“A History of the Island” by Eugene Vodolazkin

Sometimes, with some books, it’s difficult to know where to start to describe them This is one of those times, and this is one of those books. 

It’s a dazzling work. It’s a fairy tale. It’s a documentary. It might be a history of Russia, or it might not. It’s a larger story than only Russia. The best I can say, and I’m still fumbling for words, it that it’s a cleverly written commentary on the state of Western civilization. 

 

It’s A History of the Island by Eugene Vodolazkin. 

 

Prince Parfeny and Princess Ksenia are 347 years old. If you want to know they’ve lived so long, you won’t find out if you keep reading. It’s simply that they have the genes for living a long time. They represent two branches of descendants from Caesar Augustus, who is said to have visited the island (never named, but it’s a large one) and on successive nights fathered the two children’s ancestors. Parfeny and Ksenia represent the northern and southern parts of the island, respectively, and their marriage was to unite the often-fractious people.

 

Except Ksenia always wanted to be a nun. And Parfeny loves her so much that he honors her decision.

 

They come to the throne while still children, and so successive regents are appointed. And like many regents often do, Parfeny’s and Ksenia’s regents often want to enrich themselves and run the show. And so, we follow the developments from barely post-medieval to contemporary times, including a quasi-Marxist phase known as “The Brighter Future.”

 

Eugene Vodolazkin

The history is written by a succession of monks, human like the rest of us and subject to their own frailties, loyalties, and events. For a time, Parfeny and Ksenia offer commentary on the history being written. And then they’re asked to be the subjects of a film by a famous French director. Nothing really is real until it’s filmed, correct? But what makes like and what makes great film are often two different things.

 

At times, you’re reading a history of Russia. And then you realize, no, it’s a history of Western Europe. But then you think it’s recognizably American. And then it comes to you: this is a book about Western civilization, a story made of so many impossible and often outrageous elements that it can be nothing other than true. Including the 347-year-old protagonists.

 

A native of Kiev in Ukraine, Vodolazkin works in the department of Old Russian Literature at the Pushkin House in St. Petersburg, where he is an expert in medieval Russian history and folklore. His novel Laurus won the National Big Book Award and the Yasnaya Polyana Award and had been translated into 18 languages. He lives in St. Petersburg.

 

A History of the Island will seem familiar because it is; it’s our story of Western civilization. It’s a commentary on this crazy culture we inhabit, a commentary on capitalism, Marxism, progressivism, and all the other isms; a commentary on Western man and Western Woman; a contemporary fairy tale that will have you riveted to the final, revealing pages.

 

It’s a wonder.

 

Related:

 

Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin.

 

The Aviator by Eugene Vodolazkin.

 

Brisbane by Eugene Vodolazkin.

 

Solovyov and Larionov by Eugene Vodolazkin.

 

Faith, hope, and love in Eugene Vodolazkin’s Brisbane – Nadya Williams at Current Magazine.