Active Users:693 Time:02/02/2026 03:27:29 AM
Back to Messageboard Post New Thread Search Help Stats Rules
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.
Reply to message
So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago. Tom - 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM 1735 Views
I liked it a lot. wahooka - 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM 1070 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 923 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 1032 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates. Tom - 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM 858 Views
I see your point. wahooka - 15/03/2010 11:36:30 PM 963 Views
The idea of revolution was perpetual. In theory, anyway. The Shrike - 16/03/2010 12:30:46 AM 1018 Views
So far, so good ranagrande - 15/03/2010 03:58:44 PM 997 Views
There are lots of good quotes. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:20:26 PM 842 Views
I have finally finished it. ranagrande - 22/03/2010 12:31:24 AM 1007 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM 911 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM 1013 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM* jh - 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM 399 Views
It's not contagious! Rebekah - 15/03/2010 05:47:41 PM 848 Views
It probably is. Don't worry, we still like you! *NM* Tom - 15/03/2010 09:55:07 PM 400 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM 934 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 1059 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living" Tom - 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM 884 Views
I knew those Larry - 15/03/2010 11:22:02 PM 980 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 1048 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 977 Views
I noticed that as well Larry - 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM 1049 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too Tom - 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM 940 Views
Yes Larry - 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM 1108 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately. *NM* Rebekah - 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM 370 Views
My initial thoughts Beqi - 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM 1010 Views
Re: My initial thoughts wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM 928 Views
Which idioms were you talking about? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:43:09 PM 965 Views
Re: Which idioms were you talking about? wahooka - 15/03/2010 10:07:23 PM 988 Views
The names are not quite as hard as it may seem at first Tom - 15/03/2010 09:41:06 PM 926 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 937 Views
This is my first novel in that genre, fiction or non. Beqi - 15/03/2010 08:22:04 PM 827 Views
I've read bits & pieces. Rebekah - 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM 960 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 1095 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon. Tom - 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM 962 Views
Koenker was mine for Soviet history. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:08:40 PM 1240 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 1018 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting. Tashmere - 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM 893 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 363 Views
Finally got around to reading this. Thanks for sharing. *NM* Rebekah - 22/03/2010 04:45:24 PM 386 Views
You're welcome. *NM* The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:26 PM 367 Views
I knew a bit about it. wahooka - 15/03/2010 08:36:20 PM 1049 Views
Fiction or non-fiction? Larry - 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM 1107 Views
Do you mean Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed? Tom - 15/03/2010 09:54:34 PM 937 Views
Ten...I was typing from memories of close to 15 years ago Larry - 15/03/2010 10:57:05 PM 967 Views
Either, though specifically I was thinking of non-fiction. The Shrike - 15/03/2010 10:11:52 PM 1004 Views
That's what I was thinking of when I read it Larry - 15/03/2010 10:59:36 PM 1010 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period. Jacob - 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM 988 Views
Enough to understand everything easily enough. Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:03:54 AM 833 Views
My own personal thoughts on Doctor Zhivago Tom - 15/03/2010 11:44:05 PM 1207 Views
This review has been helpful so far for me. Tashmere - 23/03/2010 11:39:51 PM 884 Views
Essay I just finished writing on the book Larry - 16/03/2010 01:26:23 AM 1360 Views
I'm really enjoying it. nossy - 16/03/2010 03:05:25 AM 979 Views
Hey, if I can come late to the party, so can you. *NM* Legolas - 21/04/2010 01:04:15 AM 318 Views
I'm still sailing through it AgentOrange - 16/03/2010 09:25:34 PM 1050 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 970 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 360 Views
Some questions. Rebekah - 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM 896 Views
Class can be tricky given the Russian context. The Shrike - 19/03/2010 05:09:14 PM 1063 Views
Grand. Thanks for the answers. Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:33:18 PM 965 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Tom - 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM 958 Views
Re: As an addendum to what Greg wrote: Rebekah - 20/03/2010 02:36:36 PM 986 Views
No, Tonya was exiled. It was a fortune of timing. Tom - 20/03/2010 05:22:44 PM 958 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them The Shrike - 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM 991 Views
It looks a bit strained to me. Tom - 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM 872 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM 1000 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 921 Views
I figured that you would like it. The Shrike - 22/03/2010 05:14:06 PM 1055 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 753 Views
Back to Messageboard Post New Thread Search Help Stats Rules

Reply to Message

Block Quote Paragraph Quote
Formatting
Smiley Codes