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Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist, The Shrike Send a noteboard - 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM
Zhivago means life. The Zhiv part anyway. This is an important connection to make about what Zhivago represents in the book.

I think it's a valid connection to see the train death as connected to Tolstoy. Pasternak was certainly not a proponent of the Tolstoy sort of idealism, though. His peasants are perhaps good people (Anfim Efimovich, for example), but they are certainly not people who should be leading a country. The form of government the peasants would have chose would resemble Meluzeevo - backwards, superstitious, mixing Christianity with ideas about magic and ultimately anti-intellectual (and, for that matter, irrational).


Very true and good points about the peasants. Ultimately I think Pasternak is concerned with life in this book. The main protagonist, Yuri, goes to medical school for what reason. Why make him a doctor? His name literally means Doctor Life.

But then what does the Revolution ultimately mean? Is it life or is it death? Too open ended to answer one way or the other.

More on this later. Must return to reading other stuff. But I really want people, who read this reply, to ask themselves - is Doctor Zhivago a love story or is it a political/historical setting? Does it cross boundaries. I think thinking about that specifically can help people understand this book.

I have my own viewpoint, which most people in this discussion should already know as I have not mentioned the love story even once until now.
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So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1620 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 890 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 819 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 758 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 846 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 917 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 882 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 749 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 906 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 808 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 909 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 735 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 842 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 945 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 794 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 880 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 940 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 856 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 927 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 843 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 985 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 893 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 816 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 864 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 840 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 835 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 819 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 704 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 865 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 843 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1128 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 862 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 790 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 963 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 987 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 830 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 833 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 879 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 892 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 705 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 1097 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 1214 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 875 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 267 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 837 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 791 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 968 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 808 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 844 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 853 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 863 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 886 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 777 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 879 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 821 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 953 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 639 Views
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