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A review by foxonabook
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak was the first book I read in 2021, but my journey with this book wasn't without struggle...
Well, there's not much to say about Doctor Zhivago other than that it's probably one of the most underrated epics in Russian Literature. Pasternak wrote a beautiful account of life in Russia in the years leading up to and after the October Revolution. The tale primarily follows the life of Yury Zhivago from boyhood into embittered adulthood,⠀but,⠀as with the other Russian epics, we are entreated to glimpses of the many characters who will in one form or another have a lasting impact on Yury. It's genuinely a beautiful tale, but also a heavy read. Boris Pasternak has such a wonderful, albeit sometimes complicated, prose -and this is where the struggle comes in (and why I have two copies).
I originally bought the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation which is a more modern and very literal translation of Pasternak's original work. However since P&V take such a literal approach,⠀the prose is convoluted and incredibly difficult to follow, I spent too much time rereading sentences just to understand what was being said. I was about 100 pages in before I decided to buy the Max Hayward and Manya Harari edition. Not only is theirs the original and most popular translation pre-2010, but it read a lot easier. The downside is, their version didn't have the footnotes that provided insight into all of the socio-political and cultural references Pasternak included in the book.
Well, there's not much to say about Doctor Zhivago other than that it's probably one of the most underrated epics in Russian Literature. Pasternak wrote a beautiful account of life in Russia in the years leading up to and after the October Revolution. The tale primarily follows the life of Yury Zhivago from boyhood into embittered adulthood,⠀but,⠀as with the other Russian epics, we are entreated to glimpses of the many characters who will in one form or another have a lasting impact on Yury. It's genuinely a beautiful tale, but also a heavy read. Boris Pasternak has such a wonderful, albeit sometimes complicated, prose -and this is where the struggle comes in (and why I have two copies).
I originally bought the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation which is a more modern and very literal translation of Pasternak's original work. However since P&V take such a literal approach,⠀the prose is convoluted and incredibly difficult to follow, I spent too much time rereading sentences just to understand what was being said. I was about 100 pages in before I decided to buy the Max Hayward and Manya Harari edition. Not only is theirs the original and most popular translation pre-2010, but it read a lot easier. The downside is, their version didn't have the footnotes that provided insight into all of the socio-political and cultural references Pasternak included in the book.