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twilsonovi 's review for:
Doctor Zhivago
by Boris Pasternak
What is it about Russians and great novels? They just do not miss. An epic, sweeping tale of love, life, death, philosophy, history and fate from one end of Russia to another, one horrendous and immersively depicted war after another. There's so much vitality and grandeur in this tale that I found myself forgiving the flaws and stranger choices.
As ever with these novels, there is a relatively extensive list of dramatis personae to keep track of, and Pasternak rather unhelpfully alternates between diminutives, first name/patronymic combinations, and surnames when referring to the same character. It takes a little getting used to, especially those unfamiliar with Russian naming conventions.
The other characteristically Pasternakian quirks include peppering the speech of less educated people with strange idioms (no doubt somewhat accurately, though it hinders the translatability at times), and what is probably the main conceit of the novel, the preposterous and borderline magical sequence of coincidences that create a tangled web of connections between different character, people constantly happening to be in exactly the right place in the right time, in the largest country in the world, for certain plot elements to develop. This is probably a bit of a divisive device, but I think it's done here with a nod to a romantic, almost mythological conception of fate (also riffed on by Grossman in another epic Russian war novel).
There are times when the translation is stilted, but others where it absolutely sings. Some of the metaphors and a lot of the reflection on religion (esp. on coming of Christ) and ideology is just fantastic. Lara is inconsistently depicted and an odd character, definitely a male writer's character, but still filled with soul. Zhivago himself becomes less noble and more morally fragmented over time, the trauma of his experiences never directly alluded to but bubbling under the surface. The ending was in some ways strange, in others superb, not sure what the epilogue was about.
As ever with these novels, there is a relatively extensive list of dramatis personae to keep track of, and Pasternak rather unhelpfully alternates between diminutives, first name/patronymic combinations, and surnames when referring to the same character. It takes a little getting used to, especially those unfamiliar with Russian naming conventions.
The other characteristically Pasternakian quirks include peppering the speech of less educated people with strange idioms (no doubt somewhat accurately, though it hinders the translatability at times), and what is probably the main conceit of the novel, the preposterous and borderline magical sequence of coincidences that create a tangled web of connections between different character, people constantly happening to be in exactly the right place in the right time, in the largest country in the world, for certain plot elements to develop. This is probably a bit of a divisive device, but I think it's done here with a nod to a romantic, almost mythological conception of fate (also riffed on by Grossman in another epic Russian war novel).
There are times when the translation is stilted, but others where it absolutely sings. Some of the metaphors and a lot of the reflection on religion (esp. on coming of Christ) and ideology is just fantastic. Lara is inconsistently depicted and an odd character, definitely a male writer's character, but still filled with soul. Zhivago himself becomes less noble and more morally fragmented over time, the trauma of his experiences never directly alluded to but bubbling under the surface. The ending was in some ways strange, in others superb, not sure what the epilogue was about.