From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Doctor Zhivago

Boris Pasternak,

John Bayley (Introduction),

Max Hayward (Translator),

Manya Harari (Translator)

Start date: March 1, 2011

Finish date: April 1, 2011

Discussion: Classics Corner

Discussion leader: Barbara

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What Members Thought

Feb 11, 2007 Courtney rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: russianlit, classics, fiction

My first copy was a Reader's Digest version I found at my grandparents' house...I was hooked and have read it multiple times since.

Dr. Zhivago is a poet, philosopher, and physician whose life is disrupted by the war and by his love for Lara, the wife of a revolutionary. His artistic nature makes him vulnerable to the brutality and harshness of the Bolsheviks; wandering throughout Russia, he is unable to take control of his fate, and dies in utter poverty. This is a sweeping historical novel. ...more

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Feb 17, 2009 Dottie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, 1001-read, 1944-1966

Just as lush and sprawling and absorbing as the film made from it.

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 readin ...more

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Jan 21, 2011 Katy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

I thought Doctor Zhivago was a profound and serious book following in the tradition of the great nineteenth century Russian novels. For me, it was as much a story of Russia as of individuals. Like the land it is a sprawling novel, ranging from Moscow to Varykino and back. Pasternak was no lover of Soviet socialism. He wrote as critically as he could considering the very real threat that he could be sent to a concentration camp or worse just for expressing his opinions. Yuri’s often expressed di ...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Barbara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a masterful account of the idealism of revolution and the heartbreaking realities of trying to make that change happen for the good of all. I don't think I've ever seen it done better. ...more

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