Rating: 
Summary: A Middlebrow Masterpiece.
Review: Let's get something straight: "Doctor Zhivago" is a didactic--not an artistic--novel; that is, "Doctor Zhivago" is a vehicle for Pasternak's ideas and not his art. And, as ART this pretentious lecture is an utter flop. Also, "Doctor Zhivago" is quintessentially monologic rather than dialogic, all important characters speaking with the same tiresome voice--Pasternak's. But don't take my word for it, consider the following, more weighty, evaluations:* "Doctor Zhivago, a feeble production, though an important one." --Georgy Adamovich * "The novel `Doctor Zhivago'...is unworthy to stand beside Pasternak's own earlier work" --Andrew Field * "DOCTOR ZHIVAGO--which may brim with human interest but is wretched art and platitudinous thought." --Vladimir Nabokov * "From this [artistic] point of view Zhivago is a sorry thing, clumsy, melodramatic, with stock situations and trite characters." --Vladimir Nabokov * "[Doctor Zhivago is] flat, clumsy, labored, and embarrassingly crude." --Isaac Deutscher * "Pasternak's novel [Doctor Zhivago] is evidently the work of a poet untrained in the disciplines of novel writing, impatient of all restraints, incapable of keeping his characters in exact focus, and strangely incompetent in his management of many of the episodes in the novel..." --Robert Payne One glaring shortcoming in the writing is its uniformly weak characterization, and Pasternak admitted this much himself. (Lara Guisher's ridiculous introduction as "the purest being in the world," p.25, makes me cringe every time I read it.) Pasternak fancied himself a philosopher, and under the ponderous weight of Pasternak's dopey philosophy his characters become mere mouthpieces for his ideas. Forced by the pressure of his underlying doctrine, a dizzying parade of characters pop in, sputter out some philoso-babble, and then disappear. Ironically, for a writer who preached the primacy of the individual, Pasternak's characters appear as banal, paper-thin caricatures. Like all purveyors of didactic fiction, Pasternak's literary calculus is dominated by the equation "character=idea," a proven artistic failure. The corncobby Zhivago is nothing more than a poorly disguised stand-in for Pasternak, whose inability to create a complex, original character, combined with his superficial attempts to dissociate himself from the bumbling doctor, left poor Zhivago without an identity--a common problem with self-indulgently autobiographical pseudo-fiction. Again, I'm not alone in my basic opinion: * "[The characters] lack vitality, they are contrived." --Anna Akhmatova * "The main figures aren't alive; they're made of cardboard, and the most cardboardy of the lot is Doctor Zhivago himself." --Lidiya Chukovskaya * "Doctor Zhivago himself is neither a Zhivago nor a doctor: that is, he has done nothing to earn his surname (a variation of the Russian adjective `zhivoy,' alive) because he is so lifeless..." --Ronald Hingley The narrative is another weakness. The mawkish evocations of love are so saccharine my eyes would roll like the tumblers in a slot machine. Worse still is Pasternak's propensity to tell the reader explicitly what to think of a given character (or, equivalently, idea) before he elaborates in journalistic fashion. Other passages are simply pathetic (e.g., "...the man screamed, and with one great shudder he gave up the ghost," p. 118). The poetry may be excellent, but unfortunately poetry does not translate. The lines "To be a woman is a great adventure; To drive men mad is a heroic thing" from the poem "Explanation" are delightfully bad in any language, however. In "Doctor Zhivago" Pasternak's philosophy of life is not so much lived as it is ponderously pontificated in a tiresome series of "impromptu lecture[s]," "wordy dissertation[s]," and journal transcriptions. The actual ideas are mostly muddled and derivative, but who really cares? Literature (art in general) is not about advancing philosophical ideas, social or political causes, nor is it concerned with crypto-symbolic mumbo jumbo; philistines see art in this way. The artistic experience is always undermined by expositions of naked ideas and socio-political generalizations, which is why didactic fiction, in general, fails as art. (by the way, didactic novels are middlebrow rather than highbrow.) Everyone quoted above was, to my knowledge, an admirer of Pasternak's early poetry and some even found something of redeeming value in this book. Sure, there are a few--a very few--splendid passages which elevate "Doctor Zhivago" to the very top of the literary trash heap, but most of the book is so poorly executed that it serves best as a case study in bad literary technique. A novel should be judged as a whole--and here I differ with Pasternak's views on art which are inartistically reported in the book--all the constituent details and particulars orchestrated according to an original style so as to evoke a unique experience. When the details stink, the whole invariably stinks. Zhivago stinks. Period.
Rating: 
Summary: The absolute greatest book!!
Review: This is an excellent story!! From the first to last word you are enthralled be the poetic writing of Pasternak and the complexity of his characters.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece of modern literature.
Review: Pasternak combines the twin stories of the turmoil of the Russian revolution and the life of Yuri Zhivago in one absorbing literary masterpiece. From the childhood trauma of losing his mother to the moving love that Zhivago feels for both his wife and Lara, Pasternak manages to tell a story that weaves tragedy and joy in the one novel. However, what truly makes the book worth reading are the passages of beautifully crafted writing that border on prose. A fuller appreciation for these passages growing with each additional reading of the novel. Although a complex and initially difficult read, Dr. Zhivago blossoms into a novel which sweeps you into its story and carries you to an end that leaves you feeling saddened and yet richer for the experience. I would doubt that few can read this novel without it changing them and that fewer still can resist reading it again and again.
Rating: 
Summary: Combination of heavy philosophy with a beautiful soap opera
Review: This is a worthwhile read. After plodding through the beginning, I, too, fell in love with Lara. I could not put the book down any time her character and her relationship with Zhivago was discussed. The more high brow and intellectually challenging parts of the book that focus on the foredoomed defeat of a poetic free spirit by politics (and not necessarily Soviet politics)were, I felt, too tedious and plodding to qualify the novel among the genuine Russian classics. There is no real plot. The lingering impression is of a beautiful love story, set against a less beautiful and compelling but still profound philosophical and political background. The soap opera wins out.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: Time does go by, and in a well written summed up novel, Pasternak shares through his poetry at the end of the book what Zhivago thinks, and portrays how a well-educated and successful man can be destroyed during the times of revolution
Rating:
Summary: At the very pinnacle of this century's literary works!
Review: The key to the profound and untold eminence of this literary creation is its symbolism! As an avid reader of this prodigious writing for well over a quarter century now, one may readily assert that, without a grasp of the intricate array of manifold symbols generated solely within the text itself, there can be no unfolding of Doctor Zhivago's timeless, revelatory grandeur and, ultimately, its intended signification. As if to accentuate the primacy of the book's symbolism, near its beginning (ch.2, sec.10) we find a statement concluding with the following crucial, enigmatic phrase: "... life is symbolic because it is full of meaning." Numerous commentaries have noted that, "zhiv" in the Russian language means "alive" (a derivative of the word for "life") and "zhivago" means "he who is alive." With this in mind, one possible approach to elucidating the above phrase might be to consider "LIFE, that is, ZHIVAGO (the book itself, as well as its protagonist) is symbolic because it is full of meaning." Incidentally, among the book's myriad symbolic images and personages, the CANDLE is paramount. Its presence and its absence, whether subtle or manifest, are interwoven throughout both the prose text and the poems. Without discerning and appreciating the candle symbolism, we remain light-years removed from any worthy comprehension of Doctor Zhivago. Indeed, this likewise applies to the other primary symbol, the TRAIN. Though it would seem inviting to make comparisons and contrasts with various great Russian novels of the past (or more recent acclaimed 20th century novels), such approaches are abysmally misguided and ultimately futile. Declining imitation of the timeworn novelistic genre, Pasternak is intent upon introducing a radically new, quintessentially dialogical genre, if you will! As for the movie, admittedly the David Lean/Robert Bolt romantic portrayal of Yurii's and Lara's epochal ordeal is captivating and occasionally provocative. Be that as it may, the cinematic rendering of Pasternak's original text insufficiently conveys any true sense for the relevant symbolism and, consequently, fails to penetrate the meaning-filled essence of this incomparable masterpiece. So, by entering a wondrous realm of sweeping philosophical dimension (pointedly purged of psychologizing), a vast, meditative realm regarding elemental human relations in light of history, art, religion, politics -- yes, life in general and particular! -- Doctor Zhivago, in all its symbol-filled, non-imitative radiance, affords boundless, abiding inspiration in our times of change and plenty
Rating:
Summary: A real classic. Deeper meaning on every page. A must read
Review: This book is so enchanting that once started it can never be put down. There is so much imagery and so much to take at face value. I highly recommend this book
Rating:
Summary: Doctor Zhivago is a great Russian novel
Review: "Doctor Zhivago" is one of the best Russian novels of all times. While not legally available in Russia until 1988, Pasternak won the Nobel Prize (which he declined to receive) very soon after its publication in Italy, in 1957. Its high-critical appeal rests primarily in its myriad stylistic developments and lyrical descriptions. On the surface, "Doctor Zhivago" may seem like a realist story in the Dostoyevsky-Tolstoy tradition, the story of Zhivago, a poet and physician, beautiful Lara Guishar, and their love for each other, in the tumultuous times of World War I and the Russian Revolution. However, the novel is much more than that. Pasternak, we must remember, was primarly a poet, and, indeed, "Docotor Zhivago" is a poet's novel, for it is lyrical, musical, and enchanting as beautiful poetry. The novel seeks to redefine man's place in the cosmos, and boldly says that man is not above nature, rather part of nature. That a young boy may feel the same longing a wolf cub does when its mother has died serves to illustrate this point. Unlike many modern novels that thrash away at religion and folklore, this novel seeks to encompass them, redefining convincingly what is lasting and important in life. At one point Zhivago says, 'Man was born to live, not to prepare for life' and Zhivago (like Pasternak in real life) finds a way to lead a rich and full life in the repressive Soviet society. We can compare "Docotor Zhivago" to the style of D. H. Lawrence, while its rich use of simile is reminiscent of Bruno Schulz's "Streets of Crocodiles." "Docotor Zhivago" is sad, somber, and beautiful, but above all it is an epic. While the innumerable coincidences and long nature descriptions may give trouble to some, most seriour readers will find their hearts throb and ask themselves again and again through its pages, "Is it as good as I think it is?"
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: This novel portraying the young Doctor Zhivago covers with beautiful accuracy and simplicity the many events of the Russian Revolution and its consequences in the eyes of a cast of different characters, whose intertwined lives are all affected by the political changes, some more than others. Although one cannot compare this piece of Russian literature to the works of Tolstoy or, more recently, the outstanding Rybakov, author of the Arbat trilogy, "Doctor Zhivago" is certainly an excellent read, rich with shattered dreams and lost loves.
Rating: 
Summary: The Movie really helps
Review: Great book, but if you really want to understand the plot, watch one of the (2 video) movies!!!
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