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claudiashelf's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
❝ Everything had changed suddenly— the tone, the moral climate; you didn't know what to think, whom to listen to. As if all your life you had been led by the hand like a small child and suddenly you were on your own, you had to learn to walk by yourself. ❞
I enjoyed reading this book because the ability of the author’s eloquent depiction of the conflicting emotions that stemmed from the October Revolution and its consequences deeply resonated with me and significantly transformed my understanding of Russian history. Through the character, Yurii Zhivago, the book conveyed a profound perspective that helped me comprehend Russia’s central role, navigating through periods of both despair and hope. The intricately woven narrative vividly explores the interconnected fate of Yurii, his loved ones, and his friends with the soul of Russia.
The book is replete with powerful, emotional, and inspiring scenes that transcend the characters’ challenging circumstances. It adeptly elicited a wide spectrum of emotions within me, ranging from profound frustration and sorrow to amazement, optimism, and elation. I am safe to say, that this book has left an indelible impression on me, captivating my imagination and emotions long after reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, War, and Death of parent
maur_damar's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thenovelbook's review against another edition
3.0
Had to read this in high school. Don't remember many details of it, except that I found the prose very lyrical, so regardless of what I thought of the story, the writing was good.
reaghan527's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
3.0
What this book seems to lack is a good editor. Given the circumstances in which it was published, that is not surprising. It was published in translation rather than Russian language and the author was not available to discuss any edits/changes with. Not that it is a bad book at all.
Writing is awesome frequently (though not frequently enough) especially the poems in the end but it has a bunch of issues - some boring parts, repetitiveness, annoyingly large number of coincidences (like in Dickens), confusion about names - not only because of Russian three name system but also because writer doesn't make any effort at clarification. Often Russian writers stick to one name for their characters even if the characters may use other names for each other. Pasternak does no such thing. This will probably confuse a Russian reader too. Soviet government was an idiot to create so much noise about the book. If it wasn't for them, it probably would never have got popularity.
If Zhivago was a real-life person he would never have set outside his place - something keeps happening to disturb his journey (his vehicle goes the wrong way, his train has to stop midway for days, his vehicle malfunctions and has to be repaired frequently, he gets kidnapped etc). That, annoying as it was for me (and probably for Zhivago too) seems to be intentional on part of the author - a motif to represent disturbance that had become a part of life in Russia.
This must be especially annoying for intellectuals and Zhivago was one - a writer. Often we find him having a sort of spiritual or mystic or some other that sort of experience and it would made me believe that he is going to have an epiphany of some sort. But the epiphany never comes because he is disturbed by one thing or other.
Similarly, he is repeatedly forced to abandon his writings due to one misfortune or other and when he returns to them he discovers that he is not able to resume them. Some of the best of the writings are written in a particularly excited state of mind (what Ishiguru calls crash) when the writer only wants to write and do nothing else as, once the excited state is gone, we find we are no longer the same person.
There is quite a bit of philosophy too. Zhivago's philosophy changes over time and it losses its robust revolutionary spirit to take a fatalistic turn over years.
And of course Moscow. Towards the end, the city is compared to the heroine of a tragic novel who has suffered a lot and that is exactly the case - throughout the novel, we see it being ruined revolution by revolution.
Writing is awesome frequently (though not frequently enough) especially the poems in the end but it has a bunch of issues - some boring parts, repetitiveness, annoyingly large number of coincidences (like in Dickens), confusion about names - not only because of Russian three name system but also because writer doesn't make any effort at clarification. Often Russian writers stick to one name for their characters even if the characters may use other names for each other. Pasternak does no such thing. This will probably confuse a Russian reader too. Soviet government was an idiot to create so much noise about the book. If it wasn't for them, it probably would never have got popularity.
If Zhivago was a real-life person he would never have set outside his place - something keeps happening to disturb his journey (his vehicle goes the wrong way, his train has to stop midway for days, his vehicle malfunctions and has to be repaired frequently, he gets kidnapped etc). That, annoying as it was for me (and probably for Zhivago too) seems to be intentional on part of the author - a motif to represent disturbance that had become a part of life in Russia.
This must be especially annoying for intellectuals and Zhivago was one - a writer. Often we find him having a sort of spiritual or mystic or some other that sort of experience and it would made me believe that he is going to have an epiphany of some sort. But the epiphany never comes because he is disturbed by one thing or other.
Similarly, he is repeatedly forced to abandon his writings due to one misfortune or other and when he returns to them he discovers that he is not able to resume them. Some of the best of the writings are written in a particularly excited state of mind (what Ishiguru calls crash) when the writer only wants to write and do nothing else as, once the excited state is gone, we find we are no longer the same person.
There is quite a bit of philosophy too. Zhivago's philosophy changes over time and it losses its robust revolutionary spirit to take a fatalistic turn over years.
And of course Moscow. Towards the end, the city is compared to the heroine of a tragic novel who has suffered a lot and that is exactly the case - throughout the novel, we see it being ruined revolution by revolution.
lynecia's review against another edition
3.0
Where do I start?
At first read, I merely thought this giant novel was just random vignettes, about random people, doing random things, until it yielded into a cohesive story. But - the story is only part of it. This book is also part history of the Russian Revolution(s) and also an epic soap opera. There's war, a love story, tragic deaths, betrayals, you name it. With that, I can't really tell you what it is about other than the life of a man named Dr. Yurii Andreivich Zhivago.
At first read, I merely thought this giant novel was just random vignettes, about random people, doing random things, until it yielded into a cohesive story. But - the story is only part of it. This book is also part history of the Russian Revolution(s) and also an epic soap opera. There's war, a love story, tragic deaths, betrayals, you name it. With that, I can't really tell you what it is about other than the life of a man named Dr. Yurii Andreivich Zhivago.
houxli's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I like the bird's eye view of the Russian Revolution, then the slow zoom-in on the principal cast. Every character is afforded dignity, never reduced down to shorthand. It's culturally full, with references to mysticism and the Asian population of a country that is Mostly in Asia. Every character has a different idea of what's happening, but the conflicts are rarely political but personal. Yet the personal is political, and that's the connecting tissue of the novel.