Monks devious and devout - and an age-defying royal pair - chronicle
the history of their fictional island in this witty critique of Western
civilization and history itself.
Eugene Vodolazkin, internationally acclaimed novelist and scholar of
medieval literature, returns with a satirical parable about European and
Russian history, the myth of progress, and the futility of war.
This ingenious novel, described by critics as a coda to his
bestselling Laurus, is presented as a chronicle of an island from
medieval to modern times. The island is not on the map, but it is real
beyond doubt. It cannot be found in history books, yet the events are
painfully recognizable. The monastic chroniclers dutifully narrate
events they witness: quests for power, betrayals, civil wars, pandemics,
droughts, invasions, innovations, and revolutions. The entries mostly
seem objective, but at least one monk simultaneously drafts and hides a
"true" history, to be discovered centuries later. And why has someone
snipped out a key prophesy about the island's fate?
These chronicles receive commentary today from an elderly couple who are
the island's former rulers. Prince Parfeny and Princess Ksenia are truly
extraordinary: they are now 347 years old. Eyewitnesses to much of their
island's turbulent history, they offer sharp-eyed observations on the
changing flow of time and their people's persistent delusions. Why is
the royal couple still alive? Is there a chance that an old prophecy
comes to pass and two righteous persons save the island from
catastrophe?
In the tradition of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Julian
Barnes's A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, and Kazuo
Ishiguro's The Buried Giant, Vodolazkin is at his best recasting
history, in all its hubris and horror, by finding the humor in its
absurdity. For readers with an appetite for more than a dry, rational,
scientific view of what motivates, divides, and unites people, A
History of the Island conjures a world still suffused with mystical
powers.
