Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
An epic and supremely honest appraisal of an extremely dark time in the history of Russia and the failings of humans. This is not so much a love story in the typical sense, but more a love story from a man to his home country who has seen it at it’s worst and still believes in it’s best.
The Book
Pasternak does not hold back on his accounts of the atrocities that happened during the revolution up until the Second World War, as the Red and White Armies fought for power among each other. This is a difficult read not so much because of the language or writing which incidentally are both as lyrically sublime as you would expect from a poet; more it is difficult because of the subject matter and the brutally honest account of a time which to many of us would seem unbelievable today.
The book is about the life of Doctor Zhivago, but it also focuses on the parallel and intertwining narrative of the life of Lara, his paramour. It is perhaps typical of the times and of Pasternak’s poetic nature that this is a tragic love story - although I’m not sure he would phrase it like that since Zhivago and Lara do get to be together for a time and they experience what we might call ‘true love’ with each other. However both of their lives are complicated, Pasternak holds no punches back in his depiction of Komarovsky who grooms Lara from an early age and makes her his mistress as a teenager - thereby as she believes ruining her life and her subsequent marriage to Pasha Antipova. Zhivago though in a less fragile situation as a child nevertheless experiences his own trials as the orphan of a millionaire who committed suicide and a mother who died with no idea where her husband was or who he was with soon after.
Dark, subtle and totally captivating; Zhivago should not be read lightly. It is as much a socio-political narrative as it is a philosophical essay and a metaphor for Russia as she was at the time of Pasternak writing this piece and smuggling it to Italy for publication. This is social commentary and a micro-study of the human condition at it’s best; but you should not underestimate the disturbing content which ought to be read despite it’s effect so that we are aware of the cruelty humans can inflict on one another.
Ratings
Readability || ***
{ Readability: is the book easy to read, does it have simple yet effective language that is accessible and does it have a good flow}
A difficult read not only because if you are not Russian you will be unused to remembering three names for each character. When it comes to Pasternak’s writing style I cannot praise it or recommend it enough - but in terms of the book itself this is not a simple or particularly digestible read.
Structure || *****
Written in time order, the structure of the book follows the life of Zhivago which runs in parallel to the timeline of the uprising of 1905 and subsequent revolution. The chapters are relatively short and vary in length so it’s a comfortable read if you want something to stop and start. However Pasternak is fond of a diatribe so that can mean that one block of text takes up an entire two pages!
Decadence || **
Although the writing is decadent and the imagery throughout is sublime, the contents of this book are not decadent. They are brutal and get more so rather than becoming resolved. There are incredibly disturbing scenes as well as depictions of suicide, torture, assault, depression and starvation.
Review Accuracy || *****
Reviews for this book are a complete mixed bag. You have people who loved it; those who appreciate it’s impact on our understanding of that time in Russian history - and those who (like me) cannot bear the characters but adore Pasternak’s writing and believe his Nobel Prize for Literature (1958) was well deserved. There’s nothing for it, you’ll just have to read it yourself!