Dec 30, 2009

Doctor Zhivago | Summary

Chapter One: The Five-O’clock Express
Paternak’s Doctor Zhivago begins with the funeral of the protagonist’s mother. Yura Zhivago (who is called Yurii once he becomes an adult) is taken away by his maternal uncle, Nikolai Vedeniapin (or Uncle Kolia), whom Yura admires. Nikolai is a defrocked priest, cast out of the priesthood supposedly for his radical political views. He becomes, later in this book, a well known author, mostly of philosophy tinged with political theories.

Background information is given. Yura’s father, a businessman, was very...