Boris Pasternak has generally been regarded as an artist who was
indifferent to the literary and political storms of his time. Lazar
Fleishman gives the great writer's life a new perspective. He shows
that Pasternak's entire literary career should be regarded as a
complex and passionate response to constant changes in Russian
cultural and social life.
Drawing on a vast array of sources, Fleishman's chronicle
encompasses both the familiar and the little-known aspects of the
poet's life and work. He describes the formative role played by
Pasternak's father, a prominent Russian painter, and the
intellectual endeavors of the young man before his literary debut.
He explores the intricate relations of Pasternak to the main
movements of literary modernism, including symbolism and
futurism.
Particularly informative are the chapters devoted to the
postrevolutionary years. Fleishman untangles the poet's contacts
with leading political figures (Stalin, Trotsky, Bukharin) and
fellow writers (Gorky, Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva, Akhmatova,
Mandelshtam), and examines his changes in fortune during the purges
and World War II. He shows how Pasternak was perceived by Western
contemporaries and how significant their moral support was for him
during the darkest years of Stalin's regime. He provides
explanations for the Christian themes in Pasternak's later work, as
well as the poet's peculiar view of Jewry. Finally, Fleishman
recreates the vicissitudes of the publication of "Doctor Zhivago"
and the ensuing Nobel Prize scandal in 1958. A fascinating
description of the writer's career in broad context, this book will
be welcomed by everyone interested in Pasternak and in
twentieth-century literature.
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