the second pole disappears. Naturally, the first pole becomes lonely and looks for another pole. He is trying to create it from Iran and some other countries. But he cannot find such a luxurious enemy as the Soviet Union was. And now a new polarization begins to occur. Here we can discuss a lot about who is to blame for this and how it all arose, but polarization has been going on all these years, and now it has reached such an intensity that, perhaps, it did not exist even during the existence of the Soviet Union.

S.K.: Evgeny Germanovich, but ISIS* is a by-product of the very process of polarization that you just described?

E.V: In a sense, yes, but only in a fairly limited sense. From a tactical point of view, from the point of view of how it arose. But this is a powerful force, the world is changing, new players are appearing. This player takes advantage of the contradictions between the main players or those who were the main ones yesterday. But in fact, completely new forces are coming into the world, those that were asleep or silent. This, of course, is a huge East, very heterogeneous, the East in in a broad sense- from Far East to the Middle East.

“I have the impression that in the next decade the role of the countries of European civilization - and these include Russia, Europe, and America - will be greatly reduced"

S.K.: Whose role has been increased?

E.V: The East is enlarged: this is China, this is the Middle East, this is India. These are countries and peoples with energy that has not yet been seriously realized, and they will present themselves on the world stage.

S.K.: You know, in recent days the feeling has become especially acute that the world is rapidly changing. In recent days, I mean this series of tragedies: this is Nice, where it all began, and Turkey, which began to seethe later, and as echoes - the seizure of the police station in Yerevan, and then the shooting in Almaty. What is this? Do you see a connection? And where can it go next and how?

E.V: I see a connection.

"The world is a continuous interconnection"

When, for example, a person has something wrong with his stomach, it manifests itself as acne on his face, some strange eyes, or if a person has something wrong with his kidneys, he has circles under his eyes. This does not manifest itself in the kidneys. And the world is an organism just like the human body. And it is clear that this is a general problem, a general charge, and, mind you, a very bad charge of the current world, its in highest degree the aggressive state is reflected in such explosions, which are still of a small nature. I mean the explosion in the figurative sense: what happened on the German train, in France, etc. But these are all manifestations of the same thing.

S.K.: What?

E.V: This is a global aggression that is growing rapidly. And in general, I feel very anxious in the current situation, because it only seems that wars and coups occur because, as Lenin said, the upper classes cannot, the lower classes do not want. This is a rather naive way of looking at things. Look at the First world war, which at one time was called the Great War. In general, everyone was waiting for this war. Everyone was really waiting for her. But it didn’t arise because seven bullets were fired in Sarajevo. It was just a reason, a fuse, but in fact the gunpowder that had long since dried up and was ready for use exploded.

S.K.: I would like to talk to you in more detail, what to do in such a situation? And who now, in your opinion, is responsible for the future of, it turns out, the whole world?

E.V: You know, I may say things that may not seem obvious to you, but I am convinced of it. Lies on each of us. The fact is that I belong to the philosophy of personalism, that everything depends on the individual. If you kill the demons in yourself, then you will make the world brighter. If you start killing them in others, and most often it turns out that you kill others at the same time, this only gives rise to aggression. Therefore, we need to engage in self-purification, try to look at ourselves with a new look. This does not mean that you don’t need to help others and don’t lead any social activities. No, that's not true.

S.K.: Just while you are engaged in self-cleaning, no matter what happens around you or something collapses!

E.V: You know, if it is destined to explode, it will explode anyway. But look, here I am, a historian of Ancient Rus': how much the saints did to defeat, say, the Russian troops. After all, they didn’t do it with weapons, they did it by increasing the amount of good in the world. This mass needs to be increased. You see, focusing on others is a rather bad thing, it’s all from the realm of the “Quartet” fable, when people with the same qualities begin to be seated in a new order. It won't do anything. Therefore, my philosophy is not as naive as it might seem at first glance. We need to start by improving the quality of playing these instruments. But nothing will change from an empty transfer and restructuring.

S.K.: Evgeniy Germanovich, not so long ago, literally this week it came out sociological research at the Levada Center, in my opinion. It said that Russian citizens do not feel responsible for the country. The corresponding figures, questions, etc. were given. But the conclusion was that the majority do not feel responsible for the country. Is this a national feature? How can this be explained historically?

E.V: I would even turn things around a little differently, in my opinion, deeper. It often seems to me that we do not feel personal responsibility to the extent that we should. Therefore, we have difficulties with what is called democracy in political folklore. Democracy presupposes a high sense of personal responsibility, and responsibility for oneself, and, as a consequence, for the country, for the street, for everything. Historically, this can probably be explained. Because this personal responsibility has been taken away from us for 70 years. But this is still too simple an explanation. There were many things in our history that led to these results. But the only optimistic thing in this situation can be that people change, and they change, oddly enough, even for the better, not only for the worse.

“And it seems to me that the experience that we have had, which sometimes seems negative - over the past 30 years - can have a good effect and make us better.”

S.K.: And if you compare the last 30 years and the 70 years that came before that, which era would you choose?

E.V: Of course, I would choose the 30-year era.

S.K.: Why?

E.V: Simply because, in my opinion, a state that suppresses religion and denies the idea of ​​God cannot stay afloat. This is a metaphysical reason. But, believe me, it is more important than any material one.

S.K.: This main reason why the Soviet Union collapsed?

E.V: Ultimately, yes. This is the same reason why it broke up Tower of Babel. What is surprising here is not that it fell apart, but that it lasted so long.

S.K.:“I don’t feel responsible because I don’t decide anything in this country. No one even cared about my voice!” - writes the listener. This is how he expresses himself. Doesn’t it bother you when people say “in this country”?

E.V: I don’t like it when they say “in this country,” because we were born in it, we live in it, it’s part of us, and we’re part of it, it’s such a dialectical story. But as for the fact that we are not solving anything, this is not so. This is both true and false. On the one hand, no one decides anything, because the country is huge organism, consisting of millions of wills. And these wills are not always uniformly directed. We remember Tolstoy's philosophy of history when he says that even when the one who is given the decision makes a decision, he still proceeds from the situation among the people and in the country. And as for common man who does not make global decisions - well, thank God! This is a huge responsibility. Here you need to understand that the only person for whom you are fully responsible is yourself. And we need to take care of ourselves in a spiritual sense. When you help someone, you also take care of yourself.

S.K.: There are many messages from our listeners here. Evgeniy Germanovich, we will contact them in a few minutes. I suggest connecting our listeners. We'll take a few calls first, and then we'll move on to messages. There are several listeners there who are ready to argue with you. Hello.

LISTENER: Good evening, Andrey from Moscow. Don't you think that Russia has very few enemies left in the world, such true enemies among states?

S.K.: True friends, you mean, are few?

WITH.: Friends.

E.V: Friends are a personal category. By and large, only people have friends. It is known and it was not me who said that states have no friends and no enemies, only interests. If we approach the category of friends, we will be able to explain little in history and politics. There were countries with which we seemed to be friends, which we seemed to help, and then they always found themselves on the other side of the barricades. Disputing this is like disputing the weather, thunder, lightning. This world history. It consists of this kind of thing, so it seems to me that it is more correct to analyze the interests of states and not use the words “friends” and “enemies” so often. Now the situation is such that, for one reason or another, the interests of a large and powerful group of states contradict the interests of Russia. This is a complex process with many causes. But, again, this is outside the “friends and enemies” category. The only thing that can be said is that, indeed, there are peoples and cultures that are in tune with each other. This is true. But, as historical practice shows, even this does not affect the political decisions of the leadership of these countries.

S.K.: Nikolai writes: “For me, my country has become “this country”. I am no longer a subject in it, but an object that can be sanded,” writes Nikolai. And our listener, who in the last half-hour, in fact, began this discussion, explains: “I don’t want to call this country my own, because as a technically savvy person, and generally diversified, I see that the government is hammering in nails with a microscope, skipping the last remaining , throws dust in the eyes with all his might, etc. But in my country I can’t do anything about it. I was an official for several years, I saw the kitchen from the inside,” the listener ends.

E.V: This is a position of complete hopelessness that is not close to me. Well, let's say you don't like what's happening in your family.

“You won’t say “this family.” You will still say “my family.”

Likewise, “my country” and not “this country”. Believe me, in some mystical sense, we are also responsible for what is happening, so let's share the blame in some way among ourselves. When we say “this country,” even if we don’t like most of what happens in it, we seem to abandon it, treat it without love, and this is completely wrong. When we say “my country”, “my family”, we understand that whatever it is, it is mine, and we are connected to it, and in the end we will make some effort to make it better.

S.K.: Let me start a telephone vote now. I'm interested in the audience's opinion and mood. “My country” or “this country” in relation to Russia? Call and vote. Good evening! What is your name?

WITH.: Good evening. Andrey.

S.K.: Andrey, “my country” or “this country”?

WITH.: Of course, "my country". What nonsense? I have visited almost the entire continent. In Australia, in America, in Europe, in all EU countries I have a visa. And I want to say that our country is the best, and the best in everything, even including our incompetent government. It's even more mediocre, believe me, I've seen how everything works there. So, everyone who thinks that somewhere is greener, they simply haven’t been there. That's all. You go into any block there and walk a little further, understand that not everything is so bad there in Nizhny Novgorod or in Moscow. If my father heard this, he would immediately hit me on the head. How can you even pronounce this? I am not a believer, but for me this is blasphemy.

S.K.: And, by the way, every fifth of our listeners - so far - says “this country.” Maybe it will change, this result. I'm stopping the vote. 79% voted for “my country,” but 21% are still the same; it turns out that every fifth of our listeners is still ready to say “this country.” What to do?

E.V: You see, there is no love in the “this country” position. I understand that you can be critical of certain phenomena, but there must be love. And it seems to me that, if we take into account that people change, grow up, and gain experience, then many of these 21% will change their point of view.

S.K.:“I am a foreigner,” writes a listener, “ethnically Russian, no matter how hard it is, this is my country. Shame on the one who was born here and whines.” “My country, but is this my state, which is in my country?” - asks the listener. “I love the country, I hate the government. In particular, internal politics,” writes a listener.

You know, there was a question about Turkey, I would like you to comment too. “Do you think the scale of the coups in Turkey is artificially exaggerated?” - asks the listener.

E.V: We still know very little about the coup that was being prepared there. This great amount people have been arrested now. One can only wonder how quickly they figured it out.

S.K.: Yes, but they haven’t figured it out yet, apparently not everyone has been arrested yet.

E.V: I'm afraid not all of them.

S.K.: How do you generally feel about Erdogan?

E.V: This man worries me extremely. And the way he behaved towards Russia over the past six months does not add optimism to my assessment of him.

S.K.: Are you a supporter of the death penalty or an opponent?

S.K.: Even terrorists? Even pedophiles?

E.V: Even terrorists, even pedophiles.

“It seems to me that a punishment such as a hopeless prison, with no hope of getting out, is much worse than death.”

It’s just human nature to strive for something, and life imprisonment takes away his basic instincts: he doesn’t strive for anything, he lives in terrible conditions, his life has no vector, no goal. Believe me, this type of punishment is much worse than the death penalty.

S.K.: We have a lot of phone calls. Where are you calling from, what's your name, and please tell me you're on the air.

WITH.: Good evening! Alexander, Moscow. Evgeniy Germanovich, please tell me, how old are you?

E.V: I am 52 years old.

WITH.: As far as I can tell, you were still a pioneer?

E.V: I was a pioneer and I was a Komsomol member.

WITH.: How do you feel about the fact that this “I solemnly promise: to live, learn and fight” was not kept?

E.V: I lived, I studied, I fought. Why didn't I hold back?

WITH.: Now we are talking about the fact that if “my country”, then love, and if “this country”, then dislike, then love, it is most likely still for the mother. And our mother is more like the USSR. After we were given our current country, we were already asked to love 26 years ago.

E.V: Do you think that the country arose with the USSR, that there was no thousand-year-old country before that?

WITH.: So we can go to Russian Empire and remember the prison of nations.

E.V: It seems to me that expressions such as “prison of nations” are propaganda clichés. I don’t want to say that everything was fine; I am quite critical of the Russian Empire. But if we compare the Russian Empire, say, with the British Empire, look at what a prison of nations means in the literal sense. What was Britain's relationship with the colonies? And our colonies - yes, in fact, they cannot be called colonies - were parts of the country, integral parts of Russia.

S.K.: Did Evgeniy Vodolazkin answer your question?

S.K.: Why did you get that idea?

WITH.: Would they call the time their countries were in the Russian Empire a happy time and would they like to return there?

E.V: I’m not exactly calling for those who don’t want to unite into an empire. Of course, there were exceptions, let's see both black and white. But many peoples entered voluntarily, and it was a very viable symbiosis. I don't want to say that everything was perfect. I just want to say that the expression “backgammon prison” does not exhaust what happened in Russia.

S.K.: Evgeniy Germanovich, do you consider this 70-year era, which you would not have chosen, to be a break in our Russian history? Is this such an abyss or is there still a reconciling moment? Well, the same victory, for example, is a reconciling moment between our eras.

E.V: These 70 years are not uniform. In general, there are no homogeneous phenomena. In some ways it was a break. In a very important way, this was a break, that Russia suddenly became a godless atheistic state, which went absolutely against all logic and the entire history of the development of Russia before that. As for victory, this was a continuous phenomenon, because Russia always knew how to defend itself and did it quite worthily throughout its development.

S.K.: We will take a couple more calls before the end of the program. But I would like you to speak out, Evgeniy Germanovich, about Pokemon.

E.V: Oh, you know, I don't even know what it is.

S.K.: Don't you follow the news?

E.V: I'm watching, but the Pokemon somehow passed by.

S.K.: This is an augmented reality game. But now it feels like the world has gone crazy, every second person, even in our country, where it became possible to later download this game, walks around with phones. Where do such monsters appear? Cartoons about these Pokemon used to appear, they appear in the most unexpected places, when you point the camera just in a room, in a church, in a cemetery, in a museum, etc. You need to catch them, collect as many as possible, then they fight with each other. People are literally besotted with this game.

E.V: There is nothing new in this. This has been going on for quite some time.

S.K.: This is called "augmented reality".

E.V: I have been observing this with great sadness for quite some time. The fact is that some strange mythologization of consciousness is happening, which is felt at all levels. Remember, some monsters win in the EU, I mean in Eurovision, some Finnish team of monsters, Conchita Wurst is also from this series. If we look at what is the subject of reverent interest - this is “Harry Potter”, “The Lord of the Rings”, then there are things that were not even in demand at one time, that were written a long time ago, but now they are in demand and the same ones are being written. Therefore, I compare Rowling’s phenomenal success to the mythologization of consciousness.

"Faith leaves, but a holy place is never empty"

In its place comes ersatz faith, this strange mythology. I'm afraid this won't lead to anything good.

S.K.: Today is Mayakovsky's birthday. Is there, from your point of view, a commensurate value in Russian culture today, in Russian literature?

E.V: Precisely Mayakovsky?

S.K.: No, why, we can also put Mayakovsky on a par with the luminaries, with the poets of the Silver Age.

E.V: I think there is.

S.K.: Please name it.

E.V: I will name some of our great old men: Fazil Iskander, Andrey Bitov. I think that there are people who would be worthy of the Nobel Prize, for example, Vladimir Makanin. Maybe I've forgotten someone now. But first of all, I want to talk about these people who have long been firmly established in our culture.

E.V: Well, the Bible.

S.K.: What else?

E.V: Also Robinson Crusoe.

S.K.: Time, unfortunately, is our enemy. Evgeniy Germanovich, we have to say goodbye to you. Evgeny Vodolazkin, a writer, was in touch from our St. Petersburg studio. We thank you. I wish all our listeners a good evening. Sergei Korolev was at the microphone.

* The organization is banned in Russia by decision of the Supreme Court.

Evgeniy Germanovich Vodolazkin was born in 1964 in Kyiv. In 1981 he graduated from school with in-depth study Ukrainian and English languages and entered the Russian department of the Faculty of Philology of Kyiv State University. After graduating from the university in 1986 with honors, he entered graduate school at the Department of Old Russian Literature of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

After defense in 1990 PhD thesis on the topic “The Chronicle of George Amartol in Old Russian Literature”, he began working in the Department of Old Russian Literature of the Pushkin House, headed by Academician D. S. Likhachev. While working at the institute, he published in the “Proceedings of the Department of Ancient Russian Literature”, the magazine “Russian Literature” and other publications, and took part in the preparation of the Encyclopedia “Tales of Igor’s Campaign” and the “Library of Literature of Ancient Rus'”.

In 1992, in connection with Likhachev’s receipt of the Tepfer Prize, which included a one-year internship as a student of the laureate in Germany, he was invited by the University of Munich, where he studied Western medieval studies and also gave lectures on ancient Russian literature.

Returning to St. Petersburg, he continued research work in the field of ancient Russian historical narrative, exegesis and hagiography. Together with G. M. Prokhorov and E. E. Shevchenko, he published the book “Reverends Cyril, Ferapont and Martinian of Belozersky.” Participated in a number of conferences in Russia and abroad, including the International Congresses of Slavists in Krakow and Ljubljana. In 1998 in Pushkin House Vodolazkin organized the international conference “Monastic Culture: East and West” (the conference materials formed the basis of a publication of the same name, published a year later).

In 1998-2002 (with interruptions), being a scholarship holder of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, he studied research work in libraries in Germany. In 2000, in Munich, Vodolazkin published the monograph “World History in the Literature of Ancient Rus',” which he defended in the same year at the Institute of Literature as a doctoral dissertation. The study developed and substantiated a new concept of ancient Russian historical narrative. In addition to publications, this concept was presented at conferences on medieval studies and lectures at St. Petersburg University.

In 2002, he published the book “Dmitry Likhachev and his era”, which included memoirs and essays of outstanding scientists, writers and public figures. Since the beginning of the 2000s, along with scientific research in the field of ancient and modern Russian literature, publishes journalistic and popular science works (“Nezavisimaya Gazeta”, “Novaya Gazeta”, “ Literary newspaper”, magazines “Zvezda”, “Ogonyok”, “Expert”, etc.), among which are the books “A piece of land surrounded by sky. Solovetsky texts and images” and. Around the same time I started studying and literary creativity. Published in 2009, the novel became a finalist for the Andrei Bely Prize and the Big Book, and the novel-life (short lists for the Big Book and National Best), according to many critics and writers, became the main literary event of 2012.

The place of fantasy in the author’s work is noteworthy. We are talking about the novel “Laurel,” whose heroes are able not only to heal the hopelessly ill and stop the plague epidemic, but also to see through space and time, looking into our days. The subtitle calls the novel "not historical." Indeed, the time presented in the book is nonlinear; all events seem to coexist at the same instant. And seeming anachronisms, a people of plastic bottles in a medieval forest or modern vocabulary from the lips of the characters, only emphasize the true nature of this time. The time of “Laurel” is sacred. In essence, we have before us a modern experience of hagiography. And the text is filled with holy fools, blessings, prophecies and redemption: before us is a world based on a Miracle. That is the first element of the well-known triad “Miracle-Mystery-Veridity”, formulated as a kind of canon for fantastic works.