Evgeniy Vodolazkin biography family. Biography and creativity of Evgeny Vodolazkin

Nowadays the media does not spoil us with good news. Journalists mainly cover disasters and human tragedies. We are trying to show our readers a different, kinder side of life.

To lift your mood to the proper level of cheerfulness, we present to your attention a selection of 15 good jokes and Orthodox jokes (in the ancient sense of the word - as not just funny, but also teaching stories).

We hope that these jokes will keep you from despondency and give you vitality!

1. Don't consider yourself righteous

Father read the Gospel in the week “About the Publican and the Pharisee”, preached a sermon in which he explained in detail that one should not be proud of one’s position and achievements, as the Pharisee did, who thought: “Thank God that I am not like this publican” and there is no need to exalt yourself over the repentant sinner, but you need to become like him in repentance.

- Well, brothers and sisters, did you understand anything?! - asked the priest.

- Yes, father! - the parishioners answered. – Thank God that we are not like this Pharisee!

2. You need to ask God for what you really need

A monk is walking through the desert and suddenly sees a hungry lion rising from behind another dune.

The hermit was overcome with fear and he prayed to God: “Lord, make the lion become Orthodox!”

The lion approached the monk, sniffed him, and then climbed up hind legs and, pointing at him with those in front, he began to read a prayer: “The eyes of all are on you, Lord, and you give them food in good time...”

3. The joke is in the picture

4. Avoid evil...

One day two deaf and mute brothers had a fight. When mom came to investigate, she saw that one of them was standing with his back to the other and shaking with laughter.
- Why are you laughing? And why does your brother look so angry? - she asked using gestures.
The mute answered her in the same way:
- This is because, mom, he wants to quarrel with me, but I refuse to look!

5. Optimistic prayer

For Christmas I gave my aunt a card with a prayer from the Optina Elders. She reads it without glasses:
- Optimistic prayer. ABOUT! Optimistic prayer!!! This is good, otherwise I don’t like dull prayers.

6. From ancestors

7. The spirit will create the form

Modestly dressed girl approaches the priest after the service:

- Father, I want to bring my friend to our church...

- God bless, bring it.

- Yes, she is, father...

- What's happened?

- Yes, she... is nothing at all... And she looks...

- Well, what does she look like?

– Yes, the clothes and hairstyle are not at all suitable for a temple...

- Nothing... A girl came to us here with blue hair and a ring in the nose...

- Father, it was me - a year ago...

8. Silent Sermon

One parishioner stopped going to church. He used to always do this on weekends. Time passed, and one day the priest decided to visit him. He went to his house. The door was open and the priest went inside.

The former parishioner sat all alone in front of the fireplace. When he saw the priest, he nodded his head in greeting and motioned for him to sit down.

Having made himself comfortable, the priest also began to look at the beautiful flame playing in the fireplace. Both were silent.

A few minutes later the priest suddenly stood up, took the fireplace tongs, picked up the flaming brand with them and put them aside, away from everyone else.
flame. Then he sat down again. The silence continued.

The removed firebrand, meanwhile, had already stopped blazing, but only turned slightly red, and after a while, it completely cooled down and turned black. The priest stood up again, took the tongs and put the extinguished firebrand back into the hearth. A moment later she was already on fire, like her neighbors.

Putting down the tongs, the priest silently walked towards the exit and when he was already at the door, he heard the words:
- Thank you for your visit and for the fireside sermon. I'll definitely come this Sunday.

9. Mom

10. Post…

- Petrovich, do you know when our fast ends? Well, so that you can eat meat in peace.
- Why don’t you eat it?
- I’m eating... But somehow I’m restless.

11. Growing above myself

12. Don't stress!

- What are you, Orthodox?

- Orthodox.

- And you don’t drink?

- I do not drink.

- And you don’t smoke?

- I do not smoke.

- And you don’t swear?

- I don’t swear.

- How do you relax?

- I don’t even bother!

13. Whose New Testament?

In one of the Orthodox youth clubs of the vast country:

— Guys, whose New Testament is left on the table?

- Whose is this?! Our Lord Jesus Christ!

14. Monk Barnabas (Sanin):

I looked at the plum - it was good! And he bit it - it’s wormy...

That’s how you and I are, my proud soul!

15. Anger

Andrey Szegeda

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Specialist in Ancient Russian literature, doctor philological sciences, employee of the Pushkin House, student of D. S. Likhachev Evgeny Vodolazkin burst into modern literature suddenly. His first novel, “Soloviev and Larionov,” was included in the “short list” of the “Big Book” in 2010, and the recently published life novel “Laurel,” according to many critics and even writers, became the main literary event of 2012. I talked to the writer and philologist Evgeniy Vodolazkin no less than famous novelist and philologist Alexey Varlamov.

Yours was recently released new novel"Laurel", which became one of the main literary events 2012. Who do you see as your reader? And do you think about the reader when you write - or is it completely unimportant?

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: I wanted to talk about a person capable of sacrifice. Not some great one-time sacrifice, for which a moment of ecstasy is enough, but a daily, hourly life-sacrifice. The cult of success that dominates modern society, I wanted to contrast something different. But what attracted me least of all was the opportunity to “teach.” This is not the business of literature, and no one gave me such a right. While I was writing the book, I was studying myself, and we were making each other. The enterprise was risky. The problem of describing "positively" wonderful person"extremely complex. On modern material it is almost impossible to solve it, and if it is possible, then to do this you need to be the author of Prince Myshkin. I understood that, taken from the current street, such a hero would simply be false. And I turned to ancient form- to the life, only I wrote this life using modern literary means.

Weren't you afraid to submit your first essay for publication?

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: I know that some of my fellow philologists write under a pseudonym for these reasons. But sooner or later the truth comes out, and then it becomes doubly funny. I, like Carlson, remained calm in this regard. Over the years, you generally look around less, you just do what you think is necessary.

What is literature to you, a wife or a lover - or does Chekhov's comparison not work here?

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: Science and literature are different ways knowledge of the world. In one head they can only feel good if they are in different rooms. Living together is detrimental: the only thing worse than a novel full of scientific data is an artistically written study. Real science must be rational, reduce emotions to a minimum, and the scientific education I received does not allow me to change this principle. Those emotions that do not fit into science, I give to literature. But the separation of science and literature does not at the same time exclude their interaction. Science gives literary creativity material and Attentive attitude to sources, literature is the harmonious view by which the algebra of science is verified. Which one is the wife, which one is the mistress? Continuing Chekhov's metaphor, I would call myself a bigamist, but I'm afraid my wife will not appreciate such a definition.

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: Reading by a philologist and writer differs from ordinary reading. It always contains the question “How is this done?” When I read, for example, the novel “The Autocrat of the Desert” by Leonid Yuzefovich, I think: how can you turn history into literature so coolly?! When historical events do not obscure the character of the hero, and the rhythm of the story resonates with the rhythm of the prose. Reading" Modern patericon" Maya Kucherskaya got me thinking about the possibilities small form, which eventually culminated in my series “Trifles of Academic Life”. When I read Sasha Sokolov or Mikhail Shishkin, I admire the fireworks that our language turns out to be capable of. I will name another writer - he was bypassed by our largest awards - Yuri Buyda. I find his novel Blue Blood very powerful.

You are from St. Petersburg. Do you think this leaves some imprint on you? Do you believe in the St. Petersburg myth, and if so, what is it today? Is the confrontation between the two capitals relevant?

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: I think living in this city takes its toll on anyone. Petersburg is a form that invariably molds its content. Look how the city was devastated after the Bolshevik coup or during the blockade. Those who left were replaced by a completely different population. It came from the most different places, but after several years of living here it acquired a new quality, it became a kind of community, unlike the population of other cities. Not all of those who came went to the Hermitage or the Mariinsky Theater, but what is important is that they walked past them, past cathedrals and palaces, along embankments and bridges, and this beauty made them different. Today's St. Petersburg is deprived of the capital's energy, it is no longer surrounded by the aura of power, but with that greater strength his metaphysics began to appear in him. One of its most prominent exponents seems to me to be Mikhail Shemyakin. As for the confrontation between Moscow and St. Petersburg... If it exists, it is more likely as a kind of love game - to refresh the feelings. People here like to joke that Moscow has a lot of things, but all the best is in St. Petersburg. This is, of course, not entirely true. Despite these cheerful statements, there is a much larger backflow of people moving from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Anyone who wants to “achieve success” understands that this goal is fully achievable only in Moscow. With the exception of science and literature, which I was lucky enough to be involved with. Therefore, loving Moscow, it is unlikely that I will ever think about moving. It seems to me that Moscow spaces are already exceeding the limits that it is capable of mastering human soul. And St. Petersburg is a small city. Crossed the bridge - Pushkin House, passed through the second - Public library. I live near Peter and Paul Fortress and I walk everywhere. It was no coincidence that the fortress was built by Peter on Hare Island - from there both branches of the Neva are under fire. So I have the city under control.

Now, as we are talking, there is an attack on a number of humanitarian institutions; the Ministry of Education has included the Literary Institute, the Russian State University for the Humanities, and the Moscow Architectural Institute on the list of ineffective universities. At the end of the year, a very harsh statement was published by the Academic Council of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University about the defeat of humanities education in Russia, which (the statement) was treated with skepticism in High school economy. What do you think about all this?

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: The Academic Council of the Pushkin House, of which I am a member, Lately published several open letters in defense of education and culture. The last of them was written in support of the Russian Institute of Art History, created in 1912 (!) with funds from Count V.P. Zubov. On the centennial anniversary, they are trying to close the institute. Before this, we sharply criticized the Unified State Examination in literature. If we talk about the problem as a whole, I don’t see any reasons for optimism yet. The trouble is that the attack on the humanitarian sphere is a global phenomenon. Until now the dominant European civilization, to which we also belong. Humanitarian knowledge played a huge role in its development. Now a huge non-European world is entering the world stage. Created new type civilization in which a person sitting at a computer in South-East Asia, will easily understand his partner in Toronto. This is a pragmatic approach that can ensure growth in production and trade. From the point of view of the globalist approach, liberal arts education- an extra waste that does not lead to any visible material achievements and is not justified in any way in the competitive struggle. Common denominator, to which little by little the most different peoples, does not provide for the values ​​that are included in our cultural code. What is happening is not just the dehumanization of education, but its de-Europeanization. There is equality of all before computer shooters, Hollywood and a crossword exam in literature. Enthusiasts of this path do not yet feel danger; it seems to them that things are developing according to German proverb, according to which the stupidest peasant has the biggest potatoes. They proceed from the fact that knowledge of Gogol is not necessary to extract hydrocarbons. This is a deep misconception. The potatoes will be large until the soil is exhausted. And then we will have to fix our brains, restore the humanitarian hemisphere, without which - this will become clear very soon - a full-fledged thought process is impossible.

You knew Academician Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev well. It is clear that you cannot tell about such a person in a few words. And yet, can you remember some incident that struck you, some unexpected manifestation of his character?

Evgeniy Vodolazkin: I loved Dmitry Sergeevich, among other things, because he in no way fit into the image of a “quiet old man” that the press created for him. He was a man of enormous temperament. Likhachev had excellent control over his emotions, but in cases that particularly worried him, feelings, like lava from a volcano, spilled out. Once, not agreeing with the leadership of the Pushkin House, he even turned over a marble table in the management. I don’t know if there is such a table in the current Ministry of Education and Science. If Dmitry Sergeevich had appeared there now, the table would not have survived.