Daniel Stein is the real event of the year. Around the book and especially around its protagonist, serious passions continue to boil. Why? The writer herself told The New Times about this
At the end of November 2007, Ludmila Ulitskaya won the Big Book National Literary Prize for her novel Daniel Stein, Translator. The 150,000th edition has long been sold out. Daniel Stein is the real event of the year. Around the book and especially around its protagonist, serious passions continue to boil. Why? The writer herself told The New Times about this
Ludmila Ulitskaya - Yulia Rakhaeva
Lyudmila Evgenievna, despite your pessimistic forecasts, you were nevertheless given the largest national literary award. What do you say now? For me, "Daniel Stein, Translator" is, of course, a big book: many years, efforts, and labors have been spent. But I did not expect awards for it, I was absolutely sure that I would not receive anything.
In your first speeches after the release of Daniel Stein, you generally said that for this book your head would be torn off. To what extent did the real reaction coincide with the expected one?
The reaction exceeded my expectations: the book caused a warm response. It turned out that this story is interesting not only to me and my friends, who were brewing in the same environment, tormented by the same “damned questions”. I get responses, letters, sometimes just amazing, and I am very happy that the book does not leave people indifferent. This is an undeniable success. And not only in terms of circulation - it sells well. I thought that they would not read it: tough, difficult to read, stress and work ... But they read it. As for the "tearing off the head" - well, yes, they are gradually torn off. All people with dogmatic thinking are both Jews and Orthodox. There was even an organized landing of the Literaturnaya Gazeta - a whole reversal of criticism in the best traditions: a mixture of outright lies, manipulation and stupidity. We will assume that everything is in order: it would be a shame if they passed by.
You inspired some of your fellow writers to write entire "anti-Danielstein" treatises...
My book causes the greatest irritation among people who consider themselves the owners of the ultimate truth. But no one has it! Faith differs from conception in that it contains an irrational residue. Daniel Stein's prototype Daniel Rufeisen said: "Faith is my secret."
The Book of the Saint
Nowhere do you explicitly call your book a novel - the publishers on the back cover do it for you. How would you define the genre of the book?
When the manuscript for Daniel Stein, Translator was completed, it was subtitled A Novel in the Traces of Documents. Somehow, the subtitle fell off during the printing process of the book, but I did not immediately notice. I wrote the book for a long time, I thought about it even longer, and how critics will determine its genre, I am not particularly interested. In many ways, this is a novel. But also modern hagiography. The book is written about a saint, and this is bigger than a "positive hero."
In a sense, by publishing this book, you yourself have become a “translator”, that is, an intermediary between people who do not hear each other. Are there really times when it will be impossible to communicate without “translators” for those who belong to different social strata and religions?
"Translators" have always existed in the world. They are always peacekeepers. Thanks to them, intercultural ties arise. Without them there would be no culture at all. The first were merchants who traveled from country to country, selling unprecedented goods and mastering for the needs of their seemingly base foreign languages. Music, visual arts are universal. It is a language that does not require a language proper. And faith is also a language. The experience of God, the acceptance of the Higher principle in the world is characteristic of most people. And there is a kind of universal alphabet here. A Buddhist, a Mohammedan, and a Christian explain in different ways what good and evil are, but they all agree that one should not bring suffering to one's neighbor. In practice, this is almost unattainable. All people need translators to find common ground and build a platform for communication. People don't understand each other well. At all the levels that you spoke about: children-parents, poor-rich, Shiites-Sunnis... It seems to me that the development of general concepts is the business of people of culture. In this sense, let's say, the Beatles did a great deal of peacemaking and offered their own language, which turned out to be understandable to many millions.
The fact that in Haifa they lead excursions to places connected either with your hero or with his real prototype is a sign of the highest recognition. Dumas in Paris, Bulgakov in Moscow and Kyiv, Meyrink in Prague... But in Israel, after all, a lot depends on the religious views of the guide. I remember, almost in the same Haifa, one of the naive sightseers asked my aunt about Christ. “What about Christ? she answered dryly. “An ordinary preacher, and far from being the best.”
Great replica! The fact is that among the broad-minded Jews there are those who consider Jesus as the last of the Jewish prophets, they put him on a par with the more ancient prophets and do not see anything in his teaching that would be contrary to Judaism. But they are not ready to see in him the Son of God. Daniel also saw Jesus as one of the last Jewish teachers and prophets, but he also believed that He was the Savior of the world and the Son of God. I think that He who in historical time was the son of a carpenter from Nazareth, would be deeply saddened to know what painful splits, wars, what enmity and hatred nestled in this place after His departure. I heard about excursions in Haifa and I don’t know how to react to it. Perhaps I'm confused. However, it would be necessary to go with this excursion, to listen to what people say.
Faith is a private matter
Most likely, your admirers are people of very different political orientations. You once signed a purely political letter in support of the SPS. Would Daniel Stein put his signature on such letters?
I don't like signing collective letters. But I signed the first “protest” letter in my life when my friend Natasha Gorbanevskaya was imprisoned in 1968. And I still sign them from time to time. Collective letters almost always contain something with which I cannot quite agree. But the point, you see, is that it is also often impossible not to sign. That faceless, powerful and shameless force that wages senseless wars, commits crimes and various levels of injustice, does not pay any attention to "collective" letters. Honestly, none of the parties that exist today suits me, including the Union of Right Forces. I am deeply non-partisan. By the way, I am very depressing that in modern times many Orthodox people consider their presence in the Church as a party position. There is also a book about it. As for Daniel himself, he once in his life sued the state, and many years later regarded it as stupidity. So I, too, can afford the stupidity of signing letters that can't change anything.
You answer yes to questions about your belonging to Orthodoxy. At the same time, you define yourself as Jewish. But people of the Western tradition do not understand how this can be. For them, the Jew is a religion. And the nationality "Jew", they believe, was invented by anti-Semites. It is clear that your book is about this too. And yet, do your fellow tribesmen call you a traitor? How do you feel about this in Israel?
Yes, there are simple-hearted people among the Jews who are very annoyed with me. In Jerusalem, at a party, a woman came up to me and said that, having learned that I was a Christian, she would no longer read my books, although she had previously loved me very much. From her point of view, I betrayed the people. Well, what is there to do? I replied that I was very sorry, and there was nothing I could do about it. Among Jews, including believers, I have many friends. The higher a person stands culturally and intellectually, the easier it is to find a common language with him. Faith is a personal and intimate matter for every person, and I think it is indecent to ask this question. But my position is such that I do not consider it possible not to answer this question.
Key to reading
You often speak in different cities promoting tolerance. You have given your name to a series of children's books related to this subject. I gave them to my niece for her tenth birthday. A month later, she heard from her mother: “What did you give? It talks about gay marriage!” Parents actively do not want their children to read about something that not every adult is ready to take calmly. Doesn't it bother you?
Doesn't bother. There are many issues that many parents prefer not to talk about with their children. It is difficult, responsible, and sometimes scary. But then the children learn about everything in the gateway. I think it's much better if they get answers to all these difficult questions from experts. It's just about that.
Alexander Men's brother introduced you to the prototype of your hero. Judging by your statements, written and oral, Father Alexander was your teacher, confessor and the highest authority in everything. Are you planning to write a book about him? Of course, this time non fiction?
I knew Father Alexander from a young age. I read his books, occasionally visited his parish. I am not one of the people who was very close to him. I rather loved him from afar. After all, he was always surrounded by a wall of people who urgently needed him. And I had a feeling that I should not load him with my problems. I've had enough of his books. They were very important to me. For example, I was able to read the books of the biblical prophets only after I read his book “Messengers of the Kingdom of God”. He gave the key to reading. A lot of books have been written about Father Alexander. I don't think I'll write another one. Although soon after his death, my father Mikhail Aksenov-Meyerson, who was his friend and student, and then was close to his father Alexander Schmemann, and I were going to write a script. But nothing came of it.
Lyudmila Evgenievna, after the Big Book award was presented to you, you publicly promised not to write anymore. Is that really true?
I am writing something. Writing is difficult. And there is work inertia. I can't say it's good. Inertia is bad motivation. I don't know, I don't know... There are things I want to think about.
