In this month’s Reading Group we will discuss Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Banned in the Soviet Union until 1988, Doctor Zhivago is the epic story of the life and loves of Yuri Zhivago during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, and is considered one of the greatest love stories ever told.
The Online Reading Group will help to improve inclusivity and accessibility, giving the opportunity for those who cannot attend in person to join us for discussion. We encourage you to join us in person if you can, and leave the online places to those who would benefit from them. The meeting will be facilitated by our bookshop co-curator Sasha Padziarei and engagement curator Alisa Oleva.
Writing between 1946 and 1955, when millions of lives had been forever changed by war, famine, revolution and political terror, Pasternak tells the story of one man caught up in history. Doctor Yuri Zhivago is a poet, philosopher and physician raised in a comfortable bourgeois world, when his life is turned upside down. Over the tumultuous years Zhivago repeatedly encounters Lara, a beautiful nurse. She too has been subject to the cruel whims of history and other people, and the two fall in love — but at a high cost. As he wrestles with the new order, witnesses first hand the brutality of the Bolsheviks, and tries to protect his family and artistic sensibility, Zhivago realises he cannot control his own fate.
We have several editions of the book available in our shop.
2021 saw the opening of Pushkin House’s very own physical bookshop in addition to our online store. While it is still being honed and developed, we are keen to highlight literature that inspires, encourages, moves and validates our readers. We also want to amplify the voices, writers and readers that historically didn’t get and, perhaps, still don’t get the visibility, power and appreciation they deserve. Most of all, we want to create a physical (and an online) place for connection where people can come and share their views.