| Researcher | Author: Title | |
| Beth Ann Reimel | Pasternak, Boris: Doctor Zhivago | |
| Assignment 1: Bibliographic Description | ||
| 1. First Edition Publication Information | Pantheon, New York, N.Y. 1958 (this is the first American edition. The first english language edition was published in London, a few months previous (but still 1958), by William Collins Sons and Co., Ltd. The only edition published previous to London was in Italian. It was published in 1957 by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, in Milano, Italy.) | |
| 2. First Edition in Cloth, Paper, or Both? | Cloth | |
| 3. Image of Cover Art | A1319980205120609.jpg | |
| 4. Pagination | [9], 558, [1] | |
| 5. Edited and/or Introduced? | No introduction, but translated by Max Hayward and Manya Harari TRANSLATED | FROM THE RUSSIAN| BY MAX HAYWARD AND| MANYA HARARI| ìTHE POEMS OF YURII ZHIVAGOî| BY BERNARD GUILBERT GUERNEY List of characters on [9] | |
| 6. Illustrated? | No, first illustrated edition was published in 1959 | |
| 8. General Appearance | Attractive physical presentation, colors used on dust jacket (purple and a deep sky blue), readable typography | |
| 9. Image of Sample Chapter Page | A1919980205121742.jpg | |
| 10. Description of Paper | Paper quality very good, holding up well over time | |
| 11. Description of Binding | Grey cloth binding with red backstrip. Cover is gold-stamped with authorís signature. Spine is gold-stamped on black | |
| 12. Title Page Transcription | Boris Pasternak| DOCTOR ZHIVAGO| [solid bar]| PANTHEON| [ink drawing of barren countryside w/ a sleigh and a cotta ge, 43 x 136 mm, signed A. Tettamanti] | |
| 13. Image of Title Page | A11319980205121742.jpg | |
| 14. Manuscript Holdings | Yes, microfilm of typescript in Russian, with author's revisions, in Harvard University, Houghton Library (Cambridge, Mass.)(Kilgour MS Russian 11, 18, 34) | |
| 15. Other | Dust jacket design by Ampelio Tettamanti transcription of dust jacket: BORIS PASTERNAK| Doctor Zhivago| A NOVEL| [same picture as title page, but with the addition of color. Background streaks of blue and purple, PANTHEON vertically along R front of dust jacket] Back of Dust Jacket: black and white photograph of Pasternak with white B. Pasternak signature Spine of Dust Jacket: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak [printing in lavendar] | |
| Assignment 2: Publication History | ||
| 1. Other Editions: | The original (American) publisher, Pantheon, issued the book in eight editions. 1958: 1st edition: no illustration, 558p, 22cm 1958: 2nd edition: no illustration, ìrevised English edition,î 559 p, 22cm It is interesting to note the differences in the 1958 editions. I am referring to them as separate editions due to their pagination difference. Both contain the same text arrangement, and so both actually have 559 pages. However, the first edition sto ps pagination on p558, and the three lines of text on the 559th page are not marked with a page number. The first edition was bound in grey cloth boards with a red backstrip. The front cover was gold stamped with a facsimile of Boris Pasternakís signatu re ìB. Pasternak.î The spine was gold stamped on black. The second 1958 edition, with 559p., is bound entirely in red cloth boards. The gold-stamped signature and gold-on-black spine remain the same as the first edition. 1958: 3rd edition: no illustration, ìBook Club edition, The best-seller library series,î 563p, 22cm 1958: 4th edition: no illustration, ìBook Club edition, The best-seller library series,î smaller typography, 563p, 15cm Pantheon also released two Book Club editions in 1958. I have found nothing in my research to indicate why the two Book Club editions of different sizes. I would guess that one of those was paperback, but there was no mention of that on WorldCat or Bib liofind. However, those two sources are not perfect, as proven by World Cat listing the following 1959 edition as the ìfirst American edition,î when it is actually the ìfirst illustrated edition.î 1959: 5th edition: first illustrated edition, 780p, 25cm 1975: 6th edition: no illustration, another ìBook-Club edition, The best-seller library series,î 563p, 22cm 1991: 7th edition: no illustration, Pantheon paperback edition, xxiii, 592p, 20cm 1997: 8th edition: no illustration, xxiii, 558p, 21cm One should note that the bookís publishing rights were sold first to Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore in Milano Italy, when the book was initially accepted by the Russian officials. The book was initially planned to be published in both Russian and Italia n. However, Russian officials revoked approval, and requested that Feltrinelli return the book. He refused, published the book in 11/1957, and then acted as Pasternakís publication agent. There is conflict in my research as to whether this Feltrinelli e dition was published in Italian or Russian. Most sources say Italian, however there is a bookseller claiming to have a 1957 Feltrinelli in Russian. I would think that upon looking at the text one would be able to distinguish between Russian and Italian, but who knows. I am contacting that bookseller to clear the matter up, but in the meantime I would say that the first edition was published in Italian. Londonís Collins and Harvill Press ( as printed on the title page, listed on the publication page a s Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.), published the first English language edition, translated by Max Hayward and Manya Harari. This translation was the one used for Pantheonís first edition. Both these publishers were working in association with Feltrinelli in regards to Pasternakís book. Collins and Harvill published three additional editions. Collins alone published two additional editions, one of which was a ìreader,î a textbook version of Dr. Zhivago for foreign language speakers, and one with Fontana monarchs. Fontana also publishe d their own edition. Collins Fontana later published yet another edition, HarperCollins published another edition, and Feltrinelli, Collins together published yet another edition. So Collins was involved in eight editions beyond the first. | |
| 4. First Edition printings or impressions? | Doctor Zhivago, first published Sept.5, 1958, went through five printings by October 1958, bringing the total number of copies to 65,000. The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Boris Pasternak on Oct. 23, 1958. Although Pasternak was reported to have been ìImmenseley thankful, touched, proud, astonished, abashed,î and it was reported in a 10/25 New York Times that he would ìJoyfull yî accept the award, the Soviet government would not allow Pasternak to receive the award. On October 29, 1958, Pasternak declined the award ìIn view of the meaning given to this honor in the community to which I belong.î This story caused demand for th e book to go through the roof, and Pantheon went through three more printings within a week, bringing the total number of copies to 130,000, yet there were still back-orders of 50,000. There was a ninth printing of 20,000 more books on 11/14, but this wo uld mean that there were still back-orders of at least 30,000. A tenth printing was scheduled on 11/21 to fill the back-orders. What is unclear is whether this tenth printing was of the first, 558p, edition, or if it marked the first printing of the second, 559p, edition. The second edition was published in 1958, and there would have only been one month left of 1958 at this time . Also, upon first-hand examination of two different 559p, 2nd edition copies, both list the nine printings and no more. If pressed to give a number, I would say that the first edition went through nine printings. By 12/1, the number of Doctor Zhivago copies rose from 150,000 to 225,000. However, while the previously cited numbers were marked as not including Pantheonís Book Club editions, it is possible that the 225,000 did include the Book Club editions. It is also possible, however, that the tenth/first printing was a mass printing of 75,000, or that the second edition started off with two or three printings in a row. It is also possible that the 225,000 included editions from the International Collectors Li brary, Modern Library, and New American Library. Booksellers on Bibliofind have reported 2nd editions (559p)with printings as high as the 41st printing. So the second edition possibly went through at least 41 printings. | |
| 5. Editions from other publishers? | There were several editions of Doctor Zhivago from other publishers. Garden City, NY: International Collectors Library, 1958 New York : Modern Library, 1958 New York: New American Library 1960. A Signet Book New York: New American Library 1962, 1958. A Signet Book New York: New American Library 1964. A Signet Book New York: Random House, 1962 Franklin Center, PA: Franklin Library, 1978 London: Fontana, 1961. Fontana Modern Novels London: Fontana, 1984, 1958. paperback New York: Ballantine, 1981, 1958. Ballantine Books Edition Toronto, New York: Bantam, 1985 Pleasantville, NY: Reader's Digest Association, 1990 London: Everyman's Library: Distributed by Random Century Group, 1991. Everyman's Library series. New York: Knopf, 1991. Everyman's Library Series Harlow: Nelson, 1995. Series: Nelson Readers, Level 6 London: Folio Society, 1997, 1958 | |
| 6. Last date in print? | Doctor Zhivago is currently in print. There are definitely three editions in print; one from Pantheon, one from Ballantine, and one from Buccaneer Books. These three are found in both the hardcover Books in Print 1996-97 and the on-line Books in Print. However, the on-line Books in Print al so lists another edition, one from Addison Wesley Longman, Incorporated. | |
| 7. Total copies sold? | There have been 5, 010, 520 total copies of Doctor Zhivago sold as of 1977, according to 80 Years of Bestsellers, 1895-1975. 1, 042, 520 hardcover 3, 225, 500 paperback | |
| 8. Sales by year? | Doctor Zhivago was first published in the U.S. on 9/5/58. Between 9/5 and 12/18/58, there were 421,352 copies sold. It first appeared on the Pulbisher's Weekly Bestsellers list in the 9/29 edition, at #7. That data was taken from the week ending 9/19, so Doctor Zhivago became a bestseller within 2 weeks of publication. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on 10/23, was forced, by desire to remain in Soviet society, to decline it on 10/29/58. The book's sales skyrocketed. As of 11/3, Pantheon had already sold 65, 000 copies. The 12/29 Publishers Week ly survey showed that the book was selling an average of 10,00 copies/ day the previous week. The book hit #1 on the Publisher's Weekly Chart in the 11/24/58 issue. It stayed there for 25 weeks, until 5/25/59. As of 6/12/59, 625,206 copies of Doctor Zhivago had been sold. It did not leave the weekly bestseller list until 10/26/59. | |
| 9. Advertising copy: | As early as 1/27/58, Pantheon had Doctor Zhivago as the first advertisement in their page-long ad highlighting 12 books. The ad, run in Publisher's Weekly, is as foll ows: DOCTOR ZHIVAGO| By BORIS PASTERNAK. Translated by Max| Hayward. This is the monumental novel of | Russia's greatest living poet in its uncensored | form, that was suppressed in Russia and first| published in translation. "It evokes the whole | experien ce of Russia in the past fifty years and, | like War and Peace, the vast picture is pre- | sented in terms of many characters whose des-| tiny is in some way interwoven." - The London | Times April $5.00 (note that this ad sets the publication date as April, when in reality the book did not arrive until September) In the 5/26/58 Publisher's Weekly, Pantheon devoted 2 full pages to 2 books, one of which was Doctor Zhivago. So the Dr. Zhivago ad covered half of 2 pages. It included a very large (~30 pt font) "Doctor Zhivago" on one page, and a description on the other with phrases like "no other book in living memory has created a similar world-wide sensation," "a masterpiece comparable to War and Peace," and "the most significant literary event of the year." The 10/27 /58 Publisherís Weekly describes Pantheonís ad campaign on page 82: ìAds are scheduled in the Times daily and Sunday, in the Tribune daily and Sunday, in the Chicago Tribune and in the San Francisco Chronicle through the end of November. This campaign includes a large space ad in the Times on November 6. The 11/9/58 New York Times Book Review had a half-page add on p.10: NOBEL| PRIZE| awarded to | Boris Pasternak| author of | DOCTOR ZHIVAGO| $5.00, Pantheon Books| The black-and-white photograph of the author which comprised the back of the dust-jacket was used as the backdrop for this large advertisement. | |
| 10. Image of sample advertisement | A21019980226114155.jpg | |
| 11. Other promotion? | The cover of the 11/24/58 Publisherís Weekly was devoted to Pasternak and Doctor Zhivago (see image below). The inside cover detailed Pantheonís next ad campaign, with an advertising budget of $25,000. The campaign was to las t through December, January, and part of February, and was ìto include all important book media (daily, Sunday, weekly, and monthly) in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas.î | |
| 12. Performances in other media? | In 1965, MGM issued Doctor Zhivago as a motion picture. It was produced by Carlo Ponti, directed by David Lean, and starred Omar Sharif and Julie Christie. It was initially available through MGM as 5 film reels. It has since been mad available in t he following formats: 1980: 2 videocassettes, Beta 2 or VHS format -- MGM/CBS Home Video 2 videocassettes, Beta or VHS format -- MGM/UA Home Video 1981: 2 videodiscs -- MGM/CBS Home Video 1983: 2 extended play laser videodiscs -- MGM/UA Home Video 1988: 2 Dolby surround sound, digital video transfer videocassettes, VHS -- MGM/UA Home Video 1988: 2 Laser Vision videodiscs, letter-box format -- MGM/UA Home Video 1991, 1993: 2 deluxe letter-box edition videodiscs -- MGM/UA Home Video 1993: 2 videocassettes, close-captioned for the hearing impaired -- MGM/UA Home Video 1995: 2 30th anniversary edition sets of 2 videocassettes, one the deluxe letter-box -- MGM/UA Home Video 2 deluxe-letterbox sets of videodiscs, one with 2 videodiscs, the other, 30th anniversary edition with 4 videodiscs -- MGM/UA Home Video 1997: 2 laserdiscs with Dolby surround sound and extended play Maurice Jarreís soundtrack for the movie was also produced in several editions by different orchestras, in 33 1/3 record format, cassette, and compact disc. There was a book on the movie entitled ìDavid Leanís film of Doctor Zhivago.î Two different sli de shows of the movie were also produced, complete with accompanying records or cassettes, and one with a teacherís guide. There were 4 sound recordings made of the book Doctor Zhivago. Phillip Madoc read the complete and unabriged version, Paul Scofield performed two versions, one of which was noted as the abriged edition, and the fourth was for use by the blind and physic ally handicapped. | |
| 13. Translations? | There are at least 25 translations of Doctor Zhivago. 1958 1) Pasternak, Boris. O Doutour Jivago. Belo Horizonte, Brasil: Editora Itatiaia; Tapir, 1958. 565p. 2) Pasternak, Boris. El Doctor Yivago. Mexico, D.F.: Ediciones Capricornio, 1958. 537[4]p. 3) Pasternak, Boris. El Doctor Jivago. Barcelona: Editorial Noguer, 1958. 642p. 1959 4) Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. Ann Arbor, MI.: University of Michigan Press, 1959. 4) Pasternak, Boris. Chíi-fa-koi sheng. Hsiang-kang: Tzu yu chíu pan she, 1959. 2,1,2,460,70p. 5) Pasternak, Boris. Naiphaet Chiwako. Phra Nakhaeon: Samnakphim kh ochitmet, 1959. 6) Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. np, 1959. 604p. In Arabic. 1964 7) Pasternak, Boris. Naiphaet Chiwako. Phra Nakhaeon: Phrae Phitthaya, 1964. 1974 8) Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. Barcelona: Editorial Noguer, 1974, 445p. 1979 9) Pasternak, Boris. Ch`i-wa-ko I sheng. Ch`u pan edition. Tíai pei shih: Yuan chung ch`u pan shih yeh kung ssu, 1979. 781p. 10) Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Jivago. Las grandes obras del sieglo veinte series. Mexico: Promexa, 1979. xiii 510p. 1980 11) Pasternak, Boris. Dokutoru jibago. Tokyo: Jijitsushinsha, 1980. 540p. 12) Pasternak, Boris. Dokutoru jibago. Tokyo: Jijitsushinsha, 1980. 424p. 1983 13) Pasternak, Boris. El Doctor Zhivago. Barcelona: Orbis, 1983. 445p 1984 14) Pasternak, Boris. El Doctor Zhivago. Bogota, Columbia: Circulo de Lectores, 1984. 601p. 15) Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Jivago. Obras maestras de la literatura contemporanea: 43. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1984. 446p. 16) Pasternak, Boris. Ch`i wa-ko sheng. Zai ban edition, Shi jie wen xue quan ji; 36 series. Tíai-bei: Yang Jing, 1979, 1984. 1986 17) Pasternak, Boris. Ch`i-wa-ko I sheng. Chung-ho shih, Tíai-pei yuan: Shu Hua ch`u pan shi yeh yu usien kung ssu, 1986. 781p. 1987 18) Pasternak, Boris. El Doctor Zhivago. Novelas de cine series. Barcelona: Ediciones Orbis, 1987. 447p. 1990 19) Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zywago. edition Wyd Z. Warszawa: Pa*nstowowy Instytut Wydawniczcy, 1990. 595p. 1991 20) Pasternak, Boris; traduccion de Fernando Gutierrez. El Doctor Zhivago. Barcelona: Anagrama, 1991. 627p. 21) Pasternak, Boris. El Doctor Zhivago. Madrid: Ediciones Catedra, 1991. 725p. 22) Pasternak, Boris. Uisa Chibago. Ch`op`an edition. Soul Tukpyolsi: Omungak, 1991. 431p. 1992 23) Pasternak, Boris. Uisa Chibago. Soul:Koryo ch`ulp`an munhwagon gongsa, 1992. 447p. 1994 24) Pasternak, Boris. Ch`i-wa-ko I sheng. Tíai-pei hsien Chung-ho shih: Shu hua ch`u pan ahih yeh yu hsun kung ssu, 1994. xix, 781p. 25) Pasternak, Boris. Le Docteur Jivago. Paris: France Loisirs, 1995. 779p. There was also a version of the movie produced in German in 1992. It was available in videocassette, VHS format. | |
| 14. Serialization? | Yes. Novoya Russkoya Slovo, a Russian- language newpaper in New York, serialized Doctor Zhivago in November, 1958, using (English ->Russian translated) texts made available by the University of Michigan Press. | |
| 15. Sequels or Prequels? | The Poems of Doctor Zhivago were published separ ately. Pasternak, Boris. The poems of Doctor Zhivago. London: Roger Schlesinger, 1969. 61p., ill. Pasternak, Boris. The poems of Doctor Zhivago. Kansas City, Mo.: Hallmark Edition, 1967. 61p., ill. Pasternak, Boris. The poems of Doctor Zhivago. Kansas City, Mo.: Hallmark Crown Editions, 1971. 69p., ill. The poems were also made into a sound recording, read by Tatiana Pobers. Four versions of this recording were available. the 1959 version was in 33 1/3 record format, the cassette version of 1986 was available both with texts and without, and the casset te plus booklet of Russian texts with English translation was produced in both 1980 and 1995. | |
| Assignment 3: Brief Biography | ||
| Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was born February 10, 1890, in Moscow, Russia. He was raised in a cultured Jewish household where art, literature, music, and poetry were not only appreciated, but were a way of life. His father was Leonid Osipovich Pasternak, a portrait painter and art teacher, and his mother was pianist Rosa Isidorovna (maiden name: Kaufman). They were part of a privileged, cultured, Moscow art circle which included the author Tolstoy, and the composers Scriabin and Rachmaninov, among others. Young Pasternak initially chose music as his passion and at the age of fourteen began his study at the Moscow Conservatory. However, he rejected such study afer six years, due to the gap between his mental musical ideal and his lesser technical ability. He was later a student of philosophy, and interrupted his studies at Moscow University in 1912 to study under neo-Kantian philosopher Hermann Cohen at the University of Marburg in Germany. He then turned from philosophy to the study of poetry, reportedly sparked by his lover's rejection of his marriage proposal. He obtained his degree from Moscow University in 1913. Pasternak's first volume of poetry, "Blitzhetz tuchakh" (Twin in the Clouds), was published in 1914 (Pasternak was 24), followed by a second volume, "Poverkh barerov" (Above the Barriers), in 1917. Pasternak had been physically disqualified form military service suring WWI, due to an earlier leg injury. He spent the war years working in a factory in the Ural Mountains. In 1917, while Russia was feeling the effects of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Pasternak was in Moscow working on "Sestra moia zhizn" (My Sister, Life), a volume of poetry which was published in 1923. While the Revolution was expressed in much of the tone of this volume, the Revolution also forced Pasternak's parents to move to Germany. His father's job as a portrait painter stressed a focus on the individual, and that was in opposition to Communist Party thought. Pasternak had limited contact with his parents after that. Pasternak married Yevgenia (Eugenia) Vladimirovna Lurye Muratova, a painter, in 1922, and they had a son Yevgeny. He had published his first prose work, Detstvo Luvers (the Childhood of Luvers) in 1919. With the publication of "Temy y variatsi," another volume of poetry, in 1923, Pasternak had established himself as a foremost Russian poet of the day. He published several other works in the 1920's, but when Stalin took over the government in 1928, Pasternak muted his productivity. The government C.I.S. controlled all of Pasternak's publishing by 1924, and Pasternak was feeling increasing pressure to conform to Party ideals in his work. Pasternak and Yevgenia divorced in 1931, and he married Zinaida Nikolayevna Neuhaus in 1934. She bore him another son, Leonid. In the 1930s, as aforementioned, Pasternak wrote only sporadically. He turned his attention to translations, and that is how he made his living during those years. His Shakespeare translations are considered by some to be the best in the Russian language. He also produced two autobiographical works during this time, "Safe Conduct" and "The Last Summer." He published two thin volumes of poetry in 1943 and 1945. According to the critic Guy de Mallac, "Pasternak called 1945 and 1946 his years of deep spiritual crisis and change." This is believable when one considers the circumstances of Pasternak's life in 1946. He met and fell in love with Olga Ivinskaya, an editiorial assistant for the Soviet monthly periodical, Novy Mir. They began an affair a year later. Ivinskaya is thought to be the inspiration for Lara in Doctory Zhivago. 1946 also saw the institution of the Zhandov decree, an act which sought to bring art under the party control, and away from Western influence. It was during these times when Pasternak began to draft his story of Doctor Zhivago, but published nothing for fear of government disapproval. While Pasternak escaped arrest during this time of regulation, Olga was not as fortunate. She was arrested in 1949 for having "engaged in anti-Soviet discourse" with Pasternak. She refused to incriminate Pasternak, and, pregnant with his child, was sent to prison. Ivinskaya miscarried while in prison, where she remained until 1953, the year of Stalin's death. In 1956, during Kruschev's de-Stalinization "thaw," Pasternak submitted his manuscript of Doctor Zhivago to Novy Mir for publication, and to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. Novy Mir rejected the manuscript, demanding extensive revision and cutting due to its "spirit. . .of non- acceptance of the socialist revolution" (originally excerpted from New York Times Book Review). Feltrinelli refused to return the manuscript, and Doctor Zhivago was published in Italian in 1957. Feltrinelli also acted as Pasternak's agent to the Western world. Doctor Zhivago was published in English first by William Collins & Sons in London in 1958, and then by Pantheon in NewYork in 1958. In October, 1958, Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Although first accepting, and reportedly touched by, the honor, Pasternak later denied it, "ïn view of the meaning given the award by the society in which I live." Regardless, Pasternak was expelled from the Soviet Writers' Union and lived in disgrace. His appeal to Kruschev stating his strong love of Russia enabled him to remain in the country, although Communist Party radicals wanted him exiled. His autobiography I Remember was published in England and America in 1959. He died of heart disease and, primarily, cancer, at his home in Peredelkino, U.S.S.R., a suburb of Moscow, on May 30, 1960. (I cannot find, nor have found mention of all semester, the whereabouts of Pasternaks papers. Even the manuscript of Doctor Zhivago which Harvard holds is on microfilm. The Soviet Writers' Union re-instated the expelled Pasternak posthumously in 1988, and at that time they made his home in Peredelkino into a museum; it is possible that his papers are there.) | ||
| Assignment 4 | ||
| Contemporary Reception: | ||
| Doctor Zhivago had a generally warm reception when it finally made its way to the shelves of American bookstores. Pantheon, the book's American publisher, released Doctor Zhivago in early September, 1958. The August 15 Kirkus Review had already proclaimed the book as "Absolutely a must for the literati." The beginning of September brought many favorable reviews of the novel, some gushing or emphatic:"Like all great works, 'Doctor Zhivago' stands alone, unique in concept, poetic in execution, devastating in power, suffused in delicately mystical philosophy, deeply tender in romance, nakedly surgical in its dissection of political folly, and honest in its conviction that man is a simple, if noble, figure in a complex cosmos." (Saturday Review, 9/6/58). The Septemer 7, 1958 issue of the New York Times Book Review featured a review of Doctor Zhivago, accompanied by a large picture of Pasternak, on its first page/cover, under the title "But Man's Free Spirit Still Abides - Out of Russia Comes a New Novel That Defies the Totalitarian's Way." The first paragraph begins, "At last we have the English version of 'Doctor Zhivago,' the greatest novel from Russia that suddenly sprang into prominence last year in Europe and became the subject of passionate discussion among critics and readers. It is easy to predict that Boris Pasternak's book, one of the most significant of our time and a literary event of the first order, will have a brilliant future." It also referred to the novel as "a book of great revelation." However, not all the initial reviews were completely enthusiastic. Many reviewers pointed out the book's reliance on coincidence and the fact that many characters drift in and out of the plot without ever gripping the reader. However, no review was unfavorable. The reviews which included criticism still produced a very positive opinion of 'Doctor Zhivago' overall. The New Republic, on 9/8/58, notes that Pasternak "burdens himself with more preparations than he needs and throughout the book one is aware of occaisional brave efforts to tie loose ends together;" however the reviewer also names Doctor Zhivago "a book of truth and courage and beauty, a work of art toward which one's final response is nothing less than a feeling of reverence." The reviews within the next few months were plentiful, and continued much along the same vein - some completely favorable, and those which were also critical gave very good marks to Pasternak's novel overall. The noted Edmund Wilson produced an (extremely lengthy) review for the New Yorker in November 1958. Pasternak's typically Russian style of "begin[ning] his stanzas with a predicate and not arriv[ing] at the subject till the final line," bothered Wilson a bit, since Pasternak "lays it on in a remorseless way," but for the majority of the review Wilson is very complementary, calling the novel "one of the very great books of our time." Wilson concludes with, "'Doctor Zhivago' will, I believe, come to stand as one of the great events in man's literary and moral history." Seven months later (June 1959), however, Wilson wrote another article for Encounter in which he examined, a bit more critically, Pasternak's use of symbols and significant puns. It should be noted, though, that Encounter probably had a much smaller readership than the New Yorker, and the review was still not really unfavorable. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on October 23, 1958. The academy secretary "cited Pasternak's poetry, his translations of Shakespeare, and especially Doctor Zhivago as the basis upon which the academy reached its decision. . . Albert Camus, who had received the award in 1957, commented: 'It is the best choice that could have been made. I hoped for it and rejoice with all my heart.' Francois Mauriac, also a past recipient of the prize, said, 'Doctor Zhivago is perhaps the most important novel of our age.'" (de Mallac, 1982) The awarding of the prize and comments such as these most likely influenced the American public, as demonstrated in the rapid leap in booksales and demand for the book (assignment #2). Pasternak refused the award under the threat of serious repurcussions (exile from Russia, etc)from the Russian government. He was removed from the Soviet Writers' Union and lived with very limited feedom. The charged political issues surrounding the "Doctor Zhivago" and Pasternak often featured heavily in the reviews and articles particularly in '59 and '60. Time, especially, incorporated the political controversy into almost all of its frequent coverage of the book and its author. In September 1958, Time states that "'Doctor Zhivago' is far too good a novel to be read primarily as an anti-Marxist polemic, though it does contain some breathtaking anti-Marxist passages." Three months later, Time refers to the book as "one of this century's remarkable novels." "In strictly literary terms, 'Doctor Zhivago is an extraordinary novel, but not a great one. . .what raises 'Doctor Zhivago' above technically better made novels is that it is charged with moral passion." Even three years later, the 1/27/61 Time reads "his [Pasternak's] great novel, 'Doctor Zhivago,' known to readers the world over, except in Russia, where 'Zhivago' is banned." Controversy always helps market a book, and "Zhivago" was especially aided by the Western popular press's championing of Pasternak as a sadly persecuted man of noble and moral character.REVIEW LIST (CONTEMPORARY): Atlantic 202:67, Septmeber 1958 Booklist 55:100, October 1958 Bookmark 18:14, October 1958 Canadian Forum 38:206, December 1958 Catholic World 188:335, January 1959 Chicago Sunday Tribune, September 7 1958 Christian Century 76;50 January 14, 1959 Christian Science Monitor, September 4, 1958 Commonweal 69:578, February 27, 1959 Encounter 11:5, November 1958 Kirkus 26:616, August 15, 1958 Library Journal 83:2443, Septmeber 15, 1958 Nation 187:134, September 13, 1958 New Republic 139:16, September 8, 1958 New Statesman 56:354, September 13, 1958 New York Herald Tribune Book Review, September 7, 1958 New York Times Book Review, September 7, 1958 New Yorker 34:213 November 15, 1958 San Francisco Chronicle, October 8, 1958 Saturday Review 41:20, September 6, 1958 Spectator, September 5, 1958 Springfield Republican, November 2, 1958 Time, December 15, 1958 Time, September 15, 1958 Time, December 9, 1957 Wisconsin Library Bulletin 54:521, November 1958There were no American television reviews of "Doctor Zhivago" that were found in the course of the research. The same was true for radio, although it is probable that some did occur (the book was reviewed at least once on German radio). Pasternak's unfavorable position with the Russian government prevented much radio/tv coverage - it seems that at the time, most reviews were accompanied by interviews with the author. | ||
| Subsequent Reception: | ||
| The amount of "Doctor Zhivago" reviews after 1963 dropped considerably. This is expected, and especially logical considering that the author, Boris Pasternak, died in 1960. There is still a great deal of academic review of Doctor Zhivago; aside from numerous books, academic journals still write on "Zhivago" frequently, especially those which focus on russian writers. "Studies in Soviet Literature" devoted the entire Summer 1990 issue to "Doctor Zhivago,." and "Russian Review" and "Slavic Review" frequently publish articles examining "Zhivago," as well as more general academic journals like "Modern Language Review." However, the impact of the novel is still evident. References to Doctor Zhivago appear in reviews of or articles about other books. (e.g."The Family Mashber" Atlantic, 1987) Pasternak himself has inspired several biographies in recent years, especially in 1990, the 30th anniversary of his death. Such books necessarily spend a great deal of time on "Doctor Zhivago," its writing, the events surrounding it and "the Pasternak affair," (see #2 and #3; for the purposes of this assignment I am referring to the affair as the banning of the book in Russia, the Russian government's attack on Pasternak, including the imprisonment of Olga Ivanskaya and the restraints which Pasternak lived under for the remainder of his life), and the author's feelings about the book. Peter Levi's "Boris Pasternak: A Biography" begins its "Doctor Zhivago" chapter with, "Thirty years after the death of the author and the hushing of the storm it gave rise to, 'Doctor Zhivago' retains its freshness and its mystery. Critics have found it many-faceted and enigmatic, but as time passes that does not matter in the least. The 6/24-7/1/96 special fiction issue of "The New Yorker" printed a "never-before-published" letter from Pasternak to Steven Spender. Spender was the editor of "Encounter" in 1959, when the magazine published Edmund Wilson's article exploring the "hidden system of meaning" in "Doctor Zhivago," in which, it had been claimed, Pasternak's characters were "insufficiently realized." This letter was Pasternak's gentle and typically poetic response to those claims. He explained his desire and attempt to convey reality, the world, as "a great moving entity - a developing, passing, rolling rushing inspiration. . . Rather than delineate [my characters], I was trying to efface them. . .I wanted to show the unrestrained freedom of life. . ." In the 12/3/74 issue of "Commonweal," the magazine's book reviewers were instructed to give lists of "Critics' Choices for Christmas." One reviewer made up his own 25 "best" categories: "Best Russian Novel After 'War and Peace.' Pasternak's 'Doctor Zhivago' is noble, theatrical, poetic, more spiritual than Tolstoy. People who like 'The Little Prince [referred to two sentences before as "a book for people who do not read books] will prefer Dostoevsky." Pasternak even managed to permeate the teenage domain of Generation X, for in June 1985 "Doctor Zhivago" appeared on Seventeen magazine's "17 Super Summer Reads" list.The cover of the 2/20/89 issue of "New Republic" featured an artist's rendering of Gorbachev in a living room, reading another formerly banned book, with "Doctor Zhivago" topping the small stack of ex-renegade books which was displayed prominently on an end table. Inside there was an article "What Soviets are saying about the writers they are resurrecting." The sub-article on "Doctor Zhivago" consisted of 3.5 pages of analysis, referred to "Doctor Zhivago" as "Pasternak's magnum opus," and supported Pasternak's portrayal of history and his treatment of Yurii Zhivago, the main character. "Doctor Zhivago" receives somewhat harsher treatment by Gabriel Josipovici in "The Times Literary Supplement" of 2/2/90. Josipovici was reviewing "Second nature," a posthumously published book of Pasternak's poetry, and begins with opinions on "Doctor Zhivago." "To his dying day Vladimir Nabokov maintained that Doctor Zhivago was a piece of pulp fiction. . .Re-reading the novel after twenty-five years I found myself in substantial agreement. . ." It is interesting that Nabokov's views were not even found in in 1958, '59 popular print during the research for this database, especially considering his own prominence at the time. Current press would probably have such a statement in headlines, with hope of a juicy Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding-esque feud. The most striking example of "Doctor Zhivago's" impact was found in the March 7, 1991 issue of "The New York Review of Books" - thirty-three years after its American publication, there was a four page book review of "Doctor Zhivago." The article mentions both positive and negative contemporary reviews of the novel. "V.S. Pritchett, a conoisseur of the Russian novel, called it the best to come out of Russia since the revolution, 'a work of genius.' Edmund Wilson in no way dissented. . .Vladimir Nabokov. . . pooh-poohed 'Doctor Zhivago' from the start, calling it a piece of muddled and sentimental fiction ill-advisedly composed by a man who was a talented poet. . .his views. . . were strongly criticized by Edmund Wilson. . ." However, the 1991 reviewer, John Bayley, sides with the (majority) opinion in favor of "Doctor Zhivago." "In 'Doctor Zhivago' Pasternak has revived [the timeless legends of good and evil, captivity, rescue, and love which remain deep in the country's folklore} in a manner wholly fascinating and original, and combined them in an inimitable way with his own poetry, a poetry of acute visions and perceptions, more deep and realistic than any conventional "realism" in fiction." "Thirty years or so after the book's first publication in English it is the feeling of poetry it gives which now makes its strongest impression, an impression of continuing vitality and greatness." REVIEW LIST (POST-CONTEMPORARY): Commonweal, December 6, 1974 New Republic iss 3866, February 20, 1989 New York Review of Books, March 7, 1991 Seventeen, June 1985 ***the review lists consist of only those articles which were written for the purpose of book evaluation. Other references to, and judgements/opinions, even evaluations, on the book did exist in popular media, and were included in the above discussions. They are included on the "source list," for they were indicative of the book's reception, even if they were not reviews. | ||
| Assignment 5 | ||
| Critical Essay: | ||
| American bestsellers have certain traits in common. They are normally large novels, written in the standard narrative format, with the author as a sort of storyteller. They also tend, in their subject matter, to meet some need of the public. The Robe, for example, arriving at the end of WWII, provided religious affirmation in a time of suffering, as well as showing the decay and overthrow of an evil empire. This was comforting to American readers as “their boys” were also attempting to destroy the evil empire of Naziism and fascism. Doctor Zhivago, the first and only novel by Russian poet Boris Pasternak, follows these best-selling traits. More than anything else, it is the content of the novel and the society into which it was delivered that determined its success. The book’s attention to familiar issues, the anti-communist climate that existed in America when the book was published, and the ordeal involving the Nobel Prize and Pasternak were the major reasons for Doctor Zhivago’s extreme popularity. Yuri Zhivago, the novel’s protagonist, was a man that America could love. He was a doctor, long a highly-respected profession in the United States. As such, he was a useful person, he was doing positive things for society. Yuri’s industriousness and love of his work was often mentioned in Doctor Zhivago. Americans in 1958 respected this work ethic, and was striving for it themselves. Yuri had the “perfect family” of the ‘50s American ideal - a lovely wife that he loved and admired, two handsome children, and a father-figure whom he enjoyed and respected greatly. Yet Yuri was also a dreamer, a poet on the side, and was madly in love with the beautiful and spirited Lara. She, the object of his infatuation and his adultery, was genetically blessed in terms of looks, intelligence, and personality, but had a slightly scandalous background. Her husband was a famed leader of the new Red military, legendary in his efficiency and effectiveness, engrossed in the war he was waging. Although secretly longing for his family, Antipov had disappeared for years, obsessed with his work. This was a situation that was very easy for 1958 America to swallow, probably because of its familiarity. Those shiny plasticine households were veneers for many affairs similar to that of Yuri and Lara. The appeal and positive portrayal of those two in the novel aroused the sympathies and quelled the consciences of Zhivago’s American readers. Another issue in Doctor Zhivago that American readers could relate to was the question of discrimination against Jews, especially the somewhat puzzling illogicality of it. This situation was present in both the Russia that Pasternak described and the America that the readers knew. Jews, despite success, kindness, and intelligence, were often the objects of discrimination. Doctor Zhivago had already addressed the issue within the first chapter, as the thoughts of Misha, the child of a Jewish lawyer, were revealed: “For as long as he could remember he had never ceased to wonder why, having arms and legs like everyone else, and a language and way of life common to all, one could be different from others, liked by only a few, and loved by no one. He could not understand a situation in which if you were worse than other people you could not make an effort to improve yourself. What did it mean to be a Jew? What was the purpose of it? What was the reward or the justification of this impotent challenge, which brought nothing but grief?” (13) Not only was Misha’s father, Grigory Osipovich, a lawyer, but soon after reading this passage the reader discovers that it was Osipovich who attempted to save a suicidal man. Also, “In the course of the long journey, the suicide had come several times to their compartment and had talked with Misha’s father for hours on end. He had said that he found relief in the moral decency, peace, and understanding which he discovered in him. . .”(15) Yet that compartment, one was told, was in the second class carriage of the train, and “the suicide,” despite being “an alcoholic” and “a good- natured profligate, not quite responsible for his actions” who had “abandoned” his family and “led a dissolutionate life, squandering the family millions,” was in first class (14,16,5). This ironic state of affairs existed in America at the time of Zhivago’s publication, as shown by the 1959 book, The Status Seekers. Chapter 19 was entitled “The special status problem of jews,” and began with: “One of the persistent puzzles of American life is the tendency in thousands of communities to erect barriers against Jews.” Other excerpts from the chapter further support the strangeness of the situation. “In the average city, the higher-level Jews meet all the existing eligibility standards in terms of business or professional success and education. If the Jew meets all the eligibility requirements, why isn’t he accepted? Why do the barriers persist against him all across the American landscape, in both business and social life?” The chapter went on to present negative or divisive Jewish stereotypes held by Gentiles, propose hypotheses, and suggest possible avenues for change. Americans could thus relate to the odd situation of Jews presented in Doctor Zhivago, and puzzle along with the characters as to not only why Jews were discriminated against, but why they themselves held some mild anti-Jewish sentiments. Perhaps the most stirring sentiment in Doctor Zhivago to which Americans could relate was that of anti-Communism. Actually, upon carefully reading the novel one can see that it is really not an anti-Red political statement, but an ode to the individual in every context. However, in promoting the individual, Pasternak necessarily deconstructed the extreme Socialism which existed in Russia at the time of the novel. As a result, any red-blooded (interesting irony there) American who was on a hunt for anti-Marxist statements could definitely find them in Doctor Zhivago. And good Americans in 1958 were definitely anti-communist. McCarthyism had dominated the preceding decade, and anti-Communism was prevalent. The Communist threat was a “national obsession,” as Ellen Schrecker noted in The Age of McCarthyism, mostly due to the role of the federal government. “During the late 1940s and 1950s, almost every [government] agency became involved in the anti-Communist crusade” (Schrecker). With both Democrats and Republicans “believing that Communism threatened the nation,” the anti-Communist feelings ran rampant. Dr. Fred Schwarz put out a book entitled You Can Trust the Communists (to be Communists), published by the Christian Anti-Communists Crusade. There were over a million copies in print, with statements like “The world is divided into three major areas: there is the Communist area, a great prison containing a billion slaves; there is what is known as the Free World consisting of America and her allies; and between these two there is the vast, uncommitted area of the world which numbers one billion people.” “The Communists are reaching one hundred people with these blatant lies for every one being reached with the Christian or democratic truth” (Schwarz). This environment was almost searching for Doctor Zhivago, with Yuri and his anti-Red musings. Zhivago thinks, “What kind of people are they, to go on raving with this never-cooling, feverish ardor, year in, year out, on nonexistent, long-vanished subjects, and to know nothing, to see nothing around them?”(381). The reader now has a confirmed picture of the delusional communist, a revolutionary lunatic, which is the picture he was seeking. In contrast, the reader is presented with Yuri Zhivago, a man whose attractiveness was already discussed, an educated, well-bred Russian in search of the truth. This confirms any suspicion that the reader might have about the Russian people; no, the whole country is not evil, but the admirable Russians, like Yuri, are anti-Red. Yuri is too intelligent, too thoughtful, to be consumed by the revolutionary hype “. . .the idea of social betterment as it is understood since the October revolution doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm. Second, it is so far from being put into practice, and the mere talk about it has cost such a sea of blood, that I’m not sure that the end justifies the means. And last - and this is the main thing - when I hear people speak of reshaping life it makes me lose my self-control and fall into despair. Reshaping life! People who can say that have never understood a thing about life - they have never felt its breath, its heartbeat - however much they have seen or done” (338). Yuri has the Communists never understanding a thing about life. Since the American reader is anti-Communist, he acquires a feeling of wisdom; he, like Yuri, understands life. Other characters contribute, too: Kostoied argued that “When the revolution woke [the peasant] up, he decided that his century-old dream was coming true. . .Instead he “found he had only exchanged the oppression of the former state for the new, much harsher yoke of the revolutionary superstate” (223). Lara also helps: “As soon as we became part of Soviet Russia we were sucked into its ruin. To keep going, they take everything from us” (395) There is, of course, Yuri’s oft-quoted, “I don’t know a movement more self-centered and further removed from the facts than Marxism. Everyone is only worried about proving himself in practical matters, and as for the men in power, they are so anxious to establish their infallibility that they do their utmost to ignore the truth” (259). This statement, especially the first sentence, found its way into many articles on the novel. The October 27, 1958 issue of Life used that quote in an article on Pasternak entitled, “A Brave, Defiant Russian Writer.” Even reviews and articles on Doctor Zhivago which warned against reading the book as an anti-communist piece still incorporated the anti-Red idea. Both “Doctor Zhivago is far too good a novel to be read primarily as an anti-Marxist polemic, although it does contain some breathtaking anti-Marxist passages,” and, “There is in Doctor Zhivago an unyielding suggestion that . . .the Communist regime is an interim affair, an affliction to be endured in hope, until the caravan of time evoked in Zhivago’s poem comes out of the dark for judgement” were in a Time magazine article of 9/15/98. Such a hopeful suggestion is in accordance with America’s desire for their democratic liberty to triumph over Communism. Everyone likes to believe he is right. The anti-Communist appeal of Doctor Zhivago was not lost on Pantheon, its American publisher. Such appeal was enhanced by the fact that the Soviet government had forbidden the novel’s publication in Russia. As early as January 27, 1958, Pantheon ads in Publisher’s Weekly had Doctor Zhivago at the top of the list, with the following description: “This is the monumental novel of Russia’s greatest living poet in its uncensored form, that was suppressed in Russia and first published in translation.” Such diction gives the American public a sense of espionage, an inside look at something the Soviets never wanted to be seen, and a sense of comradeship with the rebellious author nine months before the book was even published in the United States. This renegade portrayal of Pasternak is continued in a large Pantheon ad from May, 1958: “The greatest poet in Soviet Russia dared to write the truth about man’s fate during the Russian revolution, in a novel in which tender, idyllic scenes alternate with scenes of cruelty and horror, destructive of all human happiness.” This also supports the American view of Communist Russia as an evil monster machine, crushing any joy out of the Russian people. In general, both the ads and the articles of the time speak highly of Pasternak and of the book’s literary value, in addition to its controversial history. Both the literary merit and the controversy were amplified when Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on October 23, 1958. It is an obvious aid to the best-selling capability of a book when the author wins a Nobel Prize less than two months post-[American] publication. While Pasternak initially accepted the award with the statement that he was “infinitely grateful, touched, proud, surprised, [and] overwhelmed,” he came under such attack in Russia that he refused the Nobel Prize on October 29, “in view of the meaning given the award by the society in which I live.” The Soviets interpreted the award as being given expressly for Doctor Zhivago, which they had banned due to its “spirit. . . of non-acceptance of the socialist revolution.” Despite refusing the award, Pasternak was expelled from the Soviet Writer’s Union and came under attack by Soviet radicals, who wanted him exiled. These events propelled the book, which already hit the best-seller list in late September, to even greater heights of popularity. Pantheon went through three printings of Doctor Zhivago in just one week, bringing the total number of copies to 130,000, with at least 50,000 on back order (research fr. assignment #2). Doctor Zhivago hit #1 on the best-sellers list on 11/24/58 (Publisher’s Weekly, 11/24/58). The attack on Pasternak from inside Russia was vicious. A venomous attack from a union representative called Pasternak, “a literary whore, hired and kept in America’s anti-Soviet brothel” (Cont. Auth). While this was not true, it nevertheless created a feeling of alliance with Pasternak for the American people. It also provided the American press, especially the more mainstream, popular press, with a convenient image of Pasternak as the noble truth-seeker, persecuted for his ideals. “The publication of Doctor Zhivago, the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Mr. Pasternak, the savage campaign against him in the Soviet Union, his refusal to of the Nobel Prize - all these events, over a period of months, kept Mr. Pasternak, and his unhappy plight, on the front pages of newspapers around the world” (Commonweal, 2/27/59). It also kept him on top of the best-seller list, where he remained until May 25, 1959, a total of twenty-five weeks. The aforementioned sequence of events, “the Pasternak affair,” did much to advance Doctor Zhivago’s popularity, although “the personal drama of Boris Pasternak threatened to overshadow that of his world-famous book,” as the 2/27/59 issue of Commonweal lamented. This overshadowing is a very valid point. While the poesy and passion of the book drew largely favorable reviews, the political and societal context of its publication were so overwhelmingly in favor of American support of Doctor Zhivago that they, in conjunction with the anti-Communist material in the novel, must be tapped as the real reason behind its initial best- selling status and popularity. This is demonstrated in the 11/8/58 New Yorker: “Now the Western world has risen in unanimous praise of a novel that it is unlikely all of it has read. . .Not all of these new adherents can have been noted in the past for their love of poets, non- conformists, and intractable critics of the prevailing order, like Pasternak’s hero. For those who weren’t, the important question is what side of the curtain you non-conform on.” While Doctor Zhivago, with a Nobel Prize-winning author, had more literary merit than most bestsellers, even its proponents spotted technical flaws. However, it was the content of the novel, in terms of its philosophy and ideology, that caused it to be hailed as a significant book, and a masterpiece. “What raises Zhivago above technically better-made novels is that it is charged with moral passion” (Time, 12/15/58). “Doctor Zhivago will, I believe, come to stand as one of the great events in man’s literary and moral history” (Wilson, New Yorker, 1958); note that the moral aspect is given equal billing. These ideas which champion truth, beauty, and life of the individual are the crux of Doctor Zhivago’s ongoing significance and popularity. Granted, some of Doctor Zhivago’s continued popularity can be attributed to the 1965 motion picture version, which won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction/Set Direction, and Best Costume Design. However, Doctor Zhivago remains a well-loved book thirty years after “the Pasternak affair,” and twenty-five years after the film. This longevity is due to its power, its poetry, and its ideology. It has risen above the fact that, in 1958, “much of the West’s interest in Zhivago is [was] political”(Time, 12/15/58). | ||
| Supplementary Materials | ||
| This is the front cover of the 11/6/58 Publisher's Weekly which, as you can see, was entirely devoted to Pasternak and Doctor Zhivago. This cover is discussed in Assignment #2, #11 | S1img19980226114657.jpg | |
Bestsellers
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