Doctor Zhivago
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The Celebrated Novel of the Century
THE only truly great novel to come out of post-revolutionary Russia significantly appearsfirst in translation, without the approval of the Russian Communist Party censors. But thissensational aspect should not obscure the fact that
Doctor Zhivago
is above all astupendously rich and moving book. Like
War and Peace
,
it evokes an historically crucialperiod in terms of a large variety of characters whose destinies areinterwoven—railwaymen, farmers, intellectuals, merchants, lawyers, professors, students,soldiers, the well-to-do and the destitute.Zhivago, a physician and poet, is the central figure. Through his experiences the readerwitnesses the outbreak and the consequences of the Revolution: army revolts, irrationalkillings, starvation, epidemics, Party inquisition. In an epic train ride from Moscow to theUral Mountains—a journey that takes weeks—Zhivago transports his family to what hehopes is shelter in obscurity. Actually, he lands them all in the chaos and cruelty of strifebetween Whites and Reds. These are not times for a domestic idyll or emotional bliss, andZhivago sees man’s simplest aspirations to a normal human life hopelessly frustrated.Pasternak’s superbly evocative style is equal to the grandeur of his theme. “Storm” isthe recurring key word of his book—the storm of war, of revolution, of human passions, of nature. With awe and terror he recreates modern history’s most titanic effort to bring fortha new world from a deliberately created chaos.The book is crowded with scenes and people of unforgettable impact: the eeriness of partisan camps in the ice and snow of Siberia’s primeval forests; the trains crowded withdeportees; apartment houses overrun by rats; cities starving and freezing; villages burnedand depopulated. And woven into this background is the story of Zhivago’s love for tenderand beautiful Lara, constantly pursued, found, and lost again, the human symbol of life’ssweetness and joy.
THIS IS A REPRINT OF THE HARDCOVER EDITIONPUBLISHED BY PANTHEON BOOKS, INC.
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