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Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist, The Shrike Send a noteboard - 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM
Zhivago means life. The Zhiv part anyway. This is an important connection to make about what Zhivago represents in the book.

I think it's a valid connection to see the train death as connected to Tolstoy. Pasternak was certainly not a proponent of the Tolstoy sort of idealism, though. His peasants are perhaps good people (Anfim Efimovich, for example), but they are certainly not people who should be leading a country. The form of government the peasants would have chose would resemble Meluzeevo - backwards, superstitious, mixing Christianity with ideas about magic and ultimately anti-intellectual (and, for that matter, irrational).


Very true and good points about the peasants. Ultimately I think Pasternak is concerned with life in this book. The main protagonist, Yuri, goes to medical school for what reason. Why make him a doctor? His name literally means Doctor Life.

But then what does the Revolution ultimately mean? Is it life or is it death? Too open ended to answer one way or the other.

More on this later. Must return to reading other stuff. But I really want people, who read this reply, to ask themselves - is Doctor Zhivago a love story or is it a political/historical setting? Does it cross boundaries. I think thinking about that specifically can help people understand this book.

I have my own viewpoint, which most people in this discussion should already know as I have not mentioned the love story even once until now.
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So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1762 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 1096 Views
I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:19:54 PM 945 Views
Re: I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution wahooka - 15/03/2010 09:57:29 PM 1058 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates. Tom - 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM 875 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 989 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 1038 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 1015 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 861 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 1025 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 941 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 1036 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM* jh - 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM 411 Views
It's not contagious! Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:47:41 PM 874 Views
It probably is. Don't worry, we still like you! *NM* Tom - 15/03/2010 09:55:07 PM 410 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM 958 Views
Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist, The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM 1080 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 908 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 1009 Views
I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM 1073 Views
On balance, there IS a love story. Just not quite the one that most people think. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:34:20 PM 999 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 1075 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 963 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 1129 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. *NM* Rebekah - 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM 381 Views
My initial thoughts Beqi - 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM 1032 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 951 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 999 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 1028 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 945 Views
There appears to be a lull, so some background - How many of you have read anything about The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:19:07 PM 968 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 853 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 987 Views
Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 08:47:42 PM 1126 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM 984 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1267 Views
Re: Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:05:22 PM 1043 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 918 Views
I will read and respond to this when I remember to bring my glasses home from work! *NM* Rebekah - 17/03/2010 06:14:31 PM 370 Views
Finally got around to reading this. Thanks for sharing. *NM* Rebekah - 22/03/2010 04:45:24 PM 397 Views
You're welcome. *NM* The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:26 PM 377 Views
I knew a bit about it. wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:36:20 PM 1075 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 1135 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 958 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 1004 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 1033 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it Larry - 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM 1030 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period. Jacob - 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM 1012 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 860 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 1236 Views
This review has been helpful so far for me. Tashmere - 23/03/2010 11:39:51 PM 913 Views
Essay I just finished writing on the book Larry - 16/03/2010 01:26:23 AM 1383 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 1009 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 325 Views
I'm still sailing through it AgentOrange - 16/03/2010 09:25:34 PM 1079 Views
Why would you consider this a classic? What made it so good or profound for (plural) you? Tashmere - 16/03/2010 11:19:23 PM 993 Views
Put a question mark at the end of the first sentence and read my response. *NM* Tom - 17/03/2010 12:09:58 AM 373 Views
Some questions. Rebekah - 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM 920 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 1082 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 1002 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 986 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 1014 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 985 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 1015 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 895 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 1029 Views
In other news, I read about 100 pages of The Island at the Center of the World. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:48:47 PM 945 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 1081 Views
I finished it last night - the last 100+ pages rather fast, considering how long the whole took. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:00:50 AM 773 Views
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