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Doctor Zhivago


Doctor Zhivago (Доктор Живаго) is a novel by Boris Pasternak, which was also adapted by Robert Bolt into a 1965 epic film. The novel is named after its protagonist, Yuri Zhivago, a medical doctor and poet. It tells the story of a man torn between two women, set against the backdrop of the 1917 Russian Revolution

The novel

Although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, Doctor Zhivago was not completed until 1956. It was submitted for publication to the journal Novyi mir but, thanks to Pasternak's difficult relationship with the Soviet government, it was rejected. The following year, it appeared in an Italian translation, and this publication was partly responsible for the fact that the author was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. The book was finally published in Russian in 1988, ironically in the pages of Novyi mir.

Zhivago is sensitive and poetic nearly to the point of mysticism. He is distracted by the beauty of ice crystals on a window pane. In medical school, one of his professors reminds him that bacteria may be beautiful under the microscope but does ugly things to people. Yuri Zhivago's idealism stands in brutal contrast to the horrors of the Russian Revolution. He must witness cannibalism, dismemberment, and a young man shot dead for wanting to see his family. Even the love of his life, Lara (sometimes called Larisa), is taken from him.

Pasternak's description of the singer Kubarikha in the chapter 'Iced Rownberries' is virtually identical to how Sofia Satina (sister-in-law/cousin of Sergei Rachmaninov) described Gypsy singer Nadezhda Plevitskaya (1884-1940). Since Rachmaninov was a friend of the Pasternak family, and Plevitskaya a friend of Rachmaninov, Plevitskaya was probably Pasternak's 'mind image' when he wrote the chapter; something which also shows how Pasternak had roots in music.

The film

Primary cast


Award wins:


Award nominations:


Doctor Zhivago is also a miniseries with Hans Matheson and Keira Knightley, first appearing on Masterpiece Theatre in 2002.

There is also an eight-part Russian miniseries expected in 2005.

External links


Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46