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So far, so good ranagrande Send a noteboard - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM
I can't fully participate in this yet as I am only a little over halfway through the book right now. It's kind of slow going as, for some reason, reading this book makes me tired. Seriously, it's like taking a sedative. I have only noticed this phenomenon a handful of times in the past. Once was when I was reading Chekhov, which almost makes me think it could be something in the style of Russian literature of the time, but the others were the Iliad and, oddly, New Spring by Robert Jordan. If anyone can figure out the correlation between those books, let me know. :P

I do like Doctor Zhivago so far though. I have also discovered one of my new favorite quotes: at the very end of Chapter 6, sub-chapter 8, "Only real greatness can be so misplaced and so untimely." I'm totally going to start using that to describe myself. :P
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So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1623 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 892 Views
I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:19:54 PM 821 Views
Re: I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution wahooka - 15/03/2010 09:57:29 PM 925 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates. Tom - 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM 761 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 848 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 918 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 884 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 751 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 909 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 810 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 911 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM* jh - 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM 345 Views
It's not contagious! Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:47:41 PM 737 Views
It probably is. Don't worry, we still like you! *NM* Tom - 15/03/2010 09:55:07 PM 344 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM 843 Views
Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist, The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM 947 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 796 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 881 Views
I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM 942 Views
On balance, there IS a love story. Just not quite the one that most people think. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:34:20 PM 858 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 929 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 846 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 987 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. *NM* Rebekah - 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM 323 Views
My initial thoughts Beqi - 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM 895 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 818 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 866 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 841 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 837 Views
There appears to be a lull, so some background - How many of you have read anything about The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:19:07 PM 821 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 706 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 867 Views
Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:47:42 PM 979 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM 845 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1130 Views
Re: Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:05:22 PM 864 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 792 Views
I will read and respond to this when I remember to bring my glasses home from work! *NM* Rebekah - 17/03/2010 06:14:31 PM 321 Views
Finally got around to reading this. Thanks for sharing. *NM* Rebekah - 22/03/2010 04:45:24 PM 342 Views
You're welcome. *NM* The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:26 PM 300 Views
I knew a bit about it. wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:36:20 PM 965 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 989 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 832 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 835 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 881 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it Larry - 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM 880 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period. Jacob - 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM 894 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 707 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 1100 Views
This review has been helpful so far for me. Tashmere - 23/03/2010 11:39:51 PM 786 Views
Essay I just finished writing on the book Larry - 16/03/2010 01:26:23 AM 1216 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 877 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 268 Views
I'm still sailing through it AgentOrange - 16/03/2010 09:25:34 PM 878 Views
Why would you consider this a classic? What made it so good or profound for (plural) you? Tashmere - 16/03/2010 11:19:23 PM 839 Views
Put a question mark at the end of the first sentence and read my response. *NM* Tom - 17/03/2010 12:09:58 AM 307 Views
Some questions. Rebekah - 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM 794 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 971 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 810 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 846 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 855 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 865 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 887 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 780 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 881 Views
In other news, I read about 100 pages of The Island at the Center of the World. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:48:47 PM 822 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 955 Views
I finished it last night - the last 100+ pages rather fast, considering how long the whole took. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:00:50 AM 641 Views
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