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I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too. Rebekah Send a noteboard - 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM
My copy, which is the translation by Hayward and Harari, has a blurb on the top of the front cover: "One of the greatest love stories ever told". The further I got through the book, the more this annoyed me. The love story is almost incidental to the rest of it, I thought.

Really, the book's about a man's struggle to find his place in a rapidly changing country. I thought Pasternak did an excellent job of showing us the turmoil and struggle of the times.

And I wonder how much of it is personal.
*MySmiley*

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
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So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1555 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 819 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 748 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 860 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates. Tom - 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM 684 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 774 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 842 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 806 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 670 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 832 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 740 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 833 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM* jh - 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM 317 Views
It's not contagious! Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:47:41 PM 665 Views
It probably is. Don't worry, we still like you! *NM* Tom - 15/03/2010 09:55:07 PM 321 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM 771 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 876 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 722 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 813 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 871 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 776 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 854 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 770 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 911 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. *NM* Rebekah - 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM 306 Views
My initial thoughts Beqi - 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM 820 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 747 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 797 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 778 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 760 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 742 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 661 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 784 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 909 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM 778 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1052 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 793 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 719 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 300 Views
Finally got around to reading this. Thanks for sharing. *NM* Rebekah - 22/03/2010 04:45:24 PM 317 Views
You're welcome. *NM* The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:26 PM 277 Views
I knew a bit about it. wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:36:20 PM 882 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 914 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 764 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 761 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 801 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it Larry - 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM 804 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period. Jacob - 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM 819 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 633 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 999 Views
This review has been helpful so far for me. Tashmere - 23/03/2010 11:39:51 PM 715 Views
Essay I just finished writing on the book Larry - 16/03/2010 01:26:23 AM 1124 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 804 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 243 Views
I'm still sailing through it AgentOrange - 16/03/2010 09:25:34 PM 799 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 767 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 280 Views
Some questions. Rebekah - 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM 718 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 894 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 740 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 767 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 785 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 786 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 816 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 705 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 814 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 755 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 880 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 572 Views
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