Book 31: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

This one is going to be a challenge.  I decided last time around that, if I speak the language in which the book is written, I should read the book in that language.  I did this with The Three Musketeers in French, but Russian is a more difficult language, so I've been shying away from it.

I'm determined this time, though, and I'm going to try to read the Russian version of the book.  One plus side of this is that, in trying to procure a Russian version, I found that my library has an original, 1st edition copy of the book.  It's not in great condition, but there's something cool about knowing that, when Pasternak first published Doctor Zhivago, this is one of the copies that rolled off the presses.

566 pages in this one which would be about 81 pages per day, but I'll be lucky to get half of that number... I'm going to need to make up time once I finish this one.

Review:  Wow!  This one took me a lot longer than anticipated.  Instead of one week it took a total of three weeks to plod my way through it.  At first, I started with the book and a dictionary and was looking up 3-5 words per page, it was taking a long time.  Near the end, I was able to go many pages without having to resort to the dictionary but my reading speed was still pretty low.  Pasternak's writing, it turns out, is quite poetic and therefore very dense.  I am glad that I made the effort, however.  I feel that the practice really improved my Russian reading skills and it was good to read the book in it's original language.

Being unfamiliar with the material, either the book or the films, I was under a wrong impression of this book.  I thought that it was going to be a very romanticized love story between Dr. Zhivago and his love, Lara, set against the Russian Revolution of 1917.  In this way, I thought that it would be much closer in tone and content as something like Anna Karenina.  It turns out, however, that this is not the case.  The story follows Dr. Yuri Zhivago from his youth through his adulthood and his trials during the revolution.  He grows up, marries, is conscripted, released, reunites with his family, is shanghai'd again, escapes, etc. During this time, he is also in love with Lara Guishar, who moves in and out of his life multiple times.  At first, their relationship evolves as events push them around and eventually they depend on each other for support more than any fierce passion.  In this way, the book reminds me more of War and Peace or Gone with the Wind than Anna Karenina.  It's a love story, but one in which the main characters are almost lost amongst the huge, dramatic events unfolding around them.

I liked the book quite a bit, even though it was hard work getting through it.  The writing was beautiful, especially in Russian, and the characters were very likable.  The story was engaging and never really slowed down and you are engaged with Yuri's fate every step of the way.  I would highly recommend anyone to read this book.  Doing it in Russian was merely a challenge for myself and certainly not necessary.

8 out of 10