I am getting better at this! I am still behind on all of my book clubs, BUT I am now only two books behind on the 1001 Books to blog about. My next book review will be on The Remains of the Day but for now let us continue with Dr. Zhivago.
Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak is the first Russian novel that I have read from cover to cover. I started Anna Karenina by Tolstoy back in high school (so like 5 or 6 years ago) and I never finished it. Most likely because I did not have the patience to master the 1000 names for one person and I was easily confused and easily bored. So, I have defeated one novel of Russian Literature and I will conquer the rest! Anna Karenina I will one day finish, I mean I finished The Count of Monte Cristo, so I can finish anything! So, Dr. Zhivago tells us the story about Yuri Zhivago, and the world he lives in is torn apart by the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War to follow. Zhivago is a poetic man, whose idealisms are in sharp contrast with those around him during this tumultuous time. He sees the atrocities that both the Reds and the Whites are committing during the civil war, and wonders how far these senseless acts will continue. The civilians are the ones who are suffering, but the revolution was suppose to free them. As a doctor, Zhivago is sent to the front lines where he meets Lara, a beautiful woman with her own complicated past who is searching for her husband whom everyone believes is dead. They fall in love and try to get through these difficult times.
Pasternak's novel really gives a perspective of the revolution that you do not normally see. You see the side of the revolution from somebody of the middle class, who does not have many riches but is still considered the enemy because of his past and because of his idealism. The revolution was suppose to bring freedom to the peasants and make their lives better, but through Zhivago's eyes we see the true nature of both sides and the only ones who end of losing are the civilians as they struggle to survive the conflict.
Excellent novel, something everybody should read. I already purchased another book on the history of the Russian Revolution and would love to take a class on it but we shall see.
Until then, on to the next 1001 book!
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