Even though I finished this book today, it could have been last year with how much I remember. I'm not sure why I couldn't get into it. I felt lost with a lot of the White vs Red part. It all seemed so chaotic. Probably the point as it was chaos. I felt very lost by most of the historical background, more my fault as the reader I guess. I've never seen the movie, but I've heard it is one of the great romantic film. I didn't expect the famous romance of Lara and Zhivago to be an affair. Kind of turned me away from liking them as he started the relationship while his wife was pregnant. ( )

1022 Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak translated from the Russian by Max Hayward and Manya Harari (read 15 Sep 1969) I have slogged through this book, and cannot say the experience was not what it should be. Of course Pasternak is a great composer of images, but as a story I cannot be impressed. a great hero-lover who has three women seems to my Puritanical soul not to make much sense. Having seen the movie did not help me to enjoy the book, since the uncertainty as to what would happen was gone. ( )

Boris Pasternak's masterpiece about love and death in the years preceding and during the Russian Revolution, in many ways this reminds me of "Gone With the Wind". Yurii Zhivago is a well-born doctor, married to the refined Tonia Gromeko, who is separated from his family, conscripted by the Reds during the height of the Revolution. Eventually he successfully deserts and renews a passionate affair with the earthy beauty Lara Federov in a village laid waste by the war. During this time, Tonia and her family are aided to escape to France, where they later learn that Doctor Zhivago is alive and living with Lara. This is a bleakly passionate novel that, unsurprisingly, landed Pasternak in a labor camp. The Revolution is painted in harsh and unsparing colors; it surprises me that it did not lead to the extinction of Russia, so great were the privations and brutalities. I saw the movie as a teen and thought it a fine movie; I'll have to watch it again soon now that I've read the book. My ignorance of world history was further revealed to me; I had not been aware of a war between Russia and Germany in the first years of the 1900's. The book is a bit tough to plough through at times, but is eventually well worth the time. ( )

A look into Russia during and after the revolution and the hardships the people went through. The romance between Dr. Zhivago and the woman with the poetry takes it into greatness. ( )

Caution - this is definitely NOT the movie. The movie took liberties and focused on the love story between Lara and Yuri. For those who think that this book is going to be just like the movie, please take note.

Now that I have that out of the way, Mr. Pasternak's novel is very much a love story but rather than between man and woman, it is between a man and his country. Mr. Pasternak's love for Russia is evident in the care he takes with the scenery and developing the characters in such a way that the reader truly understands what it means to be Russian. His pastoral descriptions are breath-taking and make one want to move to Siberia. His dialogue is pure poetry.

There is so much that occurs in this novel that it is difficult to summarize them into one short assessment. Dr. Zhivago's life is truly tragic and mirrors pre- and post-revolutionary Russia. From the loss of his mother at a young age to the loss of his beloved Lara, Yuri faces world wars, civil war, imprisonment by revolutionaries, and so much more. Lara, too, faces her own trials and tribulations throughout the novel. In fact, the best description is that each major character faces his or her own personal revolution. Interspersed with the tragic details are details about life in revolutionary Russia.

Speaking of revolutionary Russia, as an American, the descriptions of life in the early stages of the U.S.S.R. is fascinating. Mr. Pasternak gives the reader a glimpse of a world that the Western world has vilified and which the Russian culture has kept secret from outsiders. It is an amazing study of culture and history, written by a man who truly does love his country. I feel privileged to have been able to get a glimpse of this mysterious world. In addition, it has helped me understand a bit more about the Cold War and the machinations behind it.

Make no mistake, this is an extremely challenging read. However, if you stick with it, you will be rewarded with a better understanding of Soviet Russia, the Russian culture, and with some of the most beautiful passages I have ever had the pleasure of reading. This isn't for the faint of heart, and I'll admit that I had to do some side research to make sure that I understood the history behind the story. In spite of that, I am extremely glad that I read this novel and would recommend it to others who are interested in Russian history. ( )