lrmsreads 's review for:

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
2.0
And...clunk. Seeing as it took me 15 days to finish Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, all I have to say is, finally!! And, I think I have been cured of my Russia obsession for the time being. Let me just say that Doctor Zhivago is one of the most challenging books I have ever read. First, I think it would have been very helpful to know about all the politics and factions involved in the Russian Revolution because I know nothing about it. And, this book did nothing to make it any clearer for me. Also, it was hard to follow all the characters because they all have 3 names, for example the main character Yurii Andreievich Zhivago and on top of that they are referred to by multiple nicknames (i.e. Yura, Yurochka) or just their last name, but it is never consistent. So, that made it difficult to keep track of all the characters in my head. And, in the end, I really didn't feel much for the main character, Dr. Zhivago. He marries Tonia and claims to adore her. They have a son together, but right after his birth he has to leave. As a doctor, he goes to work on the war front and meets Lara. It appears to be platonic until his wife assumes otherwise and then suddenly he realizes he's in love with Lara. He runs into her years later after they have returned to their families and they start an affair, at the same time his wife becomes pregnant again. Then he is kidnapped and forced to work for partisan forces for several years. During that time his family has to flee the country. Then he escapes and carries on an affair with Lara. Then she has to flee, but he refuses to go with her. He returns to Moscow and basically becomes worthless. But, he "marries" Marina and has two children with her. Then he dies. Then we find out Lara also had a daughter by Dr. Zhivago that she somehow gave up. I liked Dr. Zhivago at first, but I felt his character became less and less likable as the story went on. And, there were lots and lots of details and political philosophizing that seemed a bit extraneous. I felt my eyes glaze over many times while reading this book. And, once I reached the end of the story, then there was a section of poems by Dr. Zhivago because he was also a poet. I felt obliged to read them, but basically, I was just reading words to say I had finished completely. Woot.