The Zhivago Affair

Starred review from March 17, 2014
In brisk and thrilling fashion, Washington Post national security editor Finn and Saint Petersburg State University instructor Couvée take readers into the world of Soviet intelligentsia and shadowy Cold War politics to study how Boris Pasternak came to write and publish Doctor Zhivago (which first appeared in Italy in 1957). The authors use rich archival research, including previously classified CIA files, to depict the oppressive political conditions that gave rise to Pasternak’s masterpiece, and the international firestorm that occurred when the novel was banned in the Soviet Union. The book offers nuanced depictions of the people in Pasternak’s life, including his lover, Olga Ivinskaya, who championed his work and shared his torment at the hands of the KGB. The torturous ideological policing by the Soviets is discussed to great effect; for indeed, the tale of Doctor Zhivago itself is very much about the long psychic scar left by Russian Revolution. It’s a story expertly told by Finn and Couvée, who unsparingly present the role played by the Kremlin in persecuting Pasternak and his loved ones, as well as the role of the CIA in using his masterpiece in a game of ideological warfare—overall, a triumphant reminder that truth is sometimes gloriously stranger than fiction. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, Sagalyn Literary Agency.

This audiobook proves yet again that fact can be as fascinating as fiction, particularly when Simon Vance is the narrator. Although Nobel Prize-winning author Boris Pasternak believed that DOCTOR ZHIVAGO could never be published in his native country, the CIA thought differently, recognizing the book's importance to the Cold War. In this eye-opening historical work, the authors document how the CIA smuggled the masterpiece into the Soviet Union, where it sold furiously on the black market and had a transformative effect on society. Vance's adept use of accent and inflection complement the book, which is as exciting as a spy novel. Calling this a page-turner doesn't do justice, however, to Vance's elegant and memorable performance. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award

November 1, 2014

Originally smuggled out of the country and released in translation by an Italian publisher, Doctor Zhivago caught the attention of the CIA as a potential weapon in the cultural front of the Cold War. Their interest intensified when the author, Boris Pasternak, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 after the book was banned in the Soviet Union. Its release embarrassed and infuriated Soviet authorities. Pasternak's refusal to renounce the work resulted in his expulsion from the Union of Soviet Writers and nearly sent him to the gulag. Despite this audiobook's subtitle, this is really a biography of Pasternak that focuses on his last years as he and those around him dealt with the consequences of the publication of Doctor Zhivago; the role played by the CIA is a very minor part of the story. Narrator Simon Vance's crisp British accent helps enliven a sometimes overwrought tale. VERDICT Those expecting a cloak-and-dagger spy saga will be disappointed, but those interested in a case study of Soviet repression of heterodox authors will be gratified.--Forrest Link, Coll. of New Jersey, Ewing

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