Last year, I read Pasternak鈥檚 masterpiece, 鈥淒octor Zhivago鈥� (/review/show...) and fell in love with this amazing, epic and heartbreaking novel. While, I was reading it, I did some cursory research about it, because I am a curious person by nature and I love learning about the context in which great books were written. What I found looking up 鈥淒octor Zhivago鈥� was intriguing and almost shocking: I knew there was heavy censorship of publication during the Soviet regime, and I knew about Stalin鈥檚 Purge, but the convoluted story about the manuscript secreted out of the Soviet Union and subsequently used as a tool of propaganda and blackmail was obviously worthy of its own book! And true to their nature as bookworms, a few of my GR friends eagerly recommended I get my hands on 鈥淭he Zhivago Affair鈥�, the very book that looked into the history of the publication of Pasternak鈥檚 only novel, and the repercussion his book had on the USSR and the world in general (big thank you to all who recommended it, especially Antigone, and to my mom-in-law, who put a copy in my Christmas stocking!).
鈥淭he Zhivago Affair鈥� almost reads like a spy/political thriller, but about books鈥� which I have to admit, is a pretty cool and compulsively readable combination. It is also a story about the battle for artistic freedom, and the refusal to back down, even under the most terrifying of pressures 鈥� that of a government that鈥檚 not afraid to shoot its writers (1,500!) in the head for writing things it doesn鈥檛 agree with.
On top of the fascinating Cold War story, I was very interested in learning more about Pasternak鈥檚 life and he various tidbits of it that fuelled his inspiration for 鈥淒octor Zhivago鈥�: there is even more autobiographical elements weaved in Yuri鈥檚 story than I had guessed! When I reread Yuri鈥檚 tragic story, I will be seeing it in a different light.
Reading 鈥淒octor Zhivago鈥�, it felt fairly obvious to me that the character of Yuri was often used as a mouthpiece for Pasternak鈥檚 opinions about the importance of art and the way his country had damaged that crucial aspect of its culture. His feelings about the new regime were ambiguous, because some aspects of it captured his imagination and gave him hope, but the fallout soon tainted his idealism.
Pasternak鈥檚 nomination and eventual awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature 鈥� for a book that was perceived as a betrayal by the Soviet authorities could simply not be allowed, and it broke my heart to read that the threat of never being allowed back into the country he still loved despite all the suffering and horrors he had witnessed did the trick, and he turned the medal down. What a cruel blackmail, what an inhuman way to silence a person. The smear campaigns he had to endure, the public humiliations of having his honorifics taken away, his loved one constantly followed and threatened鈥� It was often heartbreaking and infuriating to read about.
After reading a lot of Russian literature last year, and quite a few non-fiction books about the country鈥檚 history and politics, when I read something like this book, it鈥檚 hard for me not to shake my head and think, 鈥淥nly in Russia!鈥� 鈥� though I am fairly certain that other countries with a state-controlled publication industry have similar stories. The story of this book is a testament to the power of literature, and the way some people fear what it might inspire others to think and do and how far some people are willing to go to stop that.
As often happens, reading one book makes me want to read a bunch more, and I will now be on the lookout for collections of Pasternak鈥檚 poetry. If you enjoyed this (or Pasternak鈥檚 work), I would also recommend checking out John Crowley鈥檚 鈥淭he Translator鈥� (/review/show...), about an exiled Russian poet 鈥� and obviously strongly inspired by Pasternak (and references him often).
3 and a half stars, because as interesting as the subject matter is, the delivery is really quite dry, and while some sections are very detailed, others feel like they were rushed through - which was frustrating because I definitely wanted more details about the strange and convoluted journey of this amazing book.
Dr. Zhivago is one of my husbands favorite movies, a very unusual pick for him because he usually likes ironic comedies. I remember reading this in school but had no idea of the history behind the novel nor of the man who wrote it.
This is a non fiction book that reads in may ways as a thriller. The fate of many of the writers under Stalin was very oppressive, although Russians had a great love of poetry, if that which was written was thought not to be in the service of Soviet politics their fates were set. The author writes, "After 1917, nearly 1500 writers in the Soviet Union were executed or died in labor camps for various alleged infractions." Pasternak himself, somehow escaped this fate.
In wanting to leave a legacy, he began writing Zhivago, a semi autobiographical novel, that would take him over ten years. In the end it was deemed by the Soviet Union, unpublishable so it was given to an Italian publisher to publish and translate and circulate throughout foreign coup tries. It would become a weapon used by the CIA, propaganda for a warning about the Cold War.
There are many parts to this story and I felt that the authors did an outstanding job, following them all and keeping the book moving fluidly throughout. His messy home life is examined as is his writing career. One item I marked as amusing was how he and Nabokov felt about each other, they w3re less than impressed by the writing of the other.
A book well worth reading and one I will now pass on to my husband.
Pasternak began to write Doctor Zhivago on a block of water-marked paper from the desk of a dead man. The paper was a gift from the widow of Titsian Tabidze, the Georgian poet who was arrested, tortured, and executed in 1937. Pasternak felt the weight of those empty pages...
He was solely a poet up to this moment. Famous in his nation, worshiped, sought after as a mentor, a lover; for his signature on that important protest one was firing off to the Party directorate. He was rewarded more with renown than riches, and earned his rubles to survive through translating Western works for the Russian market. Shakespeare. Faust. He had a wife and a mistress and a dacha in the artist's colony of Peredelkino. Stalin called him a "cloud-dweller" and left him alone for the most part. He had his mornings for work, his afternoons for walking through the forest, his evenings for gathering with friends - a brandy, a stew, a log for the fire. Life was as fair as it might be under the circumstances. He did not need to change direction. No one asked it of him. Still...this revolution. This revolution needed dealing with.
He did not imagine, even as he was composing it, that this novel would be published in Russia. Whatever rogue hope he may have harbored was dashed as he began to reveal the work through informal readings. The prose was glorious, yes, but the truth it held? Fellow writers felt it wrong-headed. Dangerous. A folly to think such a representation could stand beneath the hard eye of Soviet censorship. Pasternak was aware enough to accept the reality of his situation; aware enough to know Zhivago was a lost cause. This explains, in part, his whimsical surrender of the manuscript to a visiting agent of an Italian publishing company. It's possible to see this as a relinquishing act. Done. Over. The end of expectation. A dream put to rest. Who was to say what would be destroyed at his death? Best it exist somewhere, if only for posterity. Did he understand the ramifications of his choice? Did he realize, as he murmured his soft good-bye, that history was turning to greet him with a resoundingly garrulous hello? Hard to know.
Peter Finn and Petra Couvee present a page-turning account of the fireworks that followed. From the Russian government's frantic attempts to retrieve the manuscript, to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's acquisition and distribution of the work, and all the way to Stockholm and the Nobel Prize (accepted, then refused) - it's a fascinating window into the clash of literature with Cold War politics, of memory with revisionism, and the measure of an artist who maintained his integrity against a relentless tide of persecution and abuse.
If anyone thinks that books are just stories, fictional entertainment, then pass them this book. Finn uncovers the way in which Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago became a weapon to both sides in the Cold War as both Soviet Russia and the US battled to win 'hearts and minds'.
With access to previously secret CIA files, there's a slight air of the romp/heist about this - if it weren't for the very serious import and impact 'the Zhivago affair' had on peoples' lives. The account of Americans secretly funding the giveaway of the novel at Expo '58 from the Vatican stand should be comic, but coming as it does amidst the virulent persecution of Pasternak, his associates, his family and other writers, smiles die.
This is very detailed and follows all the to-ing and fro-ing over Pasternak's Nobel nomination, his acceptance and then his retraction. What makes it deeply ironic is that by the end the CIA and Khrushchev all agree that Zhivago never was especially anti-Soviet and Khrushchev himself expresses regret for the way Pasternak was treated. Too late, of course, as he was already dead, riddled with cancer. It's a fine choice, though, by Finn to end with Pasternak's son's acceptance of the Nobel medal from the Academy.
A lively account of a specific case, but one which raises all kinds of issues about censorship, artistic freedom and the individual.
I liked this book. Clearly an immense amount of research lies behind the writing of the book. Quotes galore that say exactly what so many contemporaries thought, said and wrote about the famed Russian poet , his first novel and those close to him, i.e. his wives, children and beloved mistress. It begins by focusing on the years prior to the writing of the novel, that is during the 30s and 40s, then life under the repressive Soviet regimes of Stalin and Khrushchev. It focuses upon the climate in the US during the Cold War, and as indicated by the title, the role the CIA played in getting Pasternak's first novel published outside of the USSR, first in Italy and then in other European countries. In 1958 Russian language copies were slipped to visitors at the Vatican Pavilion at the International Expo in Brussels. The clamor for the book was immense. Why? Quite simply because the CIA turned this book into an ideological weapon between the East and the West. Books can be powerful weapons is the lesson to be gleaned. The Kremlin made a foolish mistake. Banning a book is a sure means of promoting interest and acclaim. Pasternak received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1958, the year following its publication in Italy! What a coup for the CIA!
Even if the book is chock-full of details, I still end up with questions. The CIA spread an immense number of books, not just Pasternak's, into Russia, as a way of awakening Russian protest. I remember when my family and I drove to Moscow from Stockholm in 1972. The control guards took our crumpled Newsweek! Now I better understand why! Anyway, how did the CIA get so many books into Russia? This is not really explained. The Kremlin looked at all correspondence leaving and entering Russia. How did Pasternak succeed in getting his letters out to Italy, the Italian publisher, and to his sister in England without the Kremlin preventing this? Finally, no clear answer is given explaining where all the money ended up - the royalties from the book, the box office sale profits from the movie and the Nobel prize award money! Where did it all go? Who has it? I'd like to know!
It is clear that even if Pasternak's novel wasn't itself blatantly anti-Soviet, you understand his criticism of Soviet society's lack of freedom and you see how through its banning it became a critical weapon between the East and the West. Through its banning it became a weapon it need never have been. Khrushchev even admits his error.
It may be more difficult to follow this book if you have not previously read Doctor Zhivago. I am definitely glad I read the novel first. This allows you to judge for yourself the praise and criticism aimed at the book. All the opinions thrown around! Many people who never even read the book knew what they thought of it! Neither Nabokov nor Yevtushenko were enthused. Also, the ruckus clearly showcases people and their varying manners of behavior; few stayed loyal to Pasternak when the chips were down.
Simon Vance reads the audiobook clearly, but quickly. It is still not hard to comprehend. What is difficult are the Russian names that sound so similar. What about this? Just one example: Evgenia was Pasternak's first wife, and his first son by her was Evgeny. It would have helped me to have a list of the names printed out.
Good book, clearly well researched, but still questions remain.
A good book to read in conjunction with this is . That I gave five stars!
鈥淥h, what a love it was, utterly free, unique, like nothing else on earth! Their thoughts were like other people鈥檚 songs.鈥滲oris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
Words hold power.
A story is more powerful.
That was my thought as I read, 鈥淭he Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book鈥� by Peter Finn and Petra Couv茅e.
I confess that when I first read Doctor Zhivago and watched Omar Sharif fall desperately in love with Julie Christie, all I was interested in was the love story. I was young and unfamiliar with the traumatic events of the time in which the narrative was positioned. I knew that there was some conflict, but, in my view, it was dramatic background material that served to move the characters around a stage.
The Zhivago Affair sent me scurrying back to reread parts of the original novel. My eyes were opened. Indeed, there was a passionate and profoundly moving love story 鈥� one that I had missed completely. That is, the love of Boris Pasternak for his beloved Russia. Boris Pasternak wrote Doctor Zhivago, knowing that his life was in danger.
鈥淵ou are hereby invited,鈥� he said, 鈥渢o my execution.鈥� Boris Pasternak
The Zhivago Affair is a page-turner. It鈥檚 complex, exciting, poignant. Peter Finn and Petra Couv茅e have crafted an extraordinary account of how a book can be used by powerful nations to wage political battles and influence the course of history. The reviews have been enthusiastic; descriptions include, masterful, thrilling, rich, scrupulously researched.
A word about the authors: Peter Finn is National Security Editor for The Washington Post (previously stationed in Moscow as the Post鈥檚 bureau chief); Petra Couv茅e is a writer and translator; she teaches at Saint Petersburg State University.
My greatest takeaway from reading The Zhivago Affair, was an understanding of Boris Pasternak鈥檚 life, his loves, his hopes and fears.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and of little value. Life hasn鈥檛 revealed its beauty to them.鈥� Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago
The Zhivago Affair tells the interesting story of how Dr Zhivago written by a well-known Russian poet, Boris Pasternak got published around the world against the wishes of the country. This story is being told after declassified documents were released.
It was in 1956, that an Italian publisher went to Pasternak鈥檚 house near Moscow and left with a copy of the original manuscript of Dr Zhivago. It was the poet鈥檚 only novel. It took him 10 years to write under the watchful eyes of Stalin. It was rejected by the Soviet press so he sought a way to get the book published in the world. 鈥淚t does not matter what might happen to me,鈥� he told his friend, Isaiah Berlin. 鈥淢y life is finished. The book is my last word to the civilized world.鈥�
He told the Italian translator who left with the manuscript, 鈥淭his is Doctor Zhivago. May it make its way around the world.鈥� Pasternak did not believe it would ever be published in the Soviet Union where they thought the novel was an assault on the 1917 Revolution. The book also gave a detailed account of the cultural and intellectual background of the thirties to the fifties in the USSR. Pasternak hoped that it would make its way to the West starting with Italy where it would be translated and could be published.
At this point, the book got into the hands of the CIA which viewed the Cold War as an ideological battle between the two super powers. The CIA funded organizations and events and published books in their global warfare against the Kremlin. They published the book clandestinely into a Russian edition and got it smuggled into the Soviet Union and into the hands of the people who loved the book. It went from friend to friend.
Finn and Couv茅e obtained CIA files to provide the proof of the agency鈥檚 involvement. The book reads like a spy thriller and is filled with history, Cold War Politics and a lot of intrigue. It is recommended reading.
This is an enlightening account of the life of Boris Pasternak and his defense of literary truth. It is also a story of espionage and the CIA's use of the book, Dr. Zhivago, as a weapon during the cold war. It is a good read in spite of all those difficult Russian names.
Fascinating book detailing how and its author became pawns in the Cold War. Pasternak makes for an odd hero--a self-absorbed, supremely gifted artist who miraculously escaped the Great Purge because Stalin took a fancy to his writing--and yet Pasternak showed courage when he refused to give up on a novel that was certain to destroy him. Or rather, a novel that he would certainly be punished for writing because it illuminated the Russian Revolution and Communism for what they were: suffocating and destructive.
The Allied rescue of Europe and Asia from fascism is one of the most inspiring stories of history, and yet, right behind it on the world history timeline is that decades-long occupation of millions under Communism for which there was no escape, no rescue. So I was pleased to discover here that while the west couldn't attack the Soviet Union (nuclear war and all that), part of the CIA was quite intent on getting western literature into the hands of those trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Not exactly the Normandy invasion but as Communism was (is) thought control, this was at least an effort to help.
While I don't particularly enjoy Pasternak's poems (perhaps there is something literally lost in translation?), the prose in Dr. Zhivago is breathtaking, making me think, as Pasternak apparently did, that everything he wrote before his novel was a warm-up to his masterpiece.
Terrifying to see how destructive groupthink can be when it is part and parcel of a government. Inspiring to see one man attempt to stand against merely because he believed in himself, his gift, and his work of art.
In The Zhivago Affair, Peter Finn and Petra Couvee have achieved several useful things. We have a thumbnail biography of Dr. Zhivago author Boris Pasternak. A peek into the evils of Stalinist Russia and a somewhat subtle effort by America鈥檚 new spy agency to peacefully subvert the aesthetically blind Communist empire. Each of these is an interesting story but the writing can be leaden. In this case it is the story that justifies the book not so much the story telling. Recommended for fans of Pasternak, Zhivago and the history of the Cold War. Useful as a reference for related research. The Zhivago Affair is not a page turner.
1958 was a little early for me to have much awareness that a Soviet Citizen was awarded a Nobel Prize for literature and that his government refused him permission to accept the award or the money attached. By 1968 when the David McLean/ Omar Sharif/Julie Christie/Geraldine Chapman movie made us all into balalaika fans, I was well aware of it and rushed to get and read my copy. I have since re-read it and count it among my favorite Russian Novels. In 1968 it made little sense to me that the Soviet Government would be afraid of it but I would reject any notion that its publication in the free world was in any way a matter of US government interest; covert or otherwise. Based on this book, I conclude that its publication and distribution in the Eastern Block was a US covert activity, but that this is little more than a side issue in the larger story of the author and the book.
Boris Pasternak was an established Russian Poet. He had long been under watch by a communist government that was arbitrary and vicious in its terror and persecution of its native artists. That Pasternak lived long enough to write Dr. Zhivago may be because Stalin had taken a personal interest in the man and extended his protection over him. More than a few around him, including family members would know how painful and fatal a KGB conducted visit to Lubyanka could be. It is possible to read The Affair and conclude that Boris either did not believe it could ever be his turn or that he believed he was better able to withstand what had killed others known to him. To their credit, Finn and Couvee do not try and apologize for the complexities of Pasternak鈥檚 love life or his convoluted politics. His affairs, failed marriages and on and off relationship with Stalin and Communism were what they were with little editorial. They are critical of the Russian literary community who let themselves be lead into hyperbolic condemnation of their own as a collective method to protect their individual lives and preferential treatment. They have particular disdain for the often second rate Soviet artists who got for themselves important government jobs and used that power to act against better artists, such as the poet Pasternak.
The core of this book is the determination of the poet to write his one great novel. An enterprise years in the making. Authorship involved many risks to himself and loved ones. As often as officials pressured him to abandon this project; Pasternak remained true to the original inspiration and to his belief that this book had to be written.
What drives The Zhivago Affair is the determination of the Russian author and the complex network of people who got it published. The work of American and allied spies is interesting, but secondary to the work of people who came to share Pasternak鈥檚 belief in Dr. Zhivago.
An excellent book about Pasternak and his life during Stalin and Khrushchev's rule. His tribulations after publishing Dr Zhivago and receiving Nobel Prize read like a suspense novel. Despite numerous attempts of have him compromised the secret police never managed to bring him down.
In 1946 Pasternak was removed from the board of the Union of Soviet Writers, when he failed to attend a meeting called to denounce Akhmatova and Zoshchenko. He was warned that he was no less suspect as an aesthete than Akhmatova, but he replied "Yes, yes, out of touch with people, modern times... You know, your Trotsky once told me the same thing."
Pasternak implied, long before Solzhenitsyn, that the tyranny of the last twenty-five years was a direct outcome of Bolshevism. For Pasternak, Stalinism and the purges were not a terrible aberration but a natural outgrowth of the system created by Lenin.
Pasternak's humanistic message - that every person is entitled to a private life and deserves respect as a human being, irrespective of the extent of his political loyalty or contribution to the state - poses a fundamental challenge to the Soviet ethic of sacrifice of the individual to the Communist system.
Another nonfiction book that had a magazine article's worth of interestingness. The part about Pasternak's life was somewhat interesting, but the 'Cold War battle' stuff was mind-numbingly boring. Bailed just before the halfway point. Oh and it didn't help that the audio was narrated by Simon Vance, whose affected, dulcet voice and accent suits novels about Tudor England to a T but jarred and annoyed here.
What a fantastic and fascinating read! It blew my mind. I am so fortunate to live in a time and place where anyone can write anything they like. From the little reviews I write here to the great American novels to.... Fifty Shades. Ha, ha, ha. It all has an equal chance at publication and sale!
The title says it all, with the intrigue and all: The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book. Not only was Doctor Zhivago banned by the USSR, but Boris Pasternak and his family were threatened, followed by KGB agents, and ostracized. Some could almost say that the KGB killed Pasternak: because he was expelled from the writers' union, he couldn't work. He was very cash-strapped at the end. He couldn't go to the hospital, because he was "non-party." (Their words.) But he did not die alone. The CIA made sure that the world knew of him, and of his novel. Millions of copies were sold in the Western world. Hundreds of thousands of copies were covertly smuggled into and distributed throughout the Eastern bloc and Russia.
How cool is that? So many independent groups and people all working together to try to achieve recognition for Pasternak. He was even awarded the Nobel Prize, but the KGB forced him to decline. How sad is that?!?
Reasons I loved this book: for an adult history nonfiction book, it was really readable. Not too dense, but didn't skimp on details either. The author's prose was spot-on. No paragraph-length sentences. Also: the balance between biography and history. This book has a great balance throughout the book and within individual chapters between telling the reader about Pasternak and his life and family, and the CIA/Kremlin activities. I like that personal touch; I like knowing how particular government actions affected him and his loved ones. I really felt for him.
I'm going to sum up with a blurb from the back of the book, because I agree with it: "With groundbreaking reporting and character-rich storytelling, Peter Finn and Petra Couvee uncover the high-stakes drama behind one of the Cold War's strangest turning points. Passionately written and acutely aware of the historical context, The Zhivago Affair almost makes one nostalgic for a time when novels were so important that even the CIA cared about them." ~Ken Kalfus
Fac parte dintre aceia (pu葲ini) pe care romanul Doctor Jivago nu i-a fermecat 卯n mod deosebit (am scris despre el aici, 卯n limba francez膬, pentru c膬 卯n aceast膬 limb膬 l-am citit), poate 葯i pentru c膬 n-am prea reu葯it s膬 卯n葲eleg 卯nc膬p膬葲卯narea URSS-ului de a-l considera subversiv 卯n ciuda tonului s膬u destul de moderat.
Ei bine, mult mai fascinant膬 dec卯t cartea 卯ns膬葯i este, ca s膬 zic a葯a, biografia ei, iar eforturile celor doi autori de a-i reconstitui 卯ntortocheatul traseu s卯nt l膬udabile. Folosit膬 ca arm膬 卯n r膬zboiul rece dintre Vest 葯i Est, ea demonstreaz膬 卯nc膬 o dat膬 c膬 puterea artei este redutabil膬. (Comuni葯tii 葯tiau foarte bine asta atunci c卯nd au 卯ncercat s膬-葯i v卯nd膬 ideile 葯i prin intermediul crea葲iilor artistice, doar c膬 n-au 卯n葲eles c膬 o cultur膬 aservit膬 este o contradic葲ie 卯n termeni.) Publicat膬 pentru prima dat膬 卯n 1957 de (pe atunci) necunoscutul Feltrinelli, 卯n Italia, ea va declan葯a o lupt膬 surd膬 卯ntre CIA, care voia s-o publice 卯n ruse葯te 葯i s-o distribuie cet膬葲enilor sovietici pe orice c膬i 葯i KGB, care 卯ncerca s膬-i 卯mpiedice difuzarea acuz卯ndu-l 卯n acela葯i timp pe scriitor de tr膬dare de 葲ar膬.
Cartea lui Peter Finn 葯i a Petrei Couv茅e mi-a adus aminte de vremurile acelea 卯ntunecate ale comunismului pe care le-am tr膬it 葯i eu vreme de un sfert de secol 葯i 卯n care orice opinie era o crim膬, orice pas 卯n afara plutonului sanc葲ionat f膬r膬 mil膬. Boris Pasternak a reu葯it ca prin minune s膬 scape de epur膬rile lui Stalin 葯i n-a cunoscut Gulagul lui Soljeni葲卯n. A fost oare mai norocos astfel? Nu 葯tiu, dar cum spune el 卯nsu葯i 卯n poemul Hamlet,
鈥瀞膬-葲i tr膬ie葯ti via葲a nu este la fel de simplu ca traversarea unui c卯mp.鈥�
It's 1956 and Boris Pasternak presses a manuscript into the hands of an Italian publishing scout with these words, 'This is Doctor Zhivago. May it make its way around the world.'
Pasternak knew his novel would never be published in the Soviet Union as the authorities regarded it as seditious, so instead he allowed it to be published in translation all over the world - a highly dangerous act.
By 1958 the life of this extraordinary book enters the realms of the spy novel. The CIA, recognising that the Cold War was primarily an ideological battle, published Doctor Zhivago in Russian and smuggled it into the Soviet Union. It was immediately snapped up on the black market. Pasternak was later forced to renounce the Nobel Prize in Literature, igniting worldwide political scandal.
With first access to previously classified CIA files, The Zhivago Affair gives an irresistible portrait of Pasternak, and takes us deep into the Cold War, back to a time when literature had the power to shake the world.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier Read by Nigel Anthony
Producer: Joanna Green A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
Pasternak was the first citizen of the USSR to publish abroad. Doctor Zhivago was considered "anti-Soviet" and Pasternak, though a well known and well loved poet was thrown out of the Writer's a Union, interrogated by the KGB as a subversive and shunned by friends and neighbors. He gave the manuscript to leftist Italian journalist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli who was the first publisher and through whom the novel was made available for translation and publication in many countries long before it was published in Russia.
This book tells that story, along with the story of Pasternak and his friends during that time, and that of a CIA program aimed at using books and culture as a Cold War strategy.
A good background for reading this book is the NYT obit for Pasternak :
If this book were a web article, I'd call the title clickbait, because it's pretty misleading. After taking a class about Soviet and CIA operations during the Cold War a few years ago, I've been drawn to true spy stories, and thought this would be another one. It's really not. In fact, The Zhivago Affair isn't really about the Kremlin, the Cia, or the battle over a forbidden book. It's more about the book itself and the reaction to it, both inside and outside the Soviet Union, and the trouble that it caused the author, Pasternak. While there is some involvement of the Kremlin (who banned the book, without having ever read it) and the CIA (who printed copies to give to people traveling to the Soviet Union as part of a campaign to introduce a wider variety of viewpoints behind the Iron Curtain) it's mostly about Pasternak and those directly involved with him, and his struggle to stand by his work while facing derision from many officials in the USSR.
This isn't a very long book--less than 300 pages, which is fairly short for a nonfiction book regarding the Cold War, but it wasn't a particularly riveting read. Maybe I would have been more interested if I'd known what the book was really about going into it; as it was, I found myself putting it down often to read other things that were more interesting. Knowing about how history has treated people it views as dissenters, either rightly or wrongly (when Krushchev, one of the Soviet leaders who was eventually ousted by his compatriots, eventually read the book, he said there was "nothing Soviet" about it) is important, but at the same time I'm not quite sure there was 266 pages of things worth knowing in this. It was interesting reading about how Pasternak reacted to his persecution, and how others both inside and outside of the Soviet Union reacted to Doctor Zhivago and Pasternak's treatment, but it was...pretty much all the same? There wasn't a lot of repetition, but once you realize that Pasternak was being persecuted by the Soviet administration, there's not really that much more to it. It never really stops, right up until Pasternak dies, and if you know anything about the USSR, you wouldn't really expect it to.
The bits about the CIA are very short--maybe a chapter and a half total, focusing on the CIA publishing copies of Doctor Zhivago in Russian and getting them into the hands of Soviet citizens both at home and abroad, at the World's Fair and at a youth festival. The bits about the Kremlin are very short, too; a few parts about different people being followed or interrogated about the novel, royalties coming in from abroad, stuff like that. There really is no "battle" over the book, at least not between the Kremlin and CIA; if there's any sort of battle, it's in the press and with the Nobel Prize Committee. Overall, the story, while interesting and historically important, wasn't what it was made out to be, and that's worth keeping in mind when going into this book. It was okay, but not particularly riveting, and it's not a nonfiction book I would pick up again.