Product Description
This authoritative new biography of the Russian poet and prose writer Boris Pasternak is the first part of a two-volume set, covering the period 1890-1928. Drawing on archives and many eyewitness accounts, Barnes' study sheds light on currently unexplored aspects of Pasternak's character and family background, and his artistic, social and historical environment. He combines biographical investigation with detailed textual analysis of translated quotations in verse and prose to reveal the source of Pasternak's extraordinary writings. The book examines a wide range of topics that include his musical enthusiasm and relations with Scriabin, his philosophical studies, his activities in World War I and his response to the 1917 revolutions, and his stance as a liberal artistic intellectual in the 1920s. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a bi-lingual edition of Boris Pasternak's poetry. ... Read more

Product Description
During B. Pasternaks lifetime not a single works collection was published. Pasternak Complete Set of Works is the first edition containing full volume of archive materials gathered within 40 years of his poetic work, which gives an opportunity to visualize the process how this or that poem was created. The comments to poems include all versions of unidentified autographs from archives of L. Ozerov, L. Brick, O. Ivinskaya, and others.Pasternaks poetry lovers will find unknown editions and fragments. Different editions of the famous Hamlet and other verses are found. Draft wordings of Doctor Zhivago are presented, including pieces and versions rejected by Pasternak. Some of them were discarded for political reasons, but now they bring new dimensions and coloring to the novel.The set ncludes adjusted versions of some unfinished fictional pieces. The comments to the prose have draft versions which let to follow the refinement of Pasternaks skills prior to approaching his major workDoctor Zhivago novel. It is the first time when the novel is accompanied by the comprehensive detailed comments both regarding the history of the novel creation, as well as many text peculiarities.In First Experiments section there are unfinished and unpublished creations by Pasternak. They found some Pasternaks speeches transcripts and biographic forms unknown to readers. Poetic translation section is widened tootranslations of Charles van Lerberg will be introduced to the booklovers for the first time. Also new to the readers will be the first edition of his Shakespeares Hamlet translation, a fragment of Goethes Mysteries in a never previously published version.Multimedia CD-ROM includes:Texts:Biography Destiny and Experience of B. Pasternak Translations of dramatic works, not included into the basic set;Photo Album:Family Album compiled by P.E. Pasternak;SoundtracksPasternak poems read by the authorMusic by B. Pasternak ... Read more

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It is the story of Zhivago, poet and physician, and his struggle to keep his family alive in the midst of the overwhelming chaos of the Russian Revolution. And, it is about Zhivago's love for the beautiful Lara, the woman he pursues beyond all reason, the human symbol of life's sweetness and joy....
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Customer Reviews (4)

Great book ...small print
This is a great read!Too bad, the print was so small I had to use a magnifier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pasternak v. Reader, Round II
My first reading of Dr. Zhivago was in high school. At 15, the book was a chore. Impenetrable and numerous Russian names (often for the same character) and endless description of the Russian landscape left me exhausted and unimpressed. After rereading and enjoying a few other high school assignments, I came across Dr. Zhivago on my bookshelf and wondered if I would find more appreciation for Mr. Pasternak's novel ten years later.

Yes, I did. And no, I didn't.

I found that this time around I had something more of a connection with the characters. I better understood the way that life can pull a person in strange directions and drop them into unexpected and unwanted situations. I understood that sometimes people are swept into and out of the place they want to be - and why they stay where things are bad and leave where things are good. I certainly had a far greater appreciation for Pasternak's obviously loving descriptions of his homeland.

That said, the things that drove my dislike of Dr. Zhivago the first time were still still there. The sprawling story and unending task of keeping all the characters straight were still a detraction. I don't know if the problem with character names springs from the fact that, being Russian names, they are unfamiliar to my mind or if Pasternak simply failed to rein in his cast of thousands. Unresolved plot lines rarely bother me but, when combined with extensive background on what ending up being minor characters, Dr. Zhivago felt a bit as if Pasternak let the narrative get away from him. Maybe that was the point. Sometimes life just gets away from you. After all, he's the one with a Nobel Prize. Who am I to criticize?

While I actually liked the novel this time, I feel as if I should have liked Dr. Zhivago more than I did. Maybe it's that I can't escape my first impression.

The Movie really helps
Great book, but if you really want to understand the plot, watch one of the (2 video) movies!!!

The Russian Revolution is not for me...
This book was by far the hardest book I've ever had to read. The story was too hard to follow, since I kept getting caught up in the words. It's most likely a good story but the character interplay and the sequence of eventS reminded me of a bad soap opera. The affair between the doctor and Lara was just sickening and I couldn't stick with it for long. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Corrected title
The correct spelling of the title of this book is "Vstrecha russkoi emigratsii s "Doktorom Zhivago": Boris Pasternak i kholodnaia voina" (Stanford Slavic Studies, volume 38). It is a study of the reception in the West of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago, the various editions of the book, and Pasternak's nomination for the Nobel Prize. Written by Lazar Fleishman, a leading expert and author or editor of several books about Pasternak's life and writings, the book also reproduces letters and comments by literary scholars and writers of the time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Redundant Alchemy as Translation: From Gold to Gold
"Translation," as Vladimir Nabokov said, "is a form of betrayal." As such, poetry in a foreign tongue is seldom worth reading in translation -- one usually finds the fire and beauty of the wordtrapped behind the translator's teeth. Fortunately, for the Englishreader, George L. Kline has the smile of a jack-o'-lantern. Not merelycontent to convey the meaning and ambiguities of Pasternak's poems, Klineclosely mimics the rhythms and sonorous melodies of the Nobel Prizelaureate's Dylan Thomas-esque lines. Compare the following stanzas from"Lessons in English." The first is from Merrill Sparks'competent translation; the second is a morsel from Kline's breathtakingtranslation:

When it came time to sing for Desdemona/ And she began --her song, restraining,/ The darkest demon saved for her dark day/ A psalmof stream-beds, weeping, flowing.

When it was Desdemona's hour to sing,/When her voice steadied and grew strong,/ Black day, a demon blacker far,sent up/ A psalm for her of wailing river-runs.

So fine are these seventranslations that one wallows for more of Kline's touch. To best know thebeauty of Pasternak, short of learning Russian, seek out this glorious (butall too brief) book.

Redundant Alchemy as Translation: From Gold to Gold
"Translation," as Vladimir Nabokov said, "is a form of betrayal." As such, poetry in a foreign tongue is seldom worth reading in translation -- one usually finds the fire and beauty of the wordtrapped behind the translator's teeth. Fortunately, for the Englishreader, George L. Kline has the smile of a jack-o'-lantern. Not merelycontent to convey the meaning and ambiguities of Pasternak's poems, Klineclosely mimics the rhythms and sonorous melodies of the Nobel Prizelaureate's Dylan Thomas-esque lines. Compare the following stanzas from"Lessons in English." The first is from Merrill Sparks'competent translation; the second is a morsel from Kline's breathtakingtranslation:

When it came time to sing for Desdemona And she began -- hersong, restraining, The darkest demon saved for her dark day A psalm ofstream-beds, weeping, flowing.

When it was Desdemona's hour to sing, Whenher voice steadied and grew strong, Black day, a demon blacker far, sent upA psalm for her of wailing river-runs.

So fine are these seventranslations that one wallows for more of Kline's touch. To best know thebeauty of Pasternak, short of learning Russian, seek out this glorious (butall too brief) book. ... Read more

Product Description

Boris Pasternak has generally been regarded as an artist who was indifferent to the literary and political storms of his time. Lazar Fleishman gives the great writer's life a new perspective. He shows that Pasternak's entire literary career should be regarded as a complex and passionate response to constant changes in Russian cultural and social life.

Drawing on a vast array of sources, Fleishman's chronicle encompasses both the familiar and the little-known aspects of the poet's life and work. He describes the formative role played by Pasternak's father, a prominent Russian painter, and the intellectual endeavors of the young man before his literary debut. He explores the intricate relations of Pasternak to the main movements of literary modernism, including symbolism and futurism.

Particularly informative are the chapters devoted to the postrevolutionary years. Fleishman untangles the poet's contacts with leading political figures (Stalin, Trotsky, Bukharin) and fellow writers (Gorky, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova, Mandelshtam), and examines his changes in fortune during the purges and World War II. He shows how Pasternak was perceived by Western contemporaries and how significant their moral support was for him during the darkest years of Stalin's regime. He provides explanations for the Christian themes in Pasternak's later work, as well as the poet's peculiar view of Jewry. Finally, Fleishman recreates the vicissitudes of the publication of Doctor Zhivago and the ensuing Nobel Prize scandal in 1958. A fascinating description of the writer's career in broad context, this book will be welcomed by everyone interested in Pasternak and in twentieth-century literature.