Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

Set between the 1905 Russian Revolution and the Second World War, Boris Pasternak’s novel Doctor Zhivago, first published in Italy in 1957, takes its name from its protagonist, Yuri Zhivago.

The novel tells the story of Yuri Zhivago, a man torn between his love for two women while simultaneously attempting to navigate the tumultuous times of twentieth-century Russia. The book opens with ten-year-old Yuri attending his mother’s funeral alongside his uncle, Nikolai Nikolaievich Vedeniapin, who consoles him. After the funeral, Yuri spends the night in his room in a monastery. His father has deserted the family so Yuri will now be raised by his uncle, a former priest turned writer. Yuri is very fond of his uncle, who also works as a university professor and is a scholar of the revolution. Believing in personal strength, he teaches Yuri about the importance of developing resilience.

Andrei Zhivago, Yuri’s father, once a wealthy businessman, was a philanderer and squandered his family’s wealth, leaving Yuri and his mother with nothing. He ends up committing suicide while traveling by train. He was traveling with his lawyer, Victor Komarovsky, who maintains that Zhivago was an alcoholic and killed himself in a fit of withdrawal.