Dr. Zhivago: A Summary (Chapter-to-Chapter)

8/14/2019 Dr. Zhivago: A Summary (Chapter-to-Chapter)

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1

I. THE AUTHOR

From Lyric Poet to Epic Novelist: Boris Pasternak !"#$%!#&$'

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was born in Moscow on February 10,

1890, to a cultured Jewish faily! "is father Leonid was a #rofessor

at the Moscow $chool of Paintin% and an illustrator of &olstoy's works!

"is other, (osa )aufan, was an acclaied concert #ianist! "is

#arents received fre*uent visits fro #roinent Moscow writers,

artists, and intellectuals, includin% co#osers $er%ei (achaninoff

and +leander $criabin, #oet and #laywri%ht +leander Blok, writer

+ndrei Bely, and #oet (ainer Maria (ilke, whose writin% would %reatly

influence Pasternak!

-hile he drew well, Pasternak's first love was botany and his second,

usic! .ns#ired by $criabin, Pasternak studied co#osition for si

years, fro which three of his finished #iano #ieces have survived!

Pasternak entered the Moscow /onservatory, but dro##ed out in

1910 because he lacked confidence in his technical skill! "e entered

the Law Faculty at Moscow niversity and later studied #hiloso#hy at

Marbur% niversity in erany! ltiately he %ave u# his acadeic

career, returnin% to (ussia in 1912 to #ursue his #oetry! "e would not


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find success for another ten years!

nable to serve in the ary because of a fall fro a horse that left

hi with one le% shorter than the other, Pasternak s#ent -orld -ar .

workin% as a clerk at a cheical works to the far east of Moscow!

Pasternak's #oetic debut was Twin in the Stormclouds 319124,

#ublished by Lirika, a coo#erative #ublishin% enter#rise he fored

with a %rou# of seven fellow #oets! -hen Lirika disbanded, Pasternak

briefly 5oined the Futurist %rou# &sentrifu%a, which 5ettisoned tradition

in favor of innovation in style and sub5ect with #oets $er%ei Bobrov

and 6ladiir Mayakovsky! &hou%h influenced by to#ical urban,

sybolist, and futurist eleents, Pasternak's early #oetry was

distin%uished by its alliteration, rhye, rhyth, and use of eta#hor!

"e wrote two books in 1917, My Sister Life and Themes and

Variations.&he Bolshevik (evolution and -orld -ar . would delay

their a##earance for five years, durin% which he translated #lays by

"einrich von )leist and Ben Johnson and #oes by the eran

e#ressionists! -hen it was finally #ublished in 19, My Sister Life

secured his #lace aon% the leadin% writers of the tie! .ts lush

ia%ery and idioatic lan%ua%e contrasted with its disci#lined

*uatrain for! &hat sae year Pasternak arried +rt .nstitute student


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v%eniya Lurye and brou%ht her to Berlin to stay with his faily, who

would relocate there #eranently! &his was the last tie Pasternak

would ever see the, as his re#eated a##lications for #erission to

visit were denied! .n 192, the cou#le be%an their own faily with a

son, v%enii! Pasternak finally #ublished Themes and Variationsthat

sae year!

+lthou%h Pasternak initially welcoed the Bolshevik (evolution, the

brutality of the new %overnent cae to horrify hi, a reversal

acknowled%ed in his collectionAerial Ways319:4, which showed his

%rowin% disre%ard of #olitics as a #riary huan and artistic concern!

6ladiir Lenin's new $oviet %overnent aintained that art should

otivate #olitical chan%e while Pasternak insisted that art focus on

eternal truths rather than historical or societal concerns! For his

stance, he becae a silent hero aon% (ussian intellectuals! Livin%

in an overcrowded counal flat in Moscow, he continued to write

short #oes, but cae to believe that #oets and artists had no

assured #lace in society and could only live as outsiders! ;urin% the

190s his #oetry turned fro the lyric to narrative and e#ic fors,

addressin% the 190< (ussian (evolution in Sublime Malady 319:4,

Lieutenant Schmidt31974, and The Year 19031974!


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.n 19: Lenin died and the stru%%le for succession ensued! .n 198,

$talin eer%ed victorious= &rotsky was driven into eile and one by

one $talin's other rivals were eliinated! -hile the ost swee#in%

chan%es in (ussia occurred in a%riculture, which was collectivi>ed, a

cla#down occurred in all fields, includin% that of literature! By 192,

the doctrine of $ocialist (ealis, the #rinci#le that the arts should

%lorify the ideals of /ounis, was established! .nde#endent

artistic %rou#s were disbanded in 192 and the new nion of $oviet

-riters assued control of literary affairs, i#osin% adherence to

socialist realis!

Pasternak's first foray into #rose, S!e"tors"y319214, showed scenes

fro the life of a youn% #oet, who shared the author's own historical

#assivity and fatalis in the face of the (evolution! -hile any

writers and artists becae des#ondent and felt the te#tation to

coit suicide, Pasternak believed that #oets ust continue workin%

when art and even s#iritualis were no lon%er secure! "e e#ressed

this theory throu%h the eta#hor of ?second birth,? the title of his

192 #oetry collection! Pasternak has been critici>ed for self@

centeredness, a sentient ebodied in the #o#ular sayin%,

?verythin% chan%es under our >odiac, only Pasternak reains


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Pasternak!? -hile he was not oblivious to the terror %oin% on around

hi, he was resistant to its i#act on his work, ho#in% to create

soethin% transcendent!

&he love #oes in Second #irth also addressed a chan%e in

Pasternak's #ersonal lifeA he had fallen for inaida Cei%au>, wife of

co#oser enrikh Cei%au>! "e would eventually leave v%eniya and

take inaida as his second wife! -hile these #oes e#ressed a

newfound o#tiis and reconciliation of lyrical and social eleents,

his artistic rebirth was short@lived! Second #irth and his

autobio%ra#hy Safe $onduct 319214 were Pasternak's last ori%inal

works before the state forbade hi to #ublish, considerin% his work

contrary to the ais of /ounis! Pasternak resorted to translation

as a safer livelihood, takin% on classic works by Johann -olf%an%

von oethe, (ilke, -illia $hakes#eare, and Paul 6erlaine! Both

successful and well co#ensated, he was able to buy a house in a

writers' villa%e 5ust outside Moscow in 192D! .t would be his #rinci#al

hoe for the rest of his life! .n the late 19:0s he also translated the

a5or tra%edies of $hakes#eare, and these reain the standard

versions used in (ussia!

;urin% -orld -ar .., as "itler's troo#s arched into (ussia,


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Pasternak #ublished two new #oetry collections, %n &arly319:4 and

The Terrestrial &'!anse319:


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&he %overnent's #ostwar ideolo%ical cla#down forced Pasternak

to labor on the anuscri#t in secret! (e5ected in (ussia, (octor

)hi*a+owas su%%led west in 19


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of May 20, 19D0! #on hearin% of his death, any thousands of

#eo#le traveled fro Moscow to his funeral! For the (ussian #eo#le,

he reains a sybol of resistance in the face of terror and

o##ression!

.n 1988, the nion of $oviet -riters #osthuously reinstated

Pasternak, akin% the #ublication of (octor )hi*a+o in the $oviet

nion finally #ossible! Pasternak's son, v%enii, acce#ted the Cobel

Pri>e edal on his father's behalf at a cereony in $tockhol in

1989!


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$uary

&his e#ansive novel is difficult to suari>e! &he central fi%ure,

;octor urii +ndreievich hiva%o 3ura4, is introduced when he is ten,

at the death of his other! "e falls in love with &onia and they have a

child! ura leaves the to serve as a edic in the war! &here he runs

into Larisa Feodorovna uishar 3Lara4! +s a youn% %irl, Lara was

seduced by )oarovsky! .n her %uilt and an%er she shot at hi and

issed! $he subse*uently arried her childhood sweetheart, Pavel

Pavlovich 3Pasha, +nti#ov4, who becae disenchanted with her and

enlisted in the ary! "is %rou# was cut off behind eney lines and

Lara becae a nurse in order to look for hi! "e is #resued dead,

but is actually a #risoner of the erans! Lara and ura feel attracted

to one another, but do not e#ress it!

+s the war ends, ura returns hoe to Moscow, and to his old 5ob at

the hos#ital, but his co@workers are sus#icious of hi! .nfluenced by

Bolshevis, they dislike his use of intuition instead of lo%ic! &he

faily resolves to travel to the rals! Marist rebellions are breakin%

out and ura's faily ust fi%ht for roo in a car%o train! &he lon%


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train ride %ives ura tie for reflection! "e is dee#ly connected to his

#hysical surroundin%s! "e sees the sufferin% #easants and #risoners

caused by the (ussian revolution! ura shares the #eriod's desire for

e*uality and freedo, but is disenchanted by the revolutionaries'

#edantic, unthinkin% o#inions!

&he faily safely arrives in the rals and set u# a far! ura takes

tie durin% the lon% winters to return to writin% #oetry! -hile visitin%

the local library, he re@encounters Lara! &hey be%in an affair, sharin%

a coon 5oy in a fully@lived eistence! ura resolves to tell his wife

about his unfaithfulness and to ask for%iveness but as he rides hoe,

he is kidna##ed by a %rou# of rebels fi%htin% in the (ussian civil war

and forced to serve as their doctor! "e stays with the for any

years then one day esca#es, and walks back to where he stayed with

Lara! Lara still lives there! $he has discovered that her husband was

not killed, but has returned fro the #rison ca# and taken a

#seudony, $trelnikov! "e is a a5or fi%ure in the new, ebattled

%overnent! &hou%h briefly stationed in Lara's town, he does not visit

her or his dau%hter, resolvin% to finish the task he has set hiself

first!


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Lara and ura live to%ether but find out that they are sus#ected by

the villa%ers! &hey flee to the far house where ura and his faily

once lived! +%ain, ura turns to his #oetry, e#ressin% his fears,

coura%e and love for Lara! Ene ni%ht, Lara's old lover, )oarovsky,

a##ears! "e tells the that the triu#hant revolutionaries know

where they are and will inevitably kill the both! "e offers to take

the abroad! ura could re5oin his faily! ura does not want to leave

Lara and he lon%s to see his faily, but he refuses to acce#t hel#

fro )oarovsky! &o save Lara's life, thou%h, he tells Lara that he will

follow her and )oarovsky, but reains behind! +lone, he turns to

drink!

Ene ni%ht Lara's husband, Pasha, who is fleein% the new

%overnent, arrives! -hen he learns how uch ura and Lara love

one another, Pasha leaves the house and shoots hiself! ura then

%oes to Moscow where he becoes a writer of literary booklets! "is

brother finds hi a 5ob at a hos#ital, but as he takes the trolley for his

first day at work, he dies! Lara, returned fro her travels, wanders

accidentally into the house where his body lies in state, waitin% for


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burial! $he is crushed, but hel#s his brother co#ile ura's writin%!

Lara asks ura's half@brother, a lawyer, if there is any way to track the

location of a child %iven away to stran%ers! $he stays for several days

and then disa##ears, likely dyin% in a concentration ca#! ears

later, Misha and Cicky are fi%htin% in -orld -ar .. and encounter a

laundry@%irl, &anya, who tells the her life story! &hey deterine that

she is the dau%hter of Lara and ura!


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/ha#ter 1A &he Five E'/lock #ress

()mmary

+s a funeral #rocession #asses, #eo#le sto# to ask who is bein%

buried! &hey are told that the coffin belon%s to Maria Cikolaievna

hiva%o! &he coffin is closed, nailed, and lowered into the %round,

and as the ourners throw soil onto it, a youn% boy crawls on to# of

the ound! &he boy, the dead woan's son, covers his face and

bursts into sobs! "is uncle, Cikolai Cikolaievich 6edenia#in 3)olya4,

coes to lead hi away! &hat ni%ht it %rows very cold and the boy,

ura, is woken by a knockin% at the window and looks outside to see

nothin% but snow! "e worries that his other will sink dee#er and

dee#er into the %round, and he starts to cry a%ain! "is uncle coes to

cofort hi and as it %rows li%ht, they dress for their train 5ourney to

a #rovincial town on the 6ol%a!

-hile his other was alive, ura did not know that his father had left

the and s#ent the faily's fortune= he was always told that his father

was away on business! -hen his other develo#ed consu#tion

3tuberculosis4, they traveled to France and .taly, where he was left

with stran%ers and #assed fro house to house! "e reebers a


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tie in his early childhood when any #laces were naed after his

faily, but then everythin% vanished and they becae #oor!

.n 1902, two years after his other's death, ura drives across the

fields in an o#en carria%e with his ncle )olya and Pavel, a

handyan, on his second visit to ;u#lyanka, an art #atron's estate!

&hey are %oin% to eet with .van .vanovich 6oskoboynikov, a teacher

and writer of tetbooks, who lives there! )olya asks Pavel about the

land and the situation of the #easants as he reads 6oskoboynikov's

anuscri#t about the land *uestion! )olya reinds ura of his

other, so he likes bein% with hi! "e also looks forward to seein%

Cicky ;udorov, a schoolboy who lives at ;u#lyanka! "e %oes to look

for Cicky as his uncle eets with .van, but he finds hiself wanderin%

throu%h the %ardens and becoes ore and ore de#ressed! "e

#rays and calls out to his other, faintin% fro the eotion! "e wakes

to his uncle callin% hi and reebers that he has not #rayed for his

issin% father but decides that his father can wait!

.n a second@class co#artent of a train, Misha ordon, an 11@year@

old Jewish boy, is travelin% with his father to Moscow, where his

other and sisters are #re#arin% an a#artent! En the way, a an

coits suicide, and the train is delayed! Misha is shaken by the


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an's death, es#ecially since the an had coe several ties to

their co#artent to s#eak to his father about bankru#tcy law!

Misha's father e#lains that the an was a well@known illionaire

naed hiva%o! "is father then showered Misha with #resents, the

last of which was a wooden bo of inerals fro the rals!

/ha#ter A + irl fro a ;ifferent -orld

()mmary

+alia )arlovna uishar, the (ussian@French widow of a Bel%ian

en%ineer, arrives in Moscow with her two children, (odion3(odia4 and

Larissa 3Lara4! Larissa attends the sae %irls' hi%h school as Cadia

)olo%ri%ova! -ith oney left by her husband, and on the advice of a

lawyer naed )oarovsky, +alia buys a dressakin% sho# with an

ad5oinin% a#artent!

Lara has a fully fored fi%ure at 1D, and she is %raceful and beautiful!

$he does well at school, otivated by the fact that the best students

#ay reduced fees! $he is aware of )oarovsky lookin% at her

stran%ely, and when her other is ill he takes Lara to a dance in her

#lace! &hey dance a walt>, and he kisses the youn% %irl!


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.n the autun there is unrest aon% the railway workers! )u#rik

&iver>in, one in a lon% line of railway workers, sees the forean

)hudoleyev hittin% his a##rentice usu#ka and tries to #rotect the

boy! + fi%ht nearly ensues, but both en are restrained! +n%rily,

&iver>in stors out and %oes to blow the horn of the en%ine re#air

sho#, startin% a strike! "e %oes hoe and usu#ka's father tells hi

he should s#end the ni%ht soewhere else to evade the #olice! "is

other, Marfa avrilovna, tells hi that the c>ar has si%ned a

anifesto chan%in% the society for the better! Pasha +nti#ov, whose

father was arrested in the strike, coes to live with the &iver>ins! "e

and Marfa avrilovna 5oin the %eneral deonstrations, and the

strikers are attacked by ary dra%oons= one of the strikes Marfa

with a whi# but does not in5ure her! Cikolai Cikolaievich 3)olya4,

recently arrived fro Petersbur%, sees the deonstration fro his

window! "e is stayin% with his friends the $ventitskys! "e is asked to

s#eak on behalf of #olitical #risoners at a school, and he reluctantly

a%rees!

)oarovsky lives in a lar%e a#artent in the Petrovka section of

Moscow, and on $unday ornin%s, he walks his do%! "e reali>es he

is in dan%er of becoin% obsessed with youn% Lara! Lara is at first


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flattered by his secret roantic insinuations, but they also horrify her!

+shaed and confused, she %oes to church for cofort, althou%h she

is not reli%ious! Meanwhile, the Presnya #risin% be%ins and Lara

knows two boys, Cicky ;udorov and Pasha +nti#ov, who are

connected with it! Fearin% that their house i%ht be shelled, her

faily oves back to the Montene%ro "otel! &here, +alia tries to

coit suicide by in%estin% iodine! + doctor, &ishkevich, is

suoned fro a concert hosted by +leander +leandrovich and

Cikolai +leandrovich roeko, two brothers= Misha ordon and

uraare in attendance there, and they ask to coe alon%! -aitin% for

the doctor to eer%e, they see Lara and )oarovsky echan%in% a

failiar %lance! +s they are leavin%, Misha tells ura that )oarovsky

is the lawyer fro the train@@the an who caused the elder hiva%o's

death!

/ha#ter 2A &he $ventitskysG /hristas Party

()mmary

uradecides to study edicine= in his s#are tie he writes #oetry!

"is uncle )olya is now livin% in Lausanne, $wit>erland! Ene day,

ura coes hoe late fro the university and hears that +nna


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roeko, who has been ill with a #ulonary inflaation, has sent

for hi! "e tells her not to fear death, and her condition i#roves the

net day! Later, she tells hi he should arry her dau%hter &onia!

Laradecisively writes to her friend Cadia )olo%ri%ovathat she wants

to ove away fro her other and )oarovsky and work as a

teacher, and Cadia invites her to becoe %overness to her little sister

Li#a! +fter three years Lara's brother (odiacoes to her sayin% that

he has %abled away oney eant for a farewell %ift to the head of

the +cadey, and he needs seven hundred rubles to #ay it back= he

asks her to %o to )oarovsky for it! .nstead she %ets the oney fro

)olo%ri%ov, her e#loyer! $he does not have to #ay it back because

she is re%arded as a eber of the faily, but she would have

secretly done so if not for the e#enses she incurs by %ivin% oney to

Pasha +nti#ov's #arents! $he and Pasha are in love and want to

arry! -hen Li#a %raduates and leaves hoe, Lara is invited to stay

on at the house but she decides to start anew with oney fro

)oarovsky! $he %oes to his hoe with a loaded revolver, #lannin%

to shoot hi if he refuses! $he is told that he is at a /hristas #arty!

$he sto#s at Pasha's house and tells hi that they ust arry


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iediately but will not tell hi what is worryin% her!

ura and &onia arrive late to the $ventitskys' /hristas #arty! Lara

hides in the ballroo watchin% )oarovsky! $he dances with an

ele%ant youn% an naed )oka, but then she reali>es that his father

is the an who ade a fanatical s#eech while #rosecutin% a %rou# of

railway strikers, includin% &iver>in! +t around two in the ornin%, ura

and the other %uests hear a shot rin% out! /haos ensues, and

)ornakov, )oka's father, eer%es sayin% he has been attacked but is

unin5ured! ura looks at the woan 3Lara4 who did the shootin% and

reali>es that he is lookin% at the sae %irl that he saw years a%o! "e

receives a essa%e fro hoe, coandin% hi to coe at once!

-hen he and &onia arrive, +nna is already dead! $he is buried in the

sae churchyard as ura's other!

/ha#ter :A &he "our of the .nevitable

()mmary

+s Lara lays half@conscious on the $ventitskys' bed, )oarovsky

an%rily #aces back and forth! "e is disturbed by the %irl's actions, but,

at the sae tie, he is bothered by his own reainin% attraction

toward her! "e decides to rent a roo for her and takes her there still


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sick with brain fever!

&he owner of the a#artent, (uffina Enissiovna, takes an

iediate dislikin% to Lara! )oarovsky leaves her alone, but

)olo%ri%ovcoes to visit and recoends a different a#artent to

her! "e %ives her ten thousand rubles as a bonus for Li#a's

%raduation, thou%h Lara is reluctant to take it! $he rents the

a#artent he recoended! Pasha and Lara decide to arry at

once! Cine days later, they receive their ea results and are offered

5obs teachin% in uryatin, the town in the ral Mountains where Lara

was born! Lara %ives birth to a dau%hter, )atya! + few years later,

Pasha decides to enlist in the ary, reali>in% that Lara does not love

hi so uch as she en5oys the lifestyle he si%nifies! -hen she sto#s

receivin% letters fro Pasha, she %oes on a ission to find hi! $he

leaves )atya with Li#a in Moscow and %ets a 5ob as a nurse on a

hos#ital train headed for Liski, the last address fro which Pasha

sent letters!

ura, now called urii, waits for news of his wife outside the

%ynecolo%ical ward of a hos#ital! "e is not allowed to see her, even

after she %ives birth to a little boy! urii is soon assi%ned to a villa%e


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hos#ital durin% the war! Misha ordondecides to visit urii hiva%o!

urii shows hi the terrible results of the war and the sufferin%

caused by odern ethods of fi%htin%! urii tells Misha that the

edical unit is bein% forced to evacuate, and durin% the ni%ht, they

hear %unfire! +s he is escortin% Misha to the first evacuation #arty, he

is knocked unconscious by an e#losion!

+s urii is recoverin% in the officers' ward with usu#ka aliullin, he

sees Lara@@who is now a nurse@@coe in and he reco%ni>es her!

aliullin tells Lara that he knew her husband, and she asks how he

died! "e lies, sayin% he was taken #risoner! Lara is intri%ued by urii,

who is %ruff to her, but decides that there is no ho#e left for Pasha

and that her duty is to return to her dau%hter and her 5ob! +s she is

conte#latin% the #assin% of tie, #atients run in shoutin% that the

revolution has broken out in Petersbur%!

/ha#ter eyevo! Cear it

rests another town, abushino, which becae an inde#endent

re#ublic for two weeks, #artly on the stren%th of a story that the


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leader's assistant was a deaf@ute who had the %ift of s#eech only in

s#ecial circustances! hiva%o,+nti#ova3Lara4, and aliullin are all

stationed there! urii and Lara find theselves workin% to%ether *uite

often! urii writes to his wife, &onia, sayin% that he ay be hoe any

day and entionin% that he has been workin% with +nti#ova! "e tells

&onia that she is the %irl fro the $ventitskys' /hristas #arty and

the iodine #oisonin% incident! $he writes back that he should leave

her and arry +nti#ova and that she will raise their son accordin% to

sound #rinci#les! hiva%o hurriedly re#lies that she is cra>y to think

such a thin% and that he has no roantic interest in Lara! "e decides

to s#eak to Lara to ensure that he is not sendin% any false

i#ressions!

urii finds out that the town ayor is #lannin% to send a /ossack

re%ient to attack rebels hidin% in the forest! "e %oes to see Lara but

decides not to disturb her! "e %oes to a eetin% in the town s*uare

and hears stinya, one of the servants fro the estate, discussin%

the *uestion of a deaf@ute who suddenly be%an to s#eak! &he net

evenin%, he sees Lara ironin%! $he tells hi that she is %oin% back to

the rals! "e says that he wants to talk to her without bein%


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sus#ected of ulterior otives and tells her about his wife and son! "e

says that Lara's eyes show her to be wanderin% in an enchanted

world, and he wants soeone to coe and tell hi that he does not

have to worry about her, but if that were to ha##en, he would knock

the an down! "e a#olo%i>es, sensin% that he has overste##ed a

boundary! Lara be%s hi to %et a drink of water and then return as

the an she used to know hi as! + week later, she leaves! &he ni%ht

before hiva%o sets out for Moscow there is a stor, and

Madeoiselle Fleury, a servant, hears a knock at the door! $he is

afraid to answer it alone, so hiva%o %oes with her! &hey find that it is

only the stor, but they both ia%ine Lara coin% in, soaked fro

the rain!

+t Biryuchi $tation, /oissar int> is atte#tin% to defend hiself

a%ainst the %rou# of /ossacks sent by the ayor! "e has an accent

and a forei%n surnae, so they accuse hi of bein% a eran s#y!

"e clibs u# onto a water@barrel to s#eak, and the en withdraw

their rifles! "e falls into the water, and the en lau%h! &hen, a shot is

fired, killin% hi!

urii takes a secret train to Moscow! En the second #art of his

5ourney, urii sees a fair@haired youth who has been out shootin%!


24/48

&he youth s#eaks stran%ely, althou%h he is clearly a native (ussian

s#eaker, and urii notices that he will not talk in the dark! &he net

day, he is further confused by the youth's stran%e conversational

habits, and he does not understand iediately when the youth says

he was ke#t out of the ary by a #hysical defect! &he youth shows

hi a card showin% the anual al#habet and e#lains he was the

star #u#il at a school for the deaf! hiva%o asks if he had anythin% to

do with the %overnent of abushino and he answers yes!

/ha#ter DA &he Moscow nca#ent

()mmary

hiva%o arrives in $olensky $*uare in Moscow and is %reeted

warly by &onia! $he tells hi that everyone is well and that they

have %iven u# soe of the roos to the a%ricultural colle%e! hiva%o

says that he is #leased they are livin% in a saller s#ace, since the

rich always had too any roos! $he tells hi that ncle )olya is

back fro $wit>erland, and urii is anious to see hi! urii %oes in

to %reet his son, who he has not seen since he was an infant, but

$asha is afraid of hi!


25/48

&he faily invites old friends for dinner! &hey eat the duck %iven to

hiva%o by the deaf youth, reali>in% that such a feast is now a rarity

in Moscow! hiva%o is frustrated by his friends' chan%ed deeanors,

feelin% that the revolution has stri##ed the rich of their individuality!

urii takes a 5ob at the "os#ital of the "oly /ross, where he worked

before the war! "e is in char%e of statistics, as well as #atient care!

&he faily settles in three roos on the to# floor of their a#artent!

Ene day, )olya races in, sayin% that there is fi%htin% in the streets!

Later, $asha becoes ill with crou# 3laryn%itis4, and they cannot

obtain ilk or soda water to cure hi because of the fi%htin%! .t is not

safe to leave the house, and urii ust iss work! Ene evenin% in

Ectober, urii walks out durin% a snowstor and reads a news#a#er

declarin% that the $oviet #ower has taken over (ussia!

-inter coes, and it is a dark, cold, hun%ry season! &here are new

elections all the tie, and any chan%es at the hos#ital, which is now

called the $econd (efored! &here are food shorta%es, and &onia

learns to bake bread to sell! ;es#erate for wood, &onia echan%es

the cabinet for a load of birch! urii is called out for an a##ointent at

a household offerin% stockin%s or co%nac as #ayent! "e dia%noses

ty#hus and has the woan aditted to a hos#ital! &he tenants of the


26/48

buildin% where she lives are en%a%ed in a eetin%, and hiva%o asks

to see a eber of the house coittee to infor her of the ty#hus!

"e is sur#rised to see Fatia aliullina and asks if she is indeed

aliullin's other! $he asks to s#eak to hi outside and be%s hi not

to reveal her identity, since aliullin has taken the ?wron% road,? and

she takes hi to Lara's old friend Elya ;eina to ask for a cab!

.n the coin% onths, the hiva%os are close to starvation! urii is in

constant fear of contractin% ty#hus, and one day he colla#ses on the

road! "e is delirious for two weeks, and durin% that tie, he dreas

he is bein% fed white bread and su%ar! -hen he recovers, he is told

that they really did eist and were brou%ht by his half@brother v%raf,

who worshi#s everythin% hiva%o writes! .n +#ril, the faily sets out

for the old 6arykino estate in the rals!

/ha#ter 7A &rain to the rals

()mmary

uriiis a%ainst ovin% to 6arykino, but he %oes to the train station to


27/48

find out about travel! "e is told that trains are very rare and that to

catch one he and his faily ust coe every day to wait! &he train is

very uncofortable and oves very slowly, but the hiva%os are

lucky to have a corner all to theselves! &here are several ary

conscri#ts in their coach, and they hear the youn% en's stories! Ene

of the boys is 6assya Brykin, a 1D@year@old ironon%er's a##rentice!

&hey invite a coo#erativist, )ostoyed, to dinner, and urii eclais to

hi that the countryside looks like it reains in %ood condition!

)ostoyed tells hi that


28/48

the best of the 5ourney! &hey head off a%ain! Ene day, &onya tells

urii that soe of the conscri#ts, includin% 6assya, have esca#ed!

&he train reaches uriatin, and hiva%o is reinded of +nna and

Lara! "e eets $trelnikov 3eanin% the $hooter4, a #olitical

etreist! &hey %o to his roo, and $trelnikov asks urii why he is

leavin% Moscow for an out@of@the@way #lace! "e lau%hs at hiva%o

and s#eaks to hi in threatenin% tones! &heir conversation is

interru#ted when the #hone rin%s! &he #hone conversation is about a

schoolboy in5ured tryin% to rebel a%ainst the (ed +ry, and $trelnikov

uses to hiself that the boy could have been one of his students

once= he also wonders whether his wife and dau%hter i%ht still be

waitin% for hi in uriatin soewhere!

/ha#ter 8A +rrival

()mmary

uriireali>es that life in the rals is very different fro life in Moscow!

veryone sees to know each other at the station! "e is %reeted by

&onia, who tells hi that at first they were very worried when he was

escorted to $trelnikov's roo, but then they were told what was

ha##enin%!


29/48

Back in his own carria%e, urii converses with a Bolshevik naed

$adeviatov! "e entions his #lan to live off the land, and the

Bolshevik tells hi that he is thinkin% naively! urii tells &onya that he

has a sense of forebodin%! &hey are the only #assen%ers to %et out at

&orfianaya! roekos#eaks to the stationaster about their #lan to

%o to 6arykino, and the an %uesses that &onia is the %randdau%hter

of a an naed .van rnestovich )rue%er! "e warns her not to tell

anyone of her association with the forer landowner!

&he hiva%os ride out to 6arykino in a horse@drawn carria%e! &hey %o

to eet the Mikulitsyns, who are shocked that the hiva%os have

chosen to settle in 6arykino of all #laces! Mikulitsyn dis#ara%in%ly

i#lies that they are related to )rue%er! Finally, he relents and offers

the hiva%os a roo! &he hiva%os are aa>ed to discover that the

Mikulitsyns have real su%ar and tea! Mikulitsyn be%ins to discuss

#hysics! -hen hiva%o asks how he knows so uch about the

sub5ect, he says that he had a very %ood teacher who was arried to

another teacher but went off to fi%ht in the war!


30/48

/ha#ter 9A 6arykino

()mmary

uriibe%ins to kee# a diary in which he reflects on his faily's new

lifestyle in 6arykino! "e is aware that they are stealin% fro the state

by workin% the land ille%ally, and he believes that their relationshi# to

)rue%er is no ecuse! Mikulitsyn #rotects the, alon% with the

revolutionary $adeviatov! &hey avoid entionin% that urii is a

doctor, but #eo#le still coe fro iles away for treatent! &hey

have a %ood #otato harvest and s#end tie readin% classics of

literature, es#ecially Pushkin's e#ic #oe &*+eny %ne+in.

.n the s#rin%, urii coes to believe that &onia is #re%nant! urii's

health be%ins to worsen and he feels it is the first si%n of hereditary

heart disease! urii %oes to the nearby town of uriatin to visit the

#ublic library! .n the readin% roo, urii reco%ni>es Lara +nti#ova! "is

first i#ulse is to s#eak to her, but he feels unusually tiid! "e %oes

on readin%, and when he looks u# she is %one! "e looks at the books

on Maris she 5ust returned and sees her address on an order sli#!

-alkin% hoe, he suddenly decides to visit her!

urii finds Lara fillin% a bucket of water at a well! $he tells hi that


31/48

she knows he has been in the district for ore than a year and asks

why he has coe! $he also tells hi that she saw hi in the readin%

roo! "e tells her about his tri# fro Moscow, even entionin% his

eetin% with $trelnikov, who is ruored to be her husband! urii says

he is destined to coe to a bad end! Lara tells hi that she knows

Pasha is usin% the nae $trelnikov and that he ordered an attack on

uriatin without ever coin% to investi%ate whether she and )atya

were still alive= she con5ectures also that Pasha ay have soehow

hel#ed her %et her a#artent! "e is now in $iberia fi%htin% aliullin!

&hey talk further about $trelnikov, and urii calls hoe to tell his

faily that he is s#endin% the ni%ht in uriatin and stayin% at

$adeviatov's inn, thou%h he really slee#s at Lara's a#artent!

&wo onths later, hiva%o conte#lates the lies he has been tellin%

at hoe! "e has started to call Lara by her first nae and address

her inforally! "is %uilty conscience wei%hs heavily on hi! "e

decides to tell &onia everythin% and end his relationshi# with Lara! "e

already told Lara this and she cried but told hi not to worry! "e

suddenly decides that there is no hurry and that, althou%h he will

confess all to &onia eventually, for now he can %o back to finish his

conversation with Lara! "e is ea%er to see her a%ain! En his way to


32/48

see her, he is halted by three horseen and told that he is bein%

conscri#ted as a edical officer in their ilitary unit, and if he

disa%rees, he will be shot! Ene of the en works for Mikulitsyn's son!

/ha#ters 10@11A &he "i%hway and the Forest

Brotherhood

()mmary

&he oldest hi%hway in $iberia, an ancient ail road, connects

hundreds of villa%es and their inhabitants! )hodatskoye is a town

established at the crossroads of this hi%hway and the railroad!

Political #risoners are allowed to settle here after co#letin% their

ters of hard labor as ?free eiles,? eanin% they are no lon%er

#risoners but cannot return to -estern (ussia! &he $oviets have

been overthrown here, and +diral )olchak, leader of the -hites, is

in coand! +lon% the road, the (ed #artisans, includin% Liberius

Mikulitsyn, &iver>in, and Pasha's father, +nti#ov, are eetin%! .n

another town, the new conscri#ts in the -hite +ry are takin% #art in

a farewell #arty!


33/48

uriihas been servin% as a conscri#ted edical officer in the #artisan

ary for two years! "e has tried to esca#e three ties but has been

ca#tured each tie! Liberius likes his co#any and akes hi slee#

in his tent, which annoys urii! &hey are constantly ovin% east,

tryin% to drive )olchak out of -estern $iberia, but they often ust

flee fro the -hites!

+s a edical officer, urii is forbidden by international convention to

take #art in the fi%htin%, but on two occasions he is forced to break

this rule! "e has no rifle, but when a tele#honist is struck down he

takes his rifle and fires! "e looks at the body of a -hite %uardsan

he killed and does not understand why he shot hi! "e sees that the

boy is still alive, havin% only fainted, and dresses hi in the

tele#honist's clothes and nurses hi back to health, releasin% hi

afterward to %o back to )olchak's ary!

urii is sent to see a #atient naed Palykh Pa#hil, who has been

sufferin% fro insonia and headaches! En his way, he is overcoe

with fati%ue and lies down on the %rass! "e hears #eo#le ne%otiatin%

with envoys fro the eney side! &hey are #lannin% to hand Liberius

over to the eney! urii wants to tell soeone, but he does not have

the o##ortunity, and later that day the cons#iracy is uncovered and


34/48

the #lotters sei>ed! urii walks on to Pa#hil's tent! Pa#hil is

#re#arin% for a visit fro his faily, and he cannot slee# because he

fears what the -hite +ry will do to his wife and children! "e tells

urii that he has been thinkin% about a an he killedA &he youn% an

had clibed u# onto a water@barrel to shout slo%ans, and they had all

lau%hed when he fell into the water, but Pa#hil shot hi! urii asks

hi if he was stationed in Melyu>eyevo, thinkin% that he was the an

who killed /oissar int>!

/ha#ter 1A &he (owan &ree

()mmary

&he #artisans' failies arrive, includin% Pa#hil's wife and children! +

soldier's wife naed )ubarikha also a##ears! $he is a cattle@healer

and a witch! &he new ca# is surrounded by dense tai%a, and urii

has ore tie to e#lore their natural environent! leven

rin%leaders of a cons#iracy are brou%ht to an o#en s#ace to be

eecuted! &hey #lead for for%iveness but are all shot!

urii %oes to see Pa#hil and his faily! Pa#hil is very devoted to

his children and carves wooden anials for the with the blade of an


35/48

a! -hen he hears that the failies ay be sent to a different ca#,

however, his s#irits fall a%ain! Meanwhile the -hites advance! + an

with an a#utated ar and le% crawls back into the ca#! "is

a#utated libs have been tied to his back! "e warns the that the

-hites are #lannin% a sur#rise attack! Pa#hil sees the an and,

fearin% that his wife and children are to be tortured the sae way, he

kills the with his own a! "e does not kill hiself, but he disa##ears

fro the ca#!

urii eets Liberiusand asks hi if there is any news fro 6arykino!

"e learns that )olchak's ary has been crushed and is retreatin% to

the east! urii asks about uriatin, and he is told that there are

ruors that the -hites still hold the city! urii ia%ines his faily

tryin% to survive without hi! "e walks outside into the snow and

sees a rowan tree! "e ia%ines the tree is Laraand #ulls it toward

hi!

/ha#ter 12A E##osite the "ouse of $cul#tures

()mmary

urii, a%ed and scra%%ly lookin%, arrives in the center of uriatin,

where the -hites have been chased out by the (eds! "e walks to


36/48

Lara's a#artent and sees that the windows are no lon%er

whitewashed! "e %oes to her door and finds a note addressed to hi!

.n it, Lara notifies hi that she has taken )atya to 6arykino to eet

hi! "e feels ha##iness at hearin% that she is alive and nearby but

takes her tri# to 6arykino as a si%n that his faily is no lon%er there!

urii %oes for a haircut and encounters a woan he thinks he

reebers! "e finally reebers that she is the sister@in@law of

Mikulitsynand Liberius's aunt! $he tells hi that everyone in 6arykino

was shot! "e asks her if she knows what ha##ened to her brother@in@

law and she says that he esca#ed fro 6arykino with his second

wife! +nother faily livin% there, stran%ers fro Moscow, also

esca#ed, but the woan's husband, a doctor, is #resued dead! urii

surises that his faily is in Moscow!

urii stays in Lara's a#artent for the ni%ht! "e has ni%htares and

believes that he is ill! "e wakes u# to find Lara carin% for hi! "e

recovers fro his illness under her inistrations, and then she tells

hi he ust %o back to his faily in Moscow! &hey discuss the #ast,

and urii tells Lara that )oarovskyis the an who forced his father

into ruin and suicide! $he declares that the connection brin%s the


37/48

closer to%ether! &hey also discuss $trelnikov, and Lara says that her

ties to the #ast are so stron% that she would %o back to hi if he

becae Pasha a%ain!

urii finds work in uriatin! "e and Lara discuss ovin% to 6arykino,

but he still feels he ust %o to Moscow! "is letters have received no

answer! Finally, a letter is delivered! .t is fro &onia, and it says that

she has %iven birth to a dau%hter, and she and the others are bein%

de#orted fro (ussia! $he writes not knowin% whether urii is alive

or dead, so clearly she has not received his letters! $he declares that

she ho#es he will %et a se#arate visa to follow the but that she does

not harbor uch ho#e! $he also says that she knows he does not

love her and that she knows Lara is the o##osite of herself! urii is

overcoe by %rief u#on reali>in% that he will never see the a%ain,

and he falls down unconscious!

/ha#ter 1:A (eturn to 6arykino

()mmary

)oarovskyvisits Lara, uch to their sur#rise! "e says that he wants

to s#eak to uriithat evenin% and that they and Pashaare all in %reat

dan%er! urii wants to leave before )oarovsky coes back, but


38/48

Lara throws herself at his feet and be%s hi to stay! "e does eet

)oarovsky, who tells hi that he is on a list of #eo#le to be killed in

the #ur%es! "e invites the to %o to the Far ast with hi, where he

can hel# urii to take a boat overseas! "e e#lains the i#ortance of

ineral@rich Mon%olia, and he tells urii that once he crosses the

border he will be free!

&hey do not hear fro )oarovsky a%ain, and they decide to %o to

6arykino to hide! &hey stay at the Mikulitsyns' old house and find toys

and a tobo%%an to entertain )atya with! &hey stay for two weeks,

thou%h Lara hears wolves at ni%ht and, thinkin% they are soldiersG

do%s, is anious to leave! )oarovsky a##ears a%ain, and Lara

wants to take hi u# on his offer this tie! urii e#lains that there is

no *uestion of hi %oin%, but he wants Lara to think it over!

)oarovsky asks to s#eak to urii alone! "e tells hi that $trelnikov

has been ca#tured and shot and that Lara and )atya are in %reat

dan%er because of their association with hi! urii a%rees to #retend

that he will follow the to encoura%e Lara to leave with )oarovsky!

urii decides to %o to Moscow but stays behind in the house to think

of Lara! "e drinks lon% %ul#s of vodka and feels he is losin% his ind!


39/48

$adeviatovcoes for his horse and #roises to return for urii a

few days later! + stran%er coes, and urii is sur#rised when he sees

that it is $trelnikov! "e e#lains that any of the %oods at the house

were re*uisitioned while the (ed +ry occu#ied the east! "e also

says that he knew of hiva%o's association with Lara, and he was

understandably 5ealous! "e warns urii to leave 6arykino iediately

because $trelnikov is bein% #ursued and urii has i#licated hiself

by s#eakin% to hi! "e recounts his love for Lara, sayin% that he has

been #lannin% to return to her after his life's work ended! urii tells

hi that Lara loved hi ore than anyone else in the world! Pasha

be%s hi not to leave!

urii %oes to slee# and dreas of his childhood! "e dreas that his

other's watercolor fell fro the wall, and he wakes u# thinkin% he

heard a %unshot but then falls aslee# a%ain! .n the ornin%, he walks

outside and finds Pasha lyin% in the snow, havin% shot hiself!

/ha#ter 1


40/48

co#leted it by train! .n a burnt@out villa%e he et 6assya Brykin, the

youn% boy! &hey arrive in 19, at the start of the Cew conoic

Policy #eriod, which re#resented a rollback of socialist #olicy for the

sake of econoic stability! urii hel#s 6assya to enroll in a #rintin%

and desi%n course= he su##orts hiself by writin% booklets about

#hiloso#hy! "e tries to obtain either a visa to 5oin his faily in Paris or

#olitical rehabilitation for the to return to (ussia, but his efforts fail!

6assya feels that urii's efforts are half@hearted and loses res#ect for

hi= their relationshi# %radually deteriorates! 6assya oves out of the

a#artent they share and hiva%o ceases to associate with #eo#le

and lives in %reat #overty!

Markel $hcha#ov, once the ana%er of uriiGs buildin% in Moscow, is

now the ana%er of the $ventitskys' old hoe! urii strikes u# a

friendshi# with Markel's dau%hter Marina, and they live to%ether as

husband and wife! &hey have two dau%hters! uriiGs childhood

friends, Misha ordonand Cicky ;udorovlive nearby! +lthou%h he is

not yet :0, urii has develo#ed sclerosis of the heart! ordon tells

urii that he ust ake #eace with the #ast and reconcile his life with

Marina with his still eistin% feelin%s for &onia! urii tells Misha that he


41/48


42/48

trace the history of a child sent to an or#hana%e! Lara stays several

days, but one day she %oes out and never coes back! "er

disa##earance is ysterious, but it is likely she was ca#tured and

sent to a concentration ca#!

*ommentary

hiva%o %oes to Moscow because it is his hoe, and he finds that

soe of his friends are still there! "e is not an old an, but his heart

is weak, and he views hiself as bein% near the end of his life! "e

arries a%ain, thou%h not forally! 6assya believes that hiva%o has

not tried hard enou%h to be reunited with &onia= Misha su##orts this

sentient when he tells hiva%o that he is actin% badly toward both

Marina and &onia! .t is Lara that hiva%o truly loves, and he has

already banished her fro his life!

+fter hiva%o's death Lara ha##ens u#on his funeral by chance, as

so uch of their relationshi# has been! .n death they see fated to

eet, even as in life! $he ourns hi and their lost life to%ether! $he

is an%ry that he abandoned her in the way that he did! +nd thou%h

hiva%o abandoned her in ho#es that it would brin% her safety, Lara's

disa##earance destroys that ho#e! hiva%o's abandonent of her


43/48

was fruitless! &he last sentence of cha#ter 1< is one of the ost

#oi%nant sentences of the novelA Lara is ?for%otten as a naeless

nuber on a list that afterwards %ot islaid, in one of the

innuerable ied or woen's concentration ca#s in the north!? .t

is the cold indifference of the line that %ives it such #ower! &he ost

tra%ic result of the tra%edies that took #lace durin% Lara's lifetie, the

tra%edies that were so influenced by the transforation of (ussia into

the $oviet nion, is the dehuani>ation of everyone, includin% urii

and Lara!

/ha#ter 1DA #ilo%ue

()mmary

.n 19:2, Misha ordon and Cicky ;udorovare both officers in the

(ed +ry fi%htin% in -orld -ar ..! &hey have both served sentences

in the %ula%s, and Cicky's fiancHe was killed carryin% out a ission

a%ainst the erans! &he re%iental laundry is entrusted to a %irl

naed &ania, who tells the the story of her life!


44/48

&ania is the dau%hter of ebers of the %entry! "er other was livin%

with a an naed )oarov who was not her real father! "e was a

(ussian /abinet eber hidin% in Mon%olia! -hen the (eds oved

in, he sent &ania's other and the entire household away on a secret

train! )oarov did not know about &ania's eistence and did not like

children! &ania's other sent her to stay with Marfa, the si%nal woan

at the train station, for a few days= &ania never saw her other a%ain!

&ania stayed with Marfa's faily, workin% at various 5obs and lookin%

after Marfa's son Petya! Ene day, a an cae to the door sayin% he

had killed Marfa's husband and would s#are Marfa's life only if she

%ave over the oney her husband earned fro sellin% their cow! $he

tells the bandit that the oney is in the cellar, but he takes Petya

down with hi when he %oes to retrieve it! Marfa locks hi in and will

not let hi out even when he threatens to kill Petya! "e bites Petya to

death! &ania sto#s a train and tells the (ed +ry soldiers inside what

ha##ened! &hey tie the bandit u# and drive the train over hi! &ania

boarded the train and traveled all across the country!

Later, ordon and ;udorov talk about &ania's story! ordon asks

;udorov, ?ou know who she isI? and ;udorov re#lies, ?es, of

course!? $he is the dau%hter of hiva%o and Lara! &hey a%ree that


45/48

v%raf will look after her, as she has told the that v%raf, now a

Ma5or@eneral, has #roised to #ay for her studies!

*ommentary

&he #ilo%ue eists both to shed li%ht on the events takin% #lace in

(ussia after hiva%o's death and to su%%est that, althou%h hiva%o

and Lara both die, their le%acy lives on in their child! ordon and

;udorov, eanwhile, %row old as friends! &hey res#ect urii's

eory and even #reserve his writin% for hi! &hey %o on livin%,

while he takes u# a new eistence as a deceased tra%ic hero, driven

to des#air and death by his flaws and his #assion!

&ania lives a difficult life, be%innin% with her childhood se#aration

fro her other! .n her, ordon and ;udorov observe all the effects

of revolution and war! &ania, a child of the intelli%entsia, is forced to

live aon% #eo#le who have no res#ect for the thin%s that her

#arents held dear and no true affection for her! $he wanders the

country with the sae desolate ailessness that cae to #ossess

her father! Just as hiva%o was reared by his uncle, so it is v%raf

who #roises to save &ania fro her or#haned, lonely fate! $tuck on

the boundary between her an%uished #ast and a ho#eful future, &ania


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re#resents both the tra%edy of her era and the ho#e of a new

be%innin%!


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I+. REFEREN*E(

;iaond, ;!+! 319D14! #oris -asterna"s (octor )hi*a+o / A eturn

to Tradition

Master#iece &heatreA (octor )hi*a+o. ssays .nterviewsA rom

Lyric -oet to &!ic 2o*elist3 #oris -asterna" 41590619708!

(etrieved February hiva%oKei#asternak!htl

Moore, P! and /oulehan, J! 3199:4! -asterna", #oris3 (octor )hi*a+o

Literature +nnotations Literature, +rts, N Medicine ;atabase,

Cew orkA Cew ork niversity $chool of Medicine! (etrieved

February


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&he Cew ncyclo#aedia Britannica, 6ol! 9 Micro#aedia 31994!

Documents

Dr. Zhivago: A Summary (Chapter-to-Chapter)