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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I grew up watching the movie and always LOVED it, and wanted to love the original book too...just couldn't do it unfortunately.
Coincidence rules the lives of two lovers, but not strongly enough to stop the events of the Russian revolution surrounding them.
A story that is larger than life and twice as natural. You just have to unplug requirements for strict realism and go with poetic truths instead: the snow is cold, the cheap stove smokes, the rats knock over the plates. And yet there is life, and love, and loyalties as complex as the Russian names throughout the book.
I liked this. It's densely written, slow, then sudden, then just keeps going on. Recommended for romantics and poets.
A story that is larger than life and twice as natural. You just have to unplug requirements for strict realism and go with poetic truths instead: the snow is cold, the cheap stove smokes, the rats knock over the plates. And yet there is life, and love, and loyalties as complex as the Russian names throughout the book.
I liked this. It's densely written, slow, then sudden, then just keeps going on. Recommended for romantics and poets.
Just amazing! If you have the time and a love of Russian Lit, this is it!
I have just finished reading the Folio Society's edition with the new translation by Pasternak's nephew, awesome illustrations by the author's father and some of the poems have been translated by Lydia Pasternak's sister, whose work was far superior to the other translated poems in my opinion. This book is beautiful. At times it is grand and philosophical and then suddenly it becomes intimate and emotional. The tone perfectly reflects the main character's state of mind in all its capriciousness. This is definitely a book I will come back to in the future.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
do you want to read about child grooming, Christianity, medicine, the Russian Civil War, and a guy who produced children with a long-standing extramarital romantic partner not once, but twice, whilst never getting divorced from his first wife, ever? boy do i have the book for you
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Part of the joys of StoryGraph is that I essentially never write these before midnight. Much like the titular character, I am only ever writing for my own pleasure when I should actually be doing other things, mostly getting ready for bed.
And that, I think, describes my general feelings on this novel: brimming with sentimentality, care, and emotion, but just a little distracted from other important matters.
I think Pasternak does a great job at actually writing the story of Doctor Zhivago, and I think it is especially skillful the way he will connect previous plot points that the reader has likely forgotten and properly tie them off. To my memory, there is not a single (important) plot thread that does not have a beginning and an end. And there are a lot of them.
And, to that end, I think what Pasternak really achieved with Doctor Zhivago is a mood piece comparable to Anna Karenina in scope and ambition. Doctor Zhivago is, without coming off as glib, a novel that genuinely succeeds at making the reader feel like they too are experiencing the Russian Revolutionary period in its entirety, from the moments of cathartic, ecstatic peace and hope to the crushing despair that drive some characters to horrific acts.
And I think something that Pasternak also succeeds at is conveying the humanity of each character, flaws and all: Lara, for example, and her tendency towards passivity until it is too late or otherwise the wrong time to do so. Similarly for characters like Pasha, whose desire to feel powerful and in control is certainly no help to him. Above all, I think he does a great job showing their individual strength of character in simply trying to carry on through such a tumultuous time.
Unfortunately, being set in such a tumultuous time kind of makes parts of the Revolution feel too abrupt or otherwise plot convenient. While no event feels logically inconsistent or otherwise out of place, many important plot beats certainly feel as though they were added as a way to continue the story rather than as a natural progression building on prior events and known character motivations.
Which also leads me to the motivations of the main character, Yuri Zhivago, who unfortunately was the weakest part of this novel for me. Something about his character just lacks charm to me, even though on paper he seems to be an interesting character: too prone to love, slightly neurotic, yet certainly courageous and determined. There's simply an air about him that does not appeal to me.
In short, Doctor Zhivago is a novel that delivers on the emotional turmoil of one of the most consequential events of the last half millennium, while unfortunately making its main character compelling for me while delivering a narrative that feels more reliant on conveniences than may be permissible.
Pasternak certainly wrote some good poems at the end, though.
And that, I think, describes my general feelings on this novel: brimming with sentimentality, care, and emotion, but just a little distracted from other important matters.
I think Pasternak does a great job at actually writing the story of Doctor Zhivago, and I think it is especially skillful the way he will connect previous plot points that the reader has likely forgotten and properly tie them off. To my memory, there is not a single (important) plot thread that does not have a beginning and an end. And there are a lot of them.
And, to that end, I think what Pasternak really achieved with Doctor Zhivago is a mood piece comparable to Anna Karenina in scope and ambition. Doctor Zhivago is, without coming off as glib, a novel that genuinely succeeds at making the reader feel like they too are experiencing the Russian Revolutionary period in its entirety, from the moments of cathartic, ecstatic peace and hope to the crushing despair that drive some characters to horrific acts.
And I think something that Pasternak also succeeds at is conveying the humanity of each character, flaws and all: Lara, for example, and her tendency towards passivity until it is too late or otherwise the wrong time to do so. Similarly for characters like Pasha, whose desire to feel powerful and in control is certainly no help to him. Above all, I think he does a great job showing their individual strength of character in simply trying to carry on through such a tumultuous time.
Unfortunately, being set in such a tumultuous time kind of makes parts of the Revolution feel too abrupt or otherwise plot convenient. While no event feels logically inconsistent or otherwise out of place, many important plot beats certainly feel as though they were added as a way to continue the story rather than as a natural progression building on prior events and known character motivations.
Which also leads me to the motivations of the main character, Yuri Zhivago, who unfortunately was the weakest part of this novel for me. Something about his character just lacks charm to me, even though on paper he seems to be an interesting character: too prone to love, slightly neurotic, yet certainly courageous and determined. There's simply an air about him that does not appeal to me.
In short, Doctor Zhivago is a novel that delivers on the emotional turmoil of one of the most consequential events of the last half millennium, while unfortunately making its main character compelling for me while delivering a narrative that feels more reliant on conveniences than may be permissible.
Pasternak certainly wrote some good poems at the end, though.