It is not a fast read. I don't know that it was meant to be. I think that it is meant to be read slowly and thought about.

Besides not having much reading time in the last few weeks it has been slow because I have read much of it at least two or three times. This has been for one of three reasons:

1. I have had to go back and refresh my memory on different events or characters to make sure I am understanding what I am currently reading.

2. Parts of it I just loved what he said and how he said it and wasn't satisfied with reading it once or even twice. It was like looking at a beautiful painting or listening to a great piece of music. You don't give it one glance or listen to it one time. You have to go back and explore in detail because there are always parts that you didn't notice the first time and also you just want to soak yourself in pleasure.

3. In some parts I just wasn't quite getting what he was saying and re-read it over and over trying to understand it. That I had understood other parts so well and felt like I had found a kindred soul in Pasternak, made me want to understand the things that I didn't get all the more. It was frustrating. Sometimes I just had to give up and tell myself that maybe I would get it the next time I read it and go on reading.

I have also stopped to google maps and events. I actually googled "Strelnikov" right after I first read about him, thinking that Pasternak had described him so powerfully and carefully that it must have been an actual historical figure. What a spoiler that was.


Teresa