The Russian Revolution?
I'm especially curious to hear your thoughts about this particular topic as the background of the book was written by a product of the time period of the late Tsarist system/early Soviet System and its rare for Americans/Brits/non-Russian Euros to read anything about the Russian Revolution not told from the perspective of the Capitalist West.
I'm especially curious to hear your thoughts about this particular topic as the background of the book was written by a product of the time period of the late Tsarist system/early Soviet System and its rare for Americans/Brits/non-Russian Euros to read anything about the Russian Revolution not told from the perspective of the Capitalist West.
Seven Days That Shook the World, plus several excerpts from my 20th century European Cultural History class, along with Bulgakov and Soltzhenitsyn, among others whose names escape me now. I just finished the book and will have a mini-essay on it ready in a few hours. The Russian topology and patronymic patterns did not confuse me much, due to previous exposure.
Most people don't learn much about the Russian Revolution. And here we have the backdrop set against the Russian Revolutions. How many students of history in high school even learn about the American involvement in the Russian Revolution?
So it is interesting for me to see who has a good background in history or specifically the Russian Revolution so they can understand from what perspective Pasternak is writing this. He stayed in Russia. That is a powerful thing when so many of his compatriots left.
I understood it as being a far more subtle, nuanced text than what the exiled or suppressed writers composed. As such, it was interesting to read between the lines in places. But then again, Pasternak does state things rather baldly there as well, especially with the sailor/train scene almost halfway into the novel and then for spurts afterwards, especially with the executions.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago.
- 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM
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I liked it a lot.
- 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM
893 Views
I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution.
- 15/03/2010 09:19:54 PM
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Re: I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution
- 15/03/2010 09:57:29 PM
928 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates.
- 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM
762 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning.
- 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM
811 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells.
- 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM
912 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM*
- 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM
346 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point.
- 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM
844 Views
Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist,
- 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM
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Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living"
- 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM
797 Views
I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too.
- 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM
943 Views
On balance, there IS a love story. Just not quite the one that most people think.
- 15/03/2010 09:34:20 PM
859 Views
I noticed that as well
- 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM
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Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. 
*NM*
- 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM
324 Views
*NM*
- 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM
324 Views
My initial thoughts
- 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM
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Re: My initial thoughts
- 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM
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There appears to be a lull, so some background - How many of you have read anything about
- 15/03/2010 08:19:07 PM
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I've read bits & pieces.
- 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM
868 Views
Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution.
- 15/03/2010 08:47:42 PM
982 Views
Re: Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution.
- 15/03/2010 11:05:22 PM
866 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting.
- 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM
793 Views
I will read and respond to this when I remember to bring my glasses home from work! *NM*
- 17/03/2010 06:14:31 PM
322 Views
Fiction or non-fiction?
- 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM
990 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction.
- 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM
882 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it
- 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM
882 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period.
- 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM
895 Views
Why would you consider this a classic? What made it so good or profound for (plural) you?
- 16/03/2010 11:19:23 PM
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Put a question mark at the end of the first sentence and read my response. *NM*
- 17/03/2010 12:09:58 AM
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Some questions.
- 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM
796 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote:
- 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM
848 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
- 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM
889 Views
It looks a bit strained to me.
- 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM
782 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers.
- 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM
883 Views
In other news, I read about 100 pages of The Island at the Center of the World.
- 22/03/2010 03:48:47 PM
824 Views
I finished it last night - the last 100+ pages rather fast, considering how long the whole took.
- 21/04/2010 01:00:50 AM
643 Views