Line #35 Literature/DoctorZhivago


1	[[quoteright:332:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_zhivago_cover_1682.jpg]]
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3	''Doctor Zhivago'' is a 1957 novel that won its author, the Russian poet and novelist Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, a UsefulNotes/{{Nobel Prize\|In Literature}} (which he was forced to reject by the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet]] government). It is one of the most famous works of Russian literature, worth mentioning in the same breath as ''Literature/WarAndPeace'', ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'' and ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich''.
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5	A tale of lost love that takes in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Revolutions]], and the Russian Civil War, it has been adapted several times, including in Russia itself.
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7	The most famous film adaptation is ''Film/DoctorZhivago'' (1965), Creator/DavidLean's followup to ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' starring Creator/OmarSharif and Creator/JulieChristie, best known for its [[EpicMovie epic scope]], and for the world famous [[AwesomeMusic/{{Film}} "Lara's Theme"]]. The film was praised for its visual style that was a calling card for its director Creator/DavidLean. It also features Rod Steiger as Komarovsky, Tom Courtenay as Pasha, and Creator/GeraldineChaplin as Tonya.
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9	It was adapted again into a 2002 TV miniseries, which added an extra hour to the movie's run time, making it roughly four hours total. They decided to use the time to add in more characters, move some people around in terms of plot, make it grittier and add in some longer sex scenes which would not have been cool for a 1965 movie. Starring Creator/KeiraKnightley and Hans Matheson, it also featured Creator/SamNeill as Komarovsky, making him an even bigger MagnificentBastard than any other onscreen adaptation yet.
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11	In 2006, Russia finally adapted "Zhivago" for its own audience. The miniseries clocks in at 8-1/2 hours long, over 11 episodes, and stays far more faithful to the source material (in both plot and characters) than either the 2002 miniseries or the 1965 film even attempted to do. The 2006 series also, by virtue of being produced in Russia (by Russians), avoids the rampant [[FakeNationality fake]] [[FakeRussian nationality]] casting which plagues the previous adaptions.
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13	''Doctor Zhivago'' has also been adapted into a stage musical, premiering in Sydney, Australia in 2011.
14	----
15	!!The Novel itself contains examples of:
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17	* BeardOfSorrow: After Zhivago is conscripted into the Red Army, he starts wearing one of these.
18	* BigBrotherInstinct: Yevgraf uses his connections in the party to protect Zhivago from time to time and find him shelter and food when he needs it.
19	* BrotherSisterIncest: Zhivago and Tonya. In all fairness, he was adopted.
20	* ChickMagnet: Zhivago. [[spoiler:He manages to have children with two different women.]]
21	%%* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Pasha. It doesn't stick, though.]]
22	* DependingOnTheWriter: The sex and name of [[spoiler:Yuri and Lara's child]] changes with each adaptation.
23	* DistantFinale: The ending happens years after [[spoiler:Zhivago and Lara die]].
24	* {{Doorstopper}}: The novel was begun by Boris Pasternak in the 1910's and finished in 1956!
25	%%* GloriousMotherRussia
26	* LamarckWasRight: In the movie, at least, Yuri's mother [[InformedAbility is said to be]] an artist of the balalaika. [[spoiler: Yuri and Lara's child inherited this.]]
27	* LongLostRelative: Yuri's half-brother Yevgraf shows up unexpectedly in the middle of the novel.
28	* MeaningfulName:
29	** Zhivago: the Russian root ''zhiv'' is similar to 'life'
30	** Larissa: a Greek name suggesting 'bright, cheerful'
31	** Komarovsky: ''komar'' is the Russian for 'mosquito'
32	** Strelnikov: ''strelok'' means 'the shooter'
33	* MostWritersAreWriters: In addition to being a doctor, Yuri is a poet.
34	* NotBloodSiblings: Zhivago is adopted by the Gromekos and winds up marrying their daughter, Tonya.
35	* OneDegreeOfSeparation: The country is huge and the characters travel all around it, and yet the manage to meet themselves from time to time completely by chance.
36	* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler: Poor, poor Tonya. despite being Yuri's foster-sister (very, very foster...), his best friend, his life-long companion and confidant, not to mention the mother of two of his children, she gets dumped, HARD. Each adaptation plays it off differently as to how much Yuri loved her but really the girl gets dumped because she just isn't Lara.]]
37	* WarriorPoet: Zhivago. Technically he's a doctor, so he isn't a ''warrior'', but once he had to take a gun and shoot during the civil war, so he qualifies too.
38	* WhiteAndGreyMorality: Most of the characters are treated sympathetically in one way or another, even the ones who come closest to being "villains": Komarovsky has some PetTheDog moments in spite of all his manipulative seediness, and the two main communist characters, Strelnikov and Liberius, are portrayed as {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s swept up in the fervor of the Revolution rather than malicious murderers.
39	* WorldGoneMad: Zhivago feels he's the OnlySaneMan in the world when he sees it crumbling around him.

Context Literature / DoctorZhivago