Doctor Zhivago or Doctor Zhiva no?
Zhivago the blurb
Banned in the Soviet Union until 1988, Doctor Zhivago is the epic story of the life and loves of a poet-physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to shelter in the Ural Mountains, Yuri Zhivago finds himself embroiled in a battle between the Whites and the Reds, and in love with the beautiful nurse Lara.
I read about it in a book
I have wanted to read Doctor Zhivago ever since reading The Secrets We Kept. I even treated myself to a beautiful Vintage Classics copy. I was put off though by the weight of the book (definite doorstop) and it lounged on my TBR shelf for ages.
I find the sheer amount of names in Russian literature to be very confusing and Zhivago was no exception. Every character has several, often on the same page so it takes concentration at all times. This is draining especially as the plot meanders very slowly yet you can’t skim read for working out which character has provided the duck and who is talking on the train. You also need to have some grasp of Russian history with terminology such as Whites, Reds, Bolshevik, Marxist and social democrats being thrown about in various parts of the book.
This is all fine if the story captures you. I didn’t know much about the book going in but was under the impression it was a great love story between Yuri and Lara. Yet the two did not really meet until 100 pages in and by half way hadn’t even begun their relationship. I won’t give the ending away in case you are not familiar (I hate when it’s presumed you know when it comes to classic books) but the whole thing is generally long and depressing. Do read The Secrets We Kept though, that is really quite good.
