Book: 30/52.
Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak.
My Rating: 2/5 (Let me explain).
Now, this book became a legend for me; the longest ever I stretched a book was Ulysses (Guess almost 45 days plus), but this one broke all my previous records and settled it in 60-odd days. With that, for the first time in years the month of July became the only month when I didn't post about a book at all, as I just couldn't finish this one. Thanks to the drag it was and partial no thanks to FIFA for having this edition in the US of A, making us go back in time when I used to work graveyard shift. My dad still swears by two movies that he says are the best made; first is, you guessed it right, "Doctor Zhivago", and the second one is "Where Eagles Dare". I might get the first one now to make sure we both are talking about the same story, as the second one, anyway, I loved- an amazing action thriller from the days of yore.
One thing I am sure you will agree with me (at least partially) when it comes to Russian literature of writers: they are either a hit or a total miss. This one fell in the second category; of course, the translator justified his shortcomings right in the introduction, saying he believes he hasn't done justice to the original Russian classic, which got banned right away when it was first published. Second, it got Boris a Nobel prize in literature, which the then Russian regime forced him to denounce. On top of that, the story of the great Doctor Zhivago almost goes nowhere from the very start; of course, it had all the Russian things, the deadly weather, no man's land everywhere you look, gone-to-the-dogs life back in the early 20th century till the Second World War, no value of life and whatnot. On top of that, Boris leaves no stone unturned in giving all important characters three names each, starts with one, goes on with another and finishes with the third name; by the time you realise that he is talking about the same guy, you are solidly confused and scratching your head. But still it had some heart in it and emotions that kept me going on a snail's pace of say 10-12 pages a day with a few office travels in between, World Cup matches and life taking its toll on me, I somehow finished it last night and said goodbye, good riddance to Boris.
I am sure my Dad must have shown me the movie when I was a teenager; I have no memory whatsoever of it now, hence I will be catching up on a much-loved classic (going by the Wikipedia page) and actually looking forward to it, now that I have finished the book, which was hardly 550+ pages to my shock and surprise. Do let me know if you have read Doctor Zhivago, and forgive me if you have liked it any better 
