Евгений Водолазкин - Solovyov and Larionov

Although Solovyov and Larionov is Eugene Vodolazkin’s debut novel, it’s the third of his books that I’ve translated for Oneworld. Like Eugene’s Laurus and The Aviator , Solovyov and Larionov is a complex novel, both in terms of language, since the narrative voice is very defined, and content, which blends two time periods and includes a fair bit of history.

Those complexities mean that Eugene’s patient help—reading my manuscript, answering my questions, and simply being his usual humorous and thoughtful self—was more necessary than ever. The three novels fit together so beautifully, forming a sort of triptych, that each one is my favorite in its own right.

Part of the fun of Solovyov and Larionov is in the details, which Eugene cleverly plants throughout the novel so they can come together at the end of the book. Eugene often refers to me as his co-author and this book gave me more opportunities than Laurus and The Aviator , thanks to several passages that we changed significantly, often because translated humor and irony just aren’t very funny when they have to be explained. (Fortunately, nearly all Eugene’s humor and irony translates very nicely into English.) I also adapted the hundreds of footnotes that appeared in the Russian Solovyov and Larionov . Eugene warned me from the start that he was pretty sure I’d need to get rid of them and I confess that I (foolishly) told him most of them could likely stay. That meant it took an epiphany (in the shower) to realize I was wrong and that the novel would maintain its tone, not to mention its continuity, best if I incorporated the footnote information into the text.

Solovyov and Larionov is my fourth book for Oneworld and, as always, I’m grateful to Juliet Mabey for her love of Russian contemporary fiction, and to the team at Oneworld for all their editorial help.

My colleague Liza Prudovskaya read an entire draft of Solovyov and Larionov , comparing it to Eugene’s original. She also answered hundreds of questions about language, tone, and usage, saving me from dozens and dozens of errors of all kinds. I can never thank her enough for her contributions to my translations. Any blunders are, of course, mine, not hers. Finally, Solovyov and Larionov contains quotes from a number of other texts. I’m particularly grateful to Katherine Young, a poet, translator, and friend, who transformed my draft work on lines by Semyon Nadson and Vasily Zhukovsky into real poetry.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (Swedish)

Translated by Marlaine Delargy

Twice Born by Margaret Mazzantini (Italian)

Translated by Ann Gagliardi

Things We Left Unsaid by Zoya Pirzad (Persian)

Translated by Franklin Lewis

The Space Between Us by Zoya Pirzad (Persian)

Translated by Amy Motlagh

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang (Korean)

Translated by Chi-Young Kim

The Hilltop by Assaf Gavron (Hebrew)

Translated by Steven Cohen

Morning Sea by Margaret Mazzantini (Italian)

Translated by Ann Gagliardi

A Perfect Crime by A Yi (Chinese)

Translated by Anna Holmwood

The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud (French)

Translated by John Cullen

Minus Me by Ingelin Røssland (YA) (Norwegian)

Translated by Deborah Dawkin

Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin (Russian)

Translated by Lisa C. Hayden

Masha Regina by Vadim Levental (Russian)

Translated by Lisa C. Hayden

French Concession by Xiao Bai (Chinese)

Translated by Chenxin Jiang

The Sky Over Lima by Juan Gómez Bárcena (Spanish)

Translated by Andrea Rosenberg

A Very Special Year by Thomas Montasser (German)

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

Umami by Laia Jufresa (Spanish)

Translated by Sophie Hughes

The Hermit by Thomas Rydahl (Danish)

Translated by K.E. Semmel

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Thériault (French)

Translated by Liedewy Hawke

Three Envelopes by Nir Hezroni (Hebrew)

Translated by Steven Cohen

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin (Spanish)

Translated by Megan McDowell

The Postman’s Fiancée by Denis Thériault (French)

Translated by John Cullen

The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha (Brazilian Portuguese)

Translated by Eric M. B. Becker

The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone

(Italian) Translated by Shaun Whiteside

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa (Japanese)

Translated by Alison Watts

They Know Not What They Do by Jussi Valtonen (Finnish)

Translated by Kristian London

The Tiger and the Acrobat by Susanna Tamaro (Italian)

Translated by Nicoleugenia Prezzavento and Vicki Satlow

The Woman at 1,000 Degrees by Hallgrímur Helgason (Icelandic)

Translated by Brian FitzGibbon

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (Arabic)

Translated by Jonathan Wright

Back Up by Paul Colize (French)

Translated by Louise Rogers Lalaurie

Damnation by Peter Beck (German)

Translated by Jamie Bulloch

Oneiron by Laura Lindstedt (Finnish)

Translated by Owen Witesman

The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea by Denis Thériault (French)

Translated by Liedewy Hawke

The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi (Arabic)

Translated by Luke Leafgren

The Aviator by Eugene Vodolazkin (Russian)

Translated by Lisa C. Hayden

Lala by Jacek Dehnel (Polish)

Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

Bogotá 39: New Voices from Latin America

(Spanish and Portuguese) Short story anthology

Last Instructions by Nir Hezroni (Hebrew)

Translated by Steven Cohen

The Day I Found You by Pedro Chagas Freitas (Portuguese)

Translated by Daniel Hahn

Solovyov and Larionov by Eugene Vodolazkin (Russian)

Translated by Lisa C. Hayden

In/Half by Jasmin B. Frelih (Slovenian)

Translated by Jason Blake

Winner of the National Big Book Award and the Yasnaya Polyana Award

Winner of the Read Russia Prize 2016

Shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize 2016

In fifteenth-century Russia a young healer, skilled in the art of herbs and remedies, finds himself overcome with grief and guilt when he fails to save the one he loves. Leaving behind his village, his possessions and his name, he sets out on a quest for redemption, penniless and alone. But this is no ordinary journey.

Winner of two of the biggest literary prizes in Russia, Laurus is a remarkably rich novel about the eternal themes of love, loss, self-sacrifice and faith, from one of the country’s most experimental and critically acclaimed novelists.

‘At once stylistically ornate and compulsively readable… delivered with great aplomb and narrative charm.’

‘With flavours of Umberto Eco and The Canterbury Tales , this affecting, idiosyncratic novel… is an impressive achievement.’