Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)

Although the cover blurb touts it as "a love story for all time", and the movie played it up as a love story, to me it was much more about what was happening to the people in Russia during the time covered in the book and how the great events of the time affected them. It didn't really turn into a love story until about the last quarter of the book.

Doctor Zhivago covers a broad swath of Russian history, from the 1905 rebellion through World War I, the initial revolution in February 1917, the October 1917 Bolshevik revolution, and the following civil war. The lives of Dr. Zhivago, Lara, and their friends and acquaintances are set against this background. Their stories are complicated, and there are a lot of characters who appear, disappear, and turn up unexpectedly later in the novel. Dr. Zhivago's story is tragic, although this is somewhat his own fault. The overall tone of the novel was darker than I expected.

In sum, I'd have to say that it was an interesting story, but I doubt that I would read it again. I struggled a bit with the rating, but finally decided that 3.5 stars is closest to how I feel about it--good, but not great.… (mer)