A review by caitpaige
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

2.0

The cover of my copy states that this book is "one of the great novels of the century - a love story for all time." Whoever made that claim probably watched the movie instead of reading the book. Maybe I got a particularly bad translation, but I found the story straggling, confusing, and meaningless. The first 100 pages are basically useless, full of mostly inconsequential events and about a thousand random characters with confusing Russian names who never play any further role in the story. I only started to feel like there actually was a cohesive story after page 100, but the "epic love story" didn't start until page 300 and then was a tepid, meaningless affair that only lasted 150 pages. Zhivago was simpering putz; self-serving, undirected, and apparently unconcerned with the feelings of the three women he married, had affairs, and committed bigamy with. He dies before the book is even over. Other characters come and go at random, making you forget who they are by the time they reappear. Many die random, barely explained deaths, about which you don't care. The characters are generally impossible to connect with or care about, the story line has no real plot or engaging premise, and if you are not familiar with Russian history much of the setting and events will probably be lost on you too. I feel like I missed a lot, but it's not worth rereading to figure it out. What a slog.