I love the movie made from [b:Dr. Zhivago|12432|Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago|Mary F. Rowland|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-4845f44723bc5d3a9ac322f99b110b1d.png|14734]--it's absolutely one of my favorites. And I also have a penchant for Russian history, specifically recent history. So this was a joy to read, if a bit soap opera-esque. Pasternak was certainly no saint. I'm pretty sure had I met him, I would have been charmed AND irritated by him. However, the story of how the book was released in the West, and what happened when he won the Nobel for it is a wonderful snapshot of a specific time and place, that being mid-20th-century Soviet Russia. In some ways, this story could only come out of Russia.

AND there's a KGB person who is mentioned in the book whose name the narrator pronounced "Gringotts" which made me have to pull of the road and LAUGH REALLY HARD! If you haven't read Harry Potter, this will make no sense to you. And the guy's name is actually Isidor Gingolts, but when said with a posh Brit accent....