Doctor Zhivago

Miserable cold with snow stained with blood, social disintegration amid misplaced, unfocused, unjustified revolution, along with an overbearing pressure to conform, where self-expression and private life are considered evil: these are the fodder for this beautiful story of love and death in early Soviet Russia. The characters are strong and self-aware, and one need not remember their names to follow the story that Boris Pasternack has created. There is no question that Pasternack wrote this story as a testament of the cruelties of the Soviet regime. The censorship of this novel is well-known and ample proof of its realism, and this serves as even more incentive to embed oneself in the novel. It is also a love story, and the sustained relationship between Lara and Yuri is one to both admire and emulate.Although focused, the characters' dialog is with only a few (planned) exceptions spontaneous, without any trace of regimentation or rigidity. One of the exceptions is Pasha Antipov, who through Pasternack's pen is morphed into Strelnikov, a brutal fanatic of the type that all new regimes need to invoke rapid change and force their ideologies on unwilling citizens. Pasternack is an optimist though, and he does not give up on Strelnikov, as the reader will find out towards the end of the book. Fanaticism, to work, takes concentration and effort, with lots of sloganeering and verbal and cognitive repetition. Pasha was unable to sustain that in the long run.Yuri Zhivago will have no part of the revolution, and he finds time, both literally and in his imagination, to continue with his poetry, even in the state of forced conscription or being surrounded by the other vestiges of the Soviet sewer. His love for Lara was however not a rebellion but a natural response to her altruism, intelligence and authenticity. Neither Yuri nor Lara were corrupted or tempted by the new regime. The lesson here is that creativity, love, and personal integrity are powerful because they are so intense, and also essentially effortless for those who possess them. Lara did everything "effortlessly" Zhivago notices, and her personal qualities gave her enough momentum that moved her without abatement through the tragedies of the revolution.Pasternack wants the reader to remember how dehumanized one can get from "political conceit"; how fanatical political convictions can even alter one's appearance "beyond recognition"; and how deliberate "reshaping of life" results in despair. The Russian people went from one cage to another in making the transition from Czarist to Soviet rule. A different color code but the bars were still as rigid in both. It takes the courage of a Pasternack, and others like him, to perturb us out of mental equilibrium, and better appreciate what life is all about: " the principle of self-renewal, it is constantly renewing and remaking and changing and transfiguring itself."

I do find two translations exist by the same authors..very disconcerting.Dr. Zhivago demands what Joyce's Ulysses requires, like it or not, and that is a very good background in philosophy and theology.This may be a mark against it for some, but that is what I perceive to be the trouble with the mixed reviews. You need to have the background. This is not Tolstoy at all but in War and Peace Tolstoy does push the reader toward the life philosophers, Rousseau, eg. whom Tolstoy loved.I would recommend Scripture, Russian Jewish history, and the whole idea of Christ as the new foundation of the world, expressed by Yuri's uncle, Nikolai, on page ten of the paper back. What are the secrets of death Yuri alludes to throughout the novel? Dostoevsky is one such mentor for him. And so we read The Brothers Karamazov, etc.Buy it and try it.. it's not a romantic novel at all. A great book should lead us to many other books...this one does.

One of my favorite books and movie. Takes you thru the struggles of early 20th century Russian life. Epic novel.

Great classic movie do was happy to add this leather book to my personal library.

This is touted to be one of the top 100 novels written. I have to agree with the raters. I have seen the movie numerous times. Thought it was time I read the book that inspired the movie. Thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a great read. Pasternak painted better pictures in my mind than the movie so prefer the book. Will definitely read it again so was great purchase.

It's a lovely edition of the novel. I particularly like the Russian painting on the cover as it memorializes Yuri's childhood. The novel records the personal story of a young doctor's championship of the individual against the impersonal events of World War I and the Russian Revolution.

Arrived within time predicted. Book is in good condition.

The book was in excellent condition and included news clippings and an obituary about Boris Pasternak. It was a nice addition to a book I have loved since I was a child.

llego en buen estado justo como se aprecia en la imagen

I was expecting something better. I overpaid for a very old faded falling apart book. Unreadable.

I bought for my mum who is in her late 70's & loved the movie, but had never read the book. She reads a lot. She loved it! Everything thing about it - the story line, the style of writing, the quality of the writing. Strongly recommended.

Tenía mucho tiempo buscando este libro y por fin pude tenerlo

Impressive masterpiece. Well worth reading all 500 odd pages. I really did not want the story to end.