The heartbreaking story of the love affair between Boris Pasternak, the author of Doctor Zhivago, and Olga Ivinskaya—the true tragedy behind the timeless classic, and a harrowing look at how the Russian government has treated dissidentsWhen Stalin came into power in 1924, the Communist government began persecuting dissident writers. Though Stalin spared the life of Boris Pasternak—whose … life of Boris Pasternak—whose novel-in-progress, Doctor Zhivago, was suspected of being anti-Soviet—he persecuted Boris’s mistress, typist, and literary muse, Olga Ivinskaya. Boris’s affair with Olga devastated the straitlaced Pasternaks, and they were keen to disavow Olga’s role in Boris’s writing process. Twice Olga was sentenced to work in Siberian labor camps, where she was interrogated about the book Boris was writing, but she refused to betray the man she loved. When Olga was released from the gulags, she assumed that Boris would leave his wife for her but, trapped by his family’s expectations and his own weak will, he never did.
Drawing on previously neglected family sources and original interviews, Anna Pasternak explores this hidden act of moral compromise by her great-uncle, and restores to history the passionate affair that inspired and animated Doctor Zhivago. Devastated that Olga suffered on his behalf and frustrated that he could not match her loyalty to him, Boris instead channeled his thwarted passion for Olga into the love story in Doctor Zhivago.
Filled with the rich detail of Boris’s secret life, Lara unearths a moving love story of courage, loyalty, suffering, drama, and loss, and casts a new light on the legacy of Doctor Zhivago.
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Informative and very interesting. Doctor Zhivago had always been one of my favorite movies so I was very interested to know more about the author and was surprised to learn that the charactor, Lara, was based on the authors true love. It was a complex story with complex persons.
For anyone who loved Dr. Zhivago, this book tells the true story of Boris Pasternak and his Lara. I could not put it down, once I started.
While I have read several other Russian authors I have never read B. Pasternak. It was wonderful to read Lara prior to reading Dr. Zhivago. She is a great niece who knew little of her family history prior to researching for the book.
It is a fascinating read about a man driven by a sense of purpose and the love of his life, Olga. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Boris Pasternak appeals to everyone.
Disappointing.Found it boring.
fascinating to hear “backstory” ….
very interesting, A good read.
Loved the story of
Boris Pasternak life, loved the movie Dr. Zivago
This is the story of the real Lara, Boris Pasternak’s muse in his great novel Dr. Zhivago. It is achingly sad. Anyone who has illusions about the Soviet Union should read this. A great writer and his mistress were cruelly punished, almost to suicide, by that oppressive regime.
What a great book! Anyone who loves “Dr. Zhivago” would find this book very interesting. This is the story of Lara,yes, but also the story of Yuri, who was created from the own authors life in the Dr. Zhivago book. Filled with information, it is a haunting story. I found this book hard to put down and highly recommend it.
I’d never known the story of Boris Pasternak and his love affair with Olga (Lara). It was fascinating to read a reality based story in which the reader comes to appreciate the flaws of even the most talented. In many way, Pasternak was weak and dependent, whiny, and willing to let others fight his battles. Yet he was one of the most brilliant novelists Russia has ever produced. His novel came first, and his family came in somewhere else down the line.
This is the story of Boris Pasternak, written by his great grand niece. I’m so glad I read this before picking up Dr Zhivago. The author did a wonderful job of introducing me to pre-revolution and Stalinist Russia. She also helped me to understand where the story of Dr Zhivago came from. It was from his own life.
One of the very few books I never finished. Am a huge fan of Dr Zhivago and looked forward to reading this book but it was so boring I had to quit about 10% of the way in. And I virtually never do that.
Makes me want to read Dr. Zhivago again.
An absolute necessity if one wishes to understand Pasternak and Russia/USSR. A tragic story, well written and it becomes scary if one permits the mind to speculate on the same political actions happening here. Did not expect it but I saw direct A::B comparisons & connections between “Lara” and the Civil Rights Movement here in the U.S.
The real story behind Dr. Zhivago, and life under Stalin. Pasternak breaks through with passion and human failings.
For fans of Boris Pasternak this bio provides some back story to his great novel Dr. Zhivago. A real life Inspiration for Lara, Zhivago’s tragic love.
If you have ever watched the movie, Dr. Zhivago, this book is a must read. It fills in alot of the blanks and give you much needed background that was the basis if his book and then the movie. These people endured such hard times. The book left a lasting impression on me.
in a sad way, Lara was informative in that Pasternak really “used” her. I still found it interesting how this story was a basic backdrop for Dr. Zhivago(sorry for the spelling)
As a longtime student of Russian history, literature and language, I was fascinated by this story of the real characters who inspired those in the novel Doctor Zhivago. I also appreciated the opportunity to learn about life in Soviet Russia.
Even though it was meant to be a book about Pasternak’s relationship with Lara,
it was not fully fleshed out. Lara seemed like just an incidental character since
the writer told us what Lara’s actions were from time to time but never expounded
on Lara’s feelings. I felt that it did not portray the deep emotional connection that was portrayed in Dr Zhivago