book data
3,016 ratings,
3.82
average rating, 307 reviews
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published
November 26th 1991
(first published 1957)
by Everyman's Library
binding
Hardcover, 544 pages
isbn
0679407596
(isbn13: 9780679407591)
description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
In the grand tradition of the epic novel, Boris Pasternak’s masterpiece brings to life the drama and immensity of the Ru...more
In the grand tradition of the epic novel, Boris Pasternak’s masterpiece brings to life the drama and immensity of the Ru...more
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avg 3.82
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who doesn't mind slogging through the confusion of Russian Names
An epic tragic tale spanning the tumultuous life of a poetic dissenter during the Russian Revolution and early era of communism. The story moves along disjointedly depicting moments in Zhivago’s life beginning with the funeral of his mother at age 4 to his growing up on Moscow among relatives while going to school, his family life with his wife/companion from childhood, his involuntary experiences in WWI and the revolution, and the timeless tale of his love affair with Lara, the woman he look...more
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Read in February, 2002
recommended to Amy by:
I knew on my own I had to read itrecommends it for: everyone
You can not miss this book! If you get the chance, you MUST read it.
Not only because it's a great historical and literary addition to one's memory bank, but also for what it (and all Russian novels, by the way) teaches you about human nature.
Antonia is Dr. Yuri Zhivago's wife, his partner and clearly his biggest fan. Lara is Zhivago's mistress--sort of by accident. She's there for him when Antonia isn't or cannot be, like when Zhivago gets deathly ill miles from home. She...more
Not only because it's a great historical and literary addition to one's memory bank, but also for what it (and all Russian novels, by the way) teaches you about human nature.
Antonia is Dr. Yuri Zhivago's wife, his partner and clearly his biggest fan. Lara is Zhivago's mistress--sort of by accident. She's there for him when Antonia isn't or cannot be, like when Zhivago gets deathly ill miles from home. She...more
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Read in September, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
patient readers who enjoy rich settings as much as (or more than) tight narratives.
My first reading of Dr. Zhivago was in high school. At 15, the book was a chore. Impenetrable and numerous Russian names (often for the same character) and endless description of the Russian landscape left me exhausted and unimpressed. After rereading and enjoying a few other high school assignments, I came across Dr. Zhivago on my bookshelf and wondered if I would find more appreciation for Mr. Pasternak's novel ten years later.
Yes, I did. And no, I didn't.
Ten more y...more
Yes, I did. And no, I didn't.
Ten more y...more
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Soal cerita tentang buku ini semua pasti semestinya tau. Semestinya yah! Walau ternyata ada yang bikin saya ngenes karena pernah mendengar celetukan seseorang. Dia menganggap Zhivago yang karangan Pasternak yang Rusia itu sebuah buku kiri. Waduh mbok kabeh seko Rusia kui mesti kiri opo? Opo Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn pengarang Gulag yang Rusia Nasionalis itu itu juga nantinya jadi kiri?
Buat sebuah negeri seperti Indonesia yang pernah dicekam horor "komunisme" oleh sebuah rej...more
Buat sebuah negeri seperti Indonesia yang pernah dicekam horor "komunisme" oleh sebuah rej...more
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I found this book in my grandma's library. I actually read it 2 summer's ago. While I'm a fast reader, this book took me nearly 3 months to read on and off. I've always wanted to read it. It was definitely the most difficult book I've ever read. I learned alot about the era of time the book was set in. I also learned alot about the history of Russia and surrounding countries and the government upheavel. It's interesting considering what I learned in World History and the view from our text books...more
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Read in January, 2009
Can't find the ancient edition I have in the list, so have picked this one instead.
I was disappointed in this: not because of the film - I remember little of that except for a few scenes with plot and dialogue missing - but because it seemed to fall between the broad historical novel and the romance without being either thoroughly.
As with War and Peace, I learnt some Russian history from it, but there was more underlying assumption that one already knew the history affec...more
I was disappointed in this: not because of the film - I remember little of that except for a few scenes with plot and dialogue missing - but because it seemed to fall between the broad historical novel and the romance without being either thoroughly.
As with War and Peace, I learnt some Russian history from it, but there was more underlying assumption that one already knew the history affec...more
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Read in January, 2005
Reviewing a classic is always difficult business. Most people are likely familiar with the storyline, if only from the Omar Sharif film. Pasternak tells the story of an elite doctor and his family whose lives are thrown into turmoil by the Russian Revolution. During the revolution Zhivago loses his connections to his family and his wealth. But weaving throughout this undeniably tragic tale is the real focus, Zhivago's blossoming relationship with a young woman, Lara. The two come in and out of c...more
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I have always found it difficult to answer those "favorites" questions: "What is your favorite movie/ ice cream flavor/ etc.?" Being an obsessive reader, I would have expected that naming my favorite book would be the hardest thing in the world, much harder than naming my favorite flavor of ice cream. But suddenly one day I realized that Dr. Zhivago is exactly that; my favorite book of all, just ahead of Middlemarch. So much so that I usually start to read it again as soo...more
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Read in January, 1975
This was one of the best books that I have ever read. I read it in 11th grade, and when I gave a book report, my teacher was very impressed and happy that I had read this book.
This is an epic story about a doctor and poet before and during the Russian Revolution. The events and the lifestyles described in this book are unparalleled. This book gave me a very vivid idea of the terrible revolution, and the effect it had on people's lives. I can't imagine a train ride of several week...more
This is an epic story about a doctor and poet before and during the Russian Revolution. The events and the lifestyles described in this book are unparalleled. This book gave me a very vivid idea of the terrible revolution, and the effect it had on people's lives. I can't imagine a train ride of several week...more
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Read in February, 1996
I read this book for a college course, and as it was college, I didn't get a lot of rest. I'd read before falling asleep, or rather passing out, and then dream not about it, but in it. I don't know how else to describe the feeling of a book just getting inside me. Those Russians, man, they really know how to tell a story.
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Read in June, 2009
This book is truly great literature. The conclusion, was to me, the best part of the book, bringing everything together. Guess that's why they call it a conclusion! Russian names are difficult, but I got used to them after a while.
Quotes I liked: "To live always means to strive to move higher, toward perfection, and to achieve it."
"However far back you go in your memory, it is always in some external, active manifestation of yourself that you come ac...more
Quotes I liked: "To live always means to strive to move higher, toward perfection, and to achieve it."
"However far back you go in your memory, it is always in some external, active manifestation of yourself that you come ac...more
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Flap info mentions comparison with War and Peace -- I believe this was my only Russian encounter until I hit The Brothers Karamazov with Classics corners some years back. Why I was hesitant to tackle the Russians I'm not at all sure for this one certainly was a winner in my opinion -- absolutely loved reading it. Yes, names may have confused me at moments but not for long and that's a common complaint one hears with Russian reading -- still not something w hich would have put me off pursuing ...more
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One of the major achievements of worldwide literature. The movie is great and more faithful to Pasternak than its detractors have said, but read the book nonetheless: it goes much deeper into the psyche of its characters, and the painting it makes of Russia at a turning point of its history is absolutely stunning. Multi-layered, both romantic and political, this novel is profoundly Russian (in the way War and Peace is Russian) and at the same time universal. The scope of the story is so broad it...more
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slow moving. like trying to walk through heavy wet snow. but all in all worth the patience. A good book, though i did not like the "conclusion" or "epillogue"
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Read in March, 2009
My mommy wanted me to read this during my spring break. I wanted to hate Yuri, but couldn't help pity him at the same time. I absolutely fell in love with Tonya and how even-tempered and tolerant she was. I didn't care to much for Lara. She actually bugged me except at the end. I hate helpless damsels in distress who ruin a man's life. Like Thomas Hardy quotes from Esdras from Jude the Obscure, "Yea, many there be that have run out of their wits for women, and become servants for their sake...more
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Read in June, 2009
As far as I know, Doctor Zhivago appeals for three reasons. First, it is an epic by and about a man caught in the thick of the tumultuous period of Russian enlightenment and revolution. Second, like many epics, it follows the romance between a man and a woman (or in this book´s case, three women) whose love is made impossible by the political circumstances in which they live. Third, and lastly, it was bravely published in the 1950s, censored immediately by the Soviets but heralded by non-Red li...more
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Read in January, 2009
Yurii Andreievich is one of my heroes, not because he led a double life in which he had a wife and a mistress, but he protected his family. Yurii was the working man and no matter what obstacle he overcame the impediment to return to his family, whichever family that was at the time. The book also showed the dual sides of the mind because Yurii was a doctor, but his scientific mindset did not inhibit his ability to convey emotion through poetry. I guess what I am trying to say is just because a ...more
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Read in June, 2009
I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, but most of the rest of it was a slog with occasional bits that recaptured the attention. A lot of the book was well written, with much of the descriptions of people and place carrying into the novel and supporting it. Although sometimes difficult to follow with the action jumping from place to place and people randomly appearing. And lots of different names/nicknames per person (as is usual in Russian novels) which made it difficult to read slowly o...more
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Read in March, 2009
Dr. Zhivago, whose name means 'to live' , is truly a man of his age. Not only did he live through the turbulent age of revolutionary Russia, he was also a man who was swallowed by the tides of history, pulverized and then spat out by it. It was impersonal, these forces of history that ultimately destroyed him, his family and others who were caught between senseless wars and concentration camps. Totalitarian regimes, Reds or Whites, have no place for independent human will and affections. An indi...more
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