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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
This translation is rather stilted, but nevertheless there are phrases, sometimes whole paragraphs, where the poetry of Pasternak's prose shines through.
The characters' emotions and responses are overblown and unrealistic. Much of the plot turns on these melodramatic reactions and decisions made based on them. Their motivations were generally unclear.
There are memorable, haunting descriptions of and explanations of the events in Russia before, during and after the revolution. The story leaps from event to event, though, skipping out huge swathes of time, and thus making emotional engagement difficult.
Characters weave in and out of Zhivago's life. A passage near the end compares a slow tram stopping and starting on the same road as a hurrying pedestrian to the way peoples' lives run parallel. It's rather confusing to read and easy to forget who is who, though, especially as they all have a half dozen different names (thank goodness for the dramatis personae lost at the front of this edition).
The novel is at it's best when it settles to fully describe a period of Zhivago's life for a sustained number of pages. I could detect no overall cohesion, though, and there's far too much pontification.
The characters' emotions and responses are overblown and unrealistic. Much of the plot turns on these melodramatic reactions and decisions made based on them. Their motivations were generally unclear.
There are memorable, haunting descriptions of and explanations of the events in Russia before, during and after the revolution. The story leaps from event to event, though, skipping out huge swathes of time, and thus making emotional engagement difficult.
Characters weave in and out of Zhivago's life. A passage near the end compares a slow tram stopping and starting on the same road as a hurrying pedestrian to the way peoples' lives run parallel. It's rather confusing to read and easy to forget who is who, though, especially as they all have a half dozen different names (thank goodness for the dramatis personae lost at the front of this edition).
The novel is at it's best when it settles to fully describe a period of Zhivago's life for a sustained number of pages. I could detect no overall cohesion, though, and there's far too much pontification.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
9/8/23 - I just finished watching the movie. They don’t make movies like that anymore - wow, it was EPIC.
Omar Sharif, who was casted to play Yuri was perfect. Alec Guinness, played Zhivago’s brother, Yevgraf. I also enjoyed the performance by Geraldine Chaplin (daughter of Charlie Chaplin) who played Zhivago’s wife, Tonia.
The scenery and plot of the movie are both excellent. What a moving story!
———————————————————————————
Review of the book below:
A sign of a truly great book for me is when I get to the end but I just want to keep on reading.
Doctor Zhivago is moving and epic. The love triangle between Zhivago, Tonia, and Lara in the setting of WWI and then the Russian Revolution of 1917 was perhaps the best combination of plot and setting I’ve ever read.
I am also currently reading Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty by Robert K. Massie. These two books have been a perfect pairing of a nonfiction/fiction read.
I wish I had come to this book sooner but I’m so glad I got to at least experience it now.
Doctor Zhivago is now in my top 5 favorite books of all time. I can’t express adequately in words how wonderful reading this book has been. I’ll definitely be reading it again which is another sign of a 5 star book for me.
Omar Sharif, who was casted to play Yuri was perfect. Alec Guinness, played Zhivago’s brother, Yevgraf. I also enjoyed the performance by Geraldine Chaplin (daughter of Charlie Chaplin) who played Zhivago’s wife, Tonia.
The scenery and plot of the movie are both excellent. What a moving story!
———————————————————————————
Review of the book below:
A sign of a truly great book for me is when I get to the end but I just want to keep on reading.
Doctor Zhivago is moving and epic. The love triangle between Zhivago, Tonia, and Lara in the setting of WWI and then the Russian Revolution of 1917 was perhaps the best combination of plot and setting I’ve ever read.
I am also currently reading Nicholas and Alexandra: The Classic Account of the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty by Robert K. Massie. These two books have been a perfect pairing of a nonfiction/fiction read.
I wish I had come to this book sooner but I’m so glad I got to at least experience it now.
Doctor Zhivago is now in my top 5 favorite books of all time. I can’t express adequately in words how wonderful reading this book has been. I’ll definitely be reading it again which is another sign of a 5 star book for me.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
This book was such a disappointment to me. Such a disappointment that a few friends had to endure rants when I was about halfway through. Sorry guys. My chief complaints:
- In the first half of the book, Pasternak seems to have been writing about incidents as they occurred to him rather than in a linear fashion. So it's jumping all over in time, which would have been totally fine, if he had given you a reference point for what year it was or how old the characters were! I still have no idea how old Yury and Lara were in relation to each other. I have no idea when certain events were happening. I had no context for what the hell was going on!
- Idioms! Idioms everywhere! I have never seen so damn many idioms in my entire life, let alone in one book! I can't even begin to describe how many times I wanted to throw the book just for that reason. It was incredibly aggravating. I even tried switching translations thinking it was the translator. But nope, I hit "at daggers drawn" for the fourth or fifth time in that one.
- The book told you what was happening but it never gave me the connective tissue that would have made me actually care about Yury. I was a bored observer to a revolution and civil war. How is that even possible.
The second half of the book did finally settle into just Yury's POV (3rd person) and finally had a linear timeline, so it was an improvement and the book got a bit more interesting. But there were other oddities. Lara was supposed to be a very calm woman but she would go into these long-winded semi-hysterical speeches that made her seem anything but. It did show the extraordinary stress they were under but it didn't make her appear calm.
This book was one I've wanted to read for a very long time and it was the one from my Classics Challenge that I was the most excited about. I understand that many people think it was a wonderful book, but for me it was extremely disappointed. I was at daggers drawn with the book for pretty much the entire time.
One thing that I did find interesting (and totally irrelevant) was that the civil war was between the Reds and the Whites. This reminded me of the Wars of the Roses where the red and white roses symbolized the Houses of Lancaster and York. I wonder why both involved red and white?
- In the first half of the book, Pasternak seems to have been writing about incidents as they occurred to him rather than in a linear fashion. So it's jumping all over in time, which would have been totally fine, if he had given you a reference point for what year it was or how old the characters were! I still have no idea how old Yury and Lara were in relation to each other. I have no idea when certain events were happening. I had no context for what the hell was going on!
- Idioms! Idioms everywhere! I have never seen so damn many idioms in my entire life, let alone in one book! I can't even begin to describe how many times I wanted to throw the book just for that reason. It was incredibly aggravating. I even tried switching translations thinking it was the translator. But nope, I hit "at daggers drawn" for the fourth or fifth time in that one.
- The book told you what was happening but it never gave me the connective tissue that would have made me actually care about Yury. I was a bored observer to a revolution and civil war. How is that even possible.
The second half of the book did finally settle into just Yury's POV (3rd person) and finally had a linear timeline, so it was an improvement and the book got a bit more interesting. But there were other oddities. Lara was supposed to be a very calm woman but she would go into these long-winded semi-hysterical speeches that made her seem anything but. It did show the extraordinary stress they were under but it didn't make her appear calm.
This book was one I've wanted to read for a very long time and it was the one from my Classics Challenge that I was the most excited about. I understand that many people think it was a wonderful book, but for me it was extremely disappointed. I was at daggers drawn with the book for pretty much the entire time.
One thing that I did find interesting (and totally irrelevant) was that the civil war was between the Reds and the Whites. This reminded me of the Wars of the Roses where the red and white roses symbolized the Houses of Lancaster and York. I wonder why both involved red and white?
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
What a tumultuous time to have been alive. I very much enjoyed this book for its historical events seen from an individual point of view, and also because of the language and descriptions. Some of the plot devices and coincidences stretch the imagination a bit but also capture the essence of the phrase "Life is stranger than fiction."
Absolutely worth reading in the 21st century.
Absolutely worth reading in the 21st century.
this book was honestly boring and hard to follow. would also recommend knowing a bit about the russian revolution/civil war beforehand; i think it would have been even harder to follow.
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes