Pasternak intentionally used the "Apocalypse" theme. I enjoyed his point about how Christ brought about a revolution that made the individual have intrinsic worth, and that Western civilization was founded on that principle. His statement that the revolution brought back the god-kings of ancient Mesopotamia and the ruler worship and thus represented the kingdom of the Antichrist was just as profound and thorough of a refutation of communism as Dostoevsky's refutation in the legend of the Grand Inquisitor from The Brothers Karamazov.
Did notice those as well, although I'm uncertain how much I'll refer to it in the essay I'm writing (might have it posted in the next hour or so). Right now, more interested in the notion of Revolution for starting the essay.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
So, let's talk about Doctor Zhivago.
- 15/03/2010 12:51:09 PM
1793 Views
I liked it a lot.
- 15/03/2010 03:24:34 PM
1121 Views
I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution.
- 15/03/2010 09:19:54 PM
968 Views
Re: I mostly agree with your points, but I'm not sure Zhivago was ever disillusioned with revolution
- 15/03/2010 09:57:29 PM
1079 Views
Yes, it's the Soviet state, not the revolution, that he hates.
- 15/03/2010 11:16:29 PM
900 Views
There will be more later. Much more. So lets start at the beginning.
- 15/03/2010 04:22:15 PM
961 Views
... I'm clearly lacking in braincells.
- 15/03/2010 05:03:35 PM
1062 Views
... yes, you moved to scotland? *NM*
- 15/03/2010 05:42:21 PM
439 Views
I didn't notice the Anna Karenina connection. That's a good point.
- 15/03/2010 09:26:41 PM
984 Views
Yes. Perhaps we should tell the non-Russian speakers/readers that the name of the protagonist,
- 15/03/2010 10:22:39 PM
1108 Views
Zhivago is the Church Slavonic genitive singular of живой (zhivoi), "living"
- 15/03/2010 11:18:23 PM
927 Views
I thought this was a great read, and I'm sure I've missed a lot, which will make a reread good too.
- 15/03/2010 05:16:19 PM
1091 Views
On balance, there IS a love story. Just not quite the one that most people think.
- 15/03/2010 09:34:20 PM
1026 Views
I noticed that as well
- 15/03/2010 09:42:04 PM
1104 Views
There is a lot of Christian eschatology, too
- 15/03/2010 09:46:59 PM
987 Views
Yes
- 15/03/2010 11:23:23 PM
1157 Views
Yes. This is what I was going to say, just not as articulately.
*NM*
- 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM
393 Views
*NM*
- 15/03/2010 10:12:33 PM
393 Views
My initial thoughts
- 15/03/2010 06:02:21 PM
1051 Views
Re: My initial thoughts
- 15/03/2010 08:54:15 PM
975 Views
There appears to be a lull, so some background - How many of you have read anything about
- 15/03/2010 08:19:07 PM
989 Views
I've read bits & pieces.
- 15/03/2010 08:33:41 PM
1007 Views
Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution.
- 15/03/2010 08:47:42 PM
1146 Views
Interestingly, I'm seeing parallels now that I'm reading Gibbon.
- 15/03/2010 09:53:15 PM
1003 Views
Re: Ok, since you're interested, here is some "light" reading for you. Approach with caution.
- 15/03/2010 11:05:22 PM
1064 Views
Thank you for calling it "light" reading. The quotation marks were comforting.
- 17/03/2010 09:56:26 AM
942 Views
I will read and respond to this when I remember to bring my glasses home from work! *NM*
- 17/03/2010 06:14:31 PM
380 Views
Fiction or non-fiction?
- 15/03/2010 09:21:04 PM
1157 Views
Familiar with the history, though I've never exhaustively studied the time period.
- 16/03/2010 02:20:23 PM
1034 Views
Why would you consider this a classic? What made it so good or profound for (plural) you?
- 16/03/2010 11:19:23 PM
1019 Views
Put a question mark at the end of the first sentence and read my response. *NM*
- 17/03/2010 12:09:58 AM
386 Views
Some questions.
- 19/03/2010 08:27:38 AM
936 Views
As an addendum to what Greg wrote:
- 19/03/2010 05:56:56 PM
1011 Views
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
- 21/03/2010 05:34:03 PM
1040 Views
It looks a bit strained to me.
- 22/03/2010 03:28:34 AM
917 Views
So far the reviews are pretty glowing, as are the Amazon reviewers.
- 22/03/2010 01:44:19 PM
1049 Views
In other news, I read about 100 pages of The Island at the Center of the World.
- 22/03/2010 03:48:47 PM
970 Views
I finished it last night - the last 100+ pages rather fast, considering how long the whole took.
- 21/04/2010 01:00:50 AM
798 Views
