Hirurg

“Hirurg” — ranniy roman Mariny Stepnovoy, avtora knig “Sad”, “Zhenschiny Lazarya” (premiya “Bol'shaya kniga”), “Bezbozhnyy pereulok” i “Gde-to pod Grosseto”. Istoriya genial'nogo plasticheskogo hirurga Arkadiya Hripunova perepletena s rasskazom o zhizni Hasana ibn Sabbaha — proroka i osnovatelya gosudarstva ismailitov-nizaritov HI veka, hozyaina nepristupnoy kreposti Alamut. Hripunov izmenyaet chelovecheskie tela, a znachit — i sud'by. Daruya lyudyam novye lica, on vidit pered soboy prosto material — hryaschi da kozhu. Ibn Sabbah trebuet besprekoslovnogo povinoveniya i sobstvennoruchno ubivaet neugodnyh. Oba chuvstvuyut sebya suschestvami vysshego poryadka, chelovecheskie strasti ih ne trogayut, edinstvennoe, chto sposobno porazit' izbrannyh Bogom, — zemnaya krasota... “Kogda operaciya zakonchitsya i ostavlennye im rany stisnut bezuprechno rovnye rty, v mire stanet chut'-chut' bol'she prekrasnogo. Na odnu kaplyu. No kogda-nibud' — Hripunov ne somnevaetsya — on soberet eti kapli v odno ideal'noe lico. I togda v mire snova vocaritsya Bog”.