The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book

"Books are different from all other propaganda media," wrote the CIA chief of covert action, "primarily because one single book can significantly change the reader's attitude and action to an extent unmatched by the impact of any other single medium...that is, of course, not true of all books at all times and with all readers -- but it is true significantly often enough to make books the most important weapon of strategic (long-range) propaganda."

This is the true story of how the CIA used the novel Dr. Zhivago as a weapon in the cold-war fight for the hearts and minds of Russian citizens. In fact, the CIA had a "book program" which smuggled hundreds of titles into eastern bloc countries. So, beyond all the politics, beyond the biography show more of Boris Pasternak, this book is also a testament to the power of literature.

The book is well written, almost reading like a spy novel at times. We see what life was like in Stalinist Russia and how important the Cold War was to the U.S. We see the life of Boris Pasternak, including the open affair he carried on and the pressure placed on him to renounce the Nobel Prize for Literature. show less

The Book That Came In From the Cold
Review of the Vintage paperback edition (April 2015) of the original Pantheon hardcover edition (June 2014)

I enjoyed the fictionalized version of The Zhivago Affair in Lara Prescott's The Secrets We Kept (Sept. 2019) earlier this year and wanted to read more of the real-life story. Prescott superimposed her original fictional story of intrigues within the CIA on the actual story of Boris Pasternak and the publication of [book:Doctor Zhivago|130440]. Prescott's achievement is somewhat diminished in hindsight as a considerable amount of her book is simply retelling the story from this 2014 investigative work.

Although The Zhivago Affair trumpets about the release of declassified CIA files, it does seem show more like the co-authors learned more of the story from retired players who spoke under conditions of anonymity and from the more forthcoming Netherlands' Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst (BVD) (National Intelligence and Security Agency) who also participated in the Zhivago publication campaign.

I still found the whole story to be fascinating and the amount of research done by coauthors Peter Finn and Petra Couvée was quite extraordinary. show less

Best book I have read this year. An amazing story of how Pasternak's masterpiece was smuggled out of the Soviet Union by an Italian communist to be published in Italy. Adding to the layers of intrigue is how the CIA sponsored editions to be smuggled back into the Soviet Union where Dr. Zhivago was a source of controversy from its publication in 1958 into the post-Cold War era. Once highly regarded as a poet, Pasternak was harassed and persecuted by the Soviet government following the publication of this - his only novel. Like a novel itself, Finn delivers a quality work that captures the drama of Cold War era tensions against the backdrop of the literary landscape . If you have any interest at all in Russian history and literature, move show more this to the top of your reading list. show less

After reading Dr. Zhivago as well as Pasternak’s two autobiographical sketches* and also Olga Ivinskaya’s account** of their life together and the events surrounding the publication - or not - of Dr. Zhivago and the 1958 Nobel prize award, I received this book as a present. It was published in 2014 and the authors quote extensively publications and archive sources that have become available since the demise of the USSR (they are listed). What could it reveal that would be new to me?
Its main subject is, as the title indicates, the politics around the publication and subsequent Nobel prize award. I skimmed over details of P’s life and events I already knew - they had to be included for readers unfamiliar with these ; the two show more questions I was interested in are (i) why was P spared by Stalin and (ii) the extend of CIA involvement in publication and Nobel Prize award.

We will never know the answer to the first of course, only contemporary opinions and speculations. New to me was P’s commemoration in Literaturnaya Gazeta 17.11.1932 with words that could be taken as premonition of Stalin’s wife committing suicide; Stalin is likely to have read this. The émigré scholar M. Koryakov expressed the thought that, as a result, „P without realising it, entered the personal life of Stalin as a ‘Holy fool’ (37) and that in 1949 when there were plans to arrest him, Stalin was supposed to have said: “Leave him, he’s a cloud dweller.“ (67) Interesting! The authors don’t mention, although, in my view, it should have been mentioned, Ivinskaya writing: ‘I believe that between Stalin and Pasternak there was a remarkable, silent duel.’ (A Captive of Time,145).

As to the involvement of the CIA: newly accessible archive material allowed to record this in detail. The CIA set up the printing of a Russian language edition in the Netherlands (rather than in the US) and distribution by any means possible to Soviet citizens, taking great care that its involvement should not be traceable. No lobbying of the Nobel committee is recorded; it was superfluous. There was no need for the CIA to actively engage in anything but freely distribute copies to Russian visitors to the West. The suppression of the book in the Soviet Union caused damage to its cultural diplomacy among allied and non-aligned countries, India being the most important (190f). Khrushchev, later, after his fall, regretted that the book was not published in the USSR: „We caused much harm to the Soviet Union.“ he is quoted to have said (256, 265).

Detailed Notes on sources and an Index are provided. But what fool is responsible for the header that repeats on every single page the authors names and the book-title? In case you forget what you are reading? Chapter headings would make more sense.

Judging by the large amount of sources given, the authors have done a thoroughly researched account of the events surrounding the books publication and Nobel prize award to Pasternak. For anybody interested in all the details it is indispensable; for most who have read Dr. Zhivago and are curious to know just a little more about the events surrounding its publication I would rather recommend the lively written witness account by Olga Ivinskaya, Pasternak’s partner during those years. (VII-22)

* https://www.librarything.com/work/195131/book/103521953 , https://www.librarything.com/work/613414/book/211438106
** Olga Ivinskaya: A Captive of Time: My Years with Pasternak (https://www.librarything.com/review/215697297) show less

I listened to this book which was read by the inestimable Simon Vance. In fact, the fact that Simon Vance was the narrator was the main reason for choosing this audiobook. I wonder how long he had to practise to correctly pronounce some of the difficult Russian names and places.

This is the story of the publication of Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Pasternak was a well-known poet and translator in the USSR when he decided to write the novel which would become Dr. Zhivago. Suddenly, because of the less than favourable treatment of the Communist revolution in the book, Pasternak became a reviled writer who was exiled from the Union of Soviet Writers. Pasternak managed to send a copy of the manuscript to an Italian publisher. The USSR show more forbade publication outside of the country until after a book was published inside Russia. However, it had been made clear that Dr. Zhivago would never be published in Russia under the present regime so Pasternak authorized the Italian publisher to have it translated and published. The CIA managed to get a copy of the manuscript and arranged to have copies printed by a Dutch printer for distribution at the Brussels World Fair. They thought that if the forbidden book made it into the USSR it would destabilize the Communist country. In 1958 Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature but he succumbed to pressure from the government and refused it. Pasternak earned royalties from the sales of Dr. Zhivago world-wide but he wasn't able officially to bring it into the USSR. He arranged with his Italian publisher to have some money from the royalties converted into rubles and have it smuggled in. His mistress and her daughter were later charged for abetting in this but Pasternak died before he could profit very much. After glasnost Dr. Zhivago became officially available in the country and Pasternak even graced a postage stamp.

This was a fascinating tale of the machinations of both the USSR and the USA during the Cold War era. Great reading for anyone who has read Dr. Zhivago and for history buffs. show less

Dr. Zhivago is one of my husbands favorite movies, a very unusual pick for him because he usually likes ironic comedies. I remember reading this in school but had no idea of the history behind the novel nor of the man who wrote it.

This is a non fiction book that reads in may ways as a thriller. The fate of many of the writers under Stalin was very oppressive, although Russians had a great love of poetry, if that which was written was thought not to be in the service of Soviet politics their fates were set. The author writes, "After 1917, nearly 1500 writers in the Soviet Union were executed or died in labor camps for various alleged infractions." Pasternak himself, somehow escaped this fate.

In wanting to leave a legacy, he began show more writing Zhivago, a semi autobiographical novel, that would take him over ten years. In the end it was deemed by the Soviet Union, unpublishable so it was given to an Italian publisher to publish and translate and circulate throughout foreign coup tries. It would become a weapon used by the CIA, propaganda for a warning about the Cold War.

There are many parts to this story and I felt that the authors did an outstanding job, following them all and keeping the book moving fluidly throughout. His messy home life is examined as is his writing career. One item I marked as amusing was how he and Nabokov felt about each other, they w3re less than impressed by the writing of the other.

A book well worth reading and one I will now pass on to my husband.

ARC from publisher. show less

Boris Pasternak was a famous and beloved Russian poet until he wrote a book that was critical of Stalin's rule (after that he was only famous). This is part biography about Pasternak and part about the book and how it was denied publication in the USSR and was subsequently smuggled out and published in the West. I haven't seen the movie (yet) but the idea of this book sounded more interesting than I found it. Pasternak comes off as extremely egotistical and barely likeable despite his "genius" (I got the impression - which may be incorrect - that he was more known for his translations than his own work) who "suffered" for his novel - but nowhere near as much as his family and friends (especially his mistress and her daughter). What I show more found interesting was the brutal repression of those who ran afoul of the communist leaders and some of the behind-the-scenes work the US gov't did to publish and distribute the book. (I rec'd an advance copy from the Amazon Vine program.) show less