Yevgeny Vodolazkin is a philologist, a specialist in Old Russian literature, author of the novel "Laurus and Larionov," the collection of essays "The Instrument of Language" and other books.
The hero of the novel "Laurus" is a medieval physician. Having the gift of healing, he nevertheless cannot save his beloved and decides to walk the earthly path instead of her. Thus, life turns into a vita—a saint’s life. He tends to the plague-ridden and the wounded, the poor and the infirm, and the more he sacrifices himself, the stronger his gift becomes. But is it possible to save a person’s soul with love and sacrifice, if he failed to protect the earthly shell of that soul?