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Boris Pasternak

Born

in Moscow, Russian Empire

February 10, 1890

Died

May 30, 1960

Genre

Poetry, Literature & Fiction, Short Stories

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Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was born in Moscow to talented artists: his father a painter and illustrator of Tolstoy's works, his mother a well-known concert pianist. Though his parents were both Jewish, they became Christianized, first as Russian Orthodox and later as Tolstoyan Christians. Pasternak's education began in a German Gymnasium in Moscow and was continued at the University of Moscow. Under the influence of the composer Scriabin, Pasternak took up the study of musical composition for six years from 1904 to 1910. By 1912 he had renounced music as his calling in life and went to the University of Marburg, Germany, to study philosophy. After four months there and a trip to Italy, he returned to Russia and decided to dedicate himself Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was born in Moscow to talented artists: his father a painter and illustrator of Tolstoy's works, his mother a well-known concert pianist. Though his parents were both Jewish, they became Christianized, first as Russian Orthodox and later as Tolstoyan Christians. Pasternak's education began in a German Gymnasium in Moscow and was continued at the University of Moscow. Under the influence of the composer Scriabin, Pasternak took up the study of musical composition for six years from 1904 to 1910. By 1912 he had renounced music as his calling in life and went to the University of Marburg, Germany, to study philosophy. After four months there and a trip to Italy, he returned to Russia and decided to dedicate himself to literature.

Pasternak's first books of verse went unnoticed. With My Sister Life, 1922, and Themes and Variations, 1923, the latter marked by an extreme, though sober style, Pasternak first gained a place as a leading poet among his Russian contemporaries. In 1924 he published Sublime Malady, which portrayed the 1905 revolt as he saw it, and The Childhood of Luvers, a lyrical and psychological depiction of a young girl on the threshold of womanhood. A collection of four short stories was published the following year under the title Aerial Ways. In 1927 Pasternak again returned to the revolution of 1905 as a subject for two long works: "Lieutenant Schmidt", a poem expressing threnodic sorrow for the fate of the Lieutenant, the leader of the mutiny at Sevastopol, and "The Year 1905", a powerful but diffuse poem which concentrates on the events related to the revolution of 1905. Pasternak's reticent autobiography, Safe Conduct, appeared in 1931, and was followed the next year by a collection of lyrics, Second Birth, 1932. In 1935 he published translations of some Georgian poets and subsequently translated the major dramas of Shakespeare, several of the works of Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, and Ben Jonson, and poems by Petöfi, Verlaine, Swinburne, Shelley, and others. In Early Trains, a collection of poems written since 1936, was published in 1943 and enlarged and reissued in 1945 as Wide Spaces of the Earth. In 1957 Doctor Zhivago, Pasternak's only novel - except for the earlier "novel in verse", Spektorsky (1926) - first appeared in an Italian translation and has been acclaimed by some critics as a successful attempt at combining lyrical-descriptive and epic-dramatic styles.

Pasternak lived in Peredelkino, near Moscow, until his death in 1960. ...more

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Boris Pasternak’s books

Average rating: 4.0 · 112,225 ratings · 6,113 reviews · 644 distinct works • Similar authors

	Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, John Bayley (Introduction), Max Hayward (Translator), Manya Harari (Translator) 4.01 avg rating — 105,644 ratings — published 1957 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dr Zhivago 3.88 avg rating — 1,207 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Poems by Boris Pasternak, Борис Пастернак, Peter France (Translator) 4.22 avg rating — 869 ratings — published 1960 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Poems of Doctor Zhivago. 3.97 avg rating — 443 ratings — published 1965 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letters: Summer 1926 by Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetaeva, Rainer Maria Rilke 4.25 avg rating — 396 ratings — published 1926 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Summer by Boris Pasternak, George Reavey (Translator), Lydia Slater (Introduction ) 3.16 avg rating — 353 ratings — published 1934 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Sister - Life by Boris Pasternak, Mark Rudman (Translator), Bohdan Boychuk (Translator) 4.11 avg rating — 263 ratings — published 1922 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Adolescence of Zhenya Luvers by Boris Pasternak, Борис Пастернак 3.42 avg rating — 168 ratings — published 1961	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Onder de paardendeken by Boris Pasternak, Konstantin Paustovsky, Leo Tolstoy 3.82 avg rating — 147 ratings — published 2017 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	February: Selected Poetry by Boris Pasternak, Andrey Kneller (Goodreads Author) (Translator) 4.10 avg rating — 109 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Boris Pasternak

ドクトル・ジバゴ [Doctor Zhivago] (2 books)
by

Boris Pasternak

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings

Quotes by Boris Pasternak (?)

“I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them. ”
― Boris Pasternak

tags: life

2857 likes

“I don't think I could love you so much if you had nothing to complain of and nothing to regret. I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and of little value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them.”
― Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

tags: regret

656 likes

“How wonderful to be alive, he thought. But why does it always hurt?”
― Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

494 likes

See all Boris Pasternak's quotes »

Polls

HISTORICAL FICTION POLL "A"
There will be a series of polls to begin putting together a potential reading list for the "historical fiction folder". I have divided the books into groups of 15 books apiece. Make sure to choose your favorite from each poll and make sure to vote in each of these polls so that we can generate a list according to priorities and interests.

Michael Shaara

KILLER ANGELS BY MICHAEL SHAARA

9 votes, 29.0%

A Tale of Two Cities (Silver Classics) by Charles Dickens

THE TALE OF TWO CITIES BY CHARLES DICKENS

5 votes, 16.1%

LES MISERABLES BY VICTOR HUGO

4 votes, 12.9%

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DOCTOR ZHIVAGO BY BORIS PASTERNAK

4 votes, 12.9%

Rob Roy (Penguin Classics) by Walter Scott

ROB ROY BY WALTER SCOTT

2 votes, 6.5%

WAR AND PEACE BY TOLSTOY

2 votes, 6.5%

The Good Earth (Enriched Classics) by Pearl S. Buck

THE GOOD EARTH BY PEARL S. BUCK

1 vote, 3.2%

Esther Forbes

JOHNNY TREMAIN BY ESTHER FORBES

1 vote, 3.2%

Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics) by Walter Scott

IVANHOE BY WALTER SCOTT

1 vote, 3.2%

THE MAN WHO MADE VERMEERS - UNVARNISHING THE LEGEND OF MASTER FORGER HAN VAN MEEGEREN

1 vote, 3.2%

Ben Hur A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace

BEN HUR BY LEW WALLACE

1 vote, 3.2%

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING BY TRACY CHEVALIER

0 votes, 0.0%

Richard II (Oxford School Shakespeare Series) by William Shakespeare

RICHARD II BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

0 votes, 0.0%

The Cid, Cinna, The Theatrical Illusion (Penguin Classics) by Pierre Corneille

Pierre Corneille

THE CID BY PIERRE CORNEILLE

0 votes, 0.0%

The Name of the Rose Including Postscript by Umberto Eco

THE NAME OF THE ROSE BY UMBERTO ECO

0 votes, 0.0%

31 total votes

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Boris Pasternak’s Followers (1,745)

Boris Pasternak

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