Doctor Zhivago: What's the fuss?

[barondave]

War is bad. I get it. I don't seem to get Doctor Zhivago, the Nobel Prize-winning novel that was banned by the Soviet Union. I can see why the SU didn't like it; I don't see why anyone else does. Lost people in the midst of several wars meet, lose each other and meet again unexpectedly. Some nice characterization never seems to gel into a coherent theme. At least, not for me.

Anyone care to explain why they liked/disliked the book? (Maybe the movie will improve my understanding.)

Comments

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

Never could get through the book, which is something considering I read Tolstoy and Solzhenitsyn and Dostoyevsky in high school. Like Lord of the Rings, I have yet to figure out how they got that beautiful movie out of that ghod-awful book so I don't know why the SU thought it was banned. Perhaps because it showed that there were party officials that were corrupt?

[galacticvoyeur.livejournal.com]

It's a great yarn and a good adventure and I've both read the book and seen the movie several times. Maybe I like it because I don't tend to consciously dwell on a search for coherent themes, I just let it all wash over me.