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Helga's Reviews > Doctor Zhivago
Doctor Zhivago
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What in the name of all the soul-destroying books was this?
It was too long! And this comes from someone who has read War and Peace twice!
And it was boring. Like ‘Vanity Fair’ boring!
Not only there were too many characters, but the author was kind enough to alternate the character names between the first, middle and last name in every other sentence. For example Yury Zhivago was referred to as Yury, the Doctor, and Zhivago in three consecutive sentences. Add pet-names and women’s maiden and married names and you’ve got yourself a fuzzy confusing stew.
The plot 🙄 the plot was disjointed to the extent that I felt I was reading the pre-draft of the book. Sometimes the story was jumping to four or five years later without any coherent explanation and then there was the unfortunate times one was stuck with a character’s daily activities, unnecessary dialogues and long-winded ramblings.
If this book wasn’t a classic and was written in the 21st century I would have thrown in the towel after 100 or so pages.
That said, based on so many rave reviews, probably it was me and not the book.
It was too long! And this comes from someone who has read War and Peace twice!
And it was boring. Like ‘Vanity Fair’ boring!
Not only there were too many characters, but the author was kind enough to alternate the character names between the first, middle and last name in every other sentence. For example Yury Zhivago was referred to as Yury, the Doctor, and Zhivago in three consecutive sentences. Add pet-names and women’s maiden and married names and you’ve got yourself a fuzzy confusing stew.
The plot 🙄 the plot was disjointed to the extent that I felt I was reading the pre-draft of the book. Sometimes the story was jumping to four or five years later without any coherent explanation and then there was the unfortunate times one was stuck with a character’s daily activities, unnecessary dialogues and long-winded ramblings.
If this book wasn’t a classic and was written in the 21st century I would have thrown in the towel after 100 or so pages.
That said, based on so many rave reviews, probably it was me and not the book.
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Reading Progress
August 30, 2013
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 30, 2013
– Shelved
January 10, 2025
–
Started Reading
January 10, 2025
–
1.69%
"(At his mother's grave) He raised his head and from his vantage point absently glanced about the bare autumn landscape and the domes of the monastery. His snub-nosed face became contorted and he stretched out his neck. If a wolf cub had done this, everyone would have thought that it was about to howl. The boy covered his face with his hands and burst into sobs."
page
10
January 20, 2025
–
15.2%
"How wonderful to be alive, he thought. But why does it always hurt?"
page
90
January 25, 2025
–
20.27%
"More vividly than ever before, he realized that art has two constant, two unending concerns: it always meditates on death and thus always creates life."
page
120
January 29, 2025
– Shelved as:
classics
January 29, 2025
– Shelved as:
historical-fiction
January 29, 2025
– Shelved as:
russian
January 29, 2025
–
Finished Reading
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Daniel
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Jan 29, 2025 01:50PM
I’ve always wondered about this one. Now I know! Pat yourself on the back for sticking with it. Your sacrifice is noted lol. The too many characters with different names/nicknames is the worst.
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Daniel wrote: "I’ve always wondered about this one. Now I know! Pat yourself on the back for sticking with it. Your sacrifice is noted lol. The too many characters with different names/nicknames is the worst."Thanks! 😂 On a whim, I decided 2025 is the year to read some of the oldest added books in my TBR. It wasn't a good choice apparently. 🙄
That’s how it works out sometimes. You never know til you read it. I’ve seen the movie but never dared to try to book (yet). I have a list of books I’ve always put off that I’m trying to work on too. Books I’ve always thought would be too daunting. War and Peace is one of them. But, you’ve read it TWICE!! May have to finally get around to that one soon.
Daniel wrote: "That’s how it works out sometimes. You never know til you read it. I’ve seen the movie but never dared to try to book (yet). I have a list of books I’ve always put off that I’m trying to work on to..."I enjoyed every page of War and Peace! The story-line, the prose and characterization was just brilliant. It's a big book, so you should be in the mood and also put aside some time, daily, to read a considerable portion of it.
It was so convincing that I will never ever read this book
This sounds a bit off-putting, w lots of characters, and alternating names for them! 🫣
Your review is a classic as always Helga, thanks for the laughter🤣
Hamedborhan wrote: "It was so convincing that I will never ever read this book "Oh, no!! Please read it! There are so many 5 star reviews that I wonder maybe I wasn't in the proper mood to read it.
Neil wrote: "This sounds a bit off-putting, w lots of characters, and alternating names for them! 🫣"Yes, specially with the difficult Russian names.
JD wrote: "Your review is a classic as always Helga, thanks for the laughter🤣"😂 You're welcome, JD!
Helga, you’re not alone. Some of these Russian doorstop novels can be a tad boring. As you say, following the story is not helped by the typically Russian name salad, either!
Peter wrote: "Helga, you’re not alone. Some of these Russian doorstop novels can be a tad boring. As you say, following the story is not helped by the typically Russian name salad, either!"This is one of those cases in which the movie was much better than the book, Peter! haha
