Editing Boris Pasternak (section)

=== ''Doctor Zhivago'' ===
[[File:Boris Pasternak 1958b.jpg|thumb|left|Pasternak, 1958]]
Although it contains passages written in the 1910s and 1920s, ''[[Doctor Zhivago (novel)|Doctor Zhivago]]'' was not completed until 1955. Pasternak submitted the novel to ''[[Novy Mir]]'' in 1956, which refused publication due to its rejection of [[socialist realism]].<ref>"Doctor Zhivago": Letter to Boris Pasternak from the Editors of ''Novyi Mir''. Daedalus, Vol. 89, No. 3, The Russian Intelligentsia (Summer 1960), pp.{{spaces}}648–668.</ref> The author, like his [[protagonist]] [[Yuri Zhivago]], showed more concern for the welfare of individual characters than for the "progress" of society. Censors also regarded some passages as [[anti-Soviet]], especially the novel's criticisms<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/13/world/doctor-zhivago-to-see-print-in-soviet-in-88.html|title='Doctor Zhivago' to See Print in Soviet in '88|author=Felicity Barringer|date=13 February 1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=1 February 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> of [[Stalinism]], [[Collectivisation]], the [[Great Purge]], and the [[Gulag]].

Pasternak's fortunes were soon to change, however. In March 1956, the [[Italian Communist Party]] sent a journalist, [[Sergio D'Angelo]], to work in the Soviet Union, and his status as a journalist as well as his membership in the Italian Communist Party allowed him to have access to various aspects of the cultural life in Moscow at the time. A Milan publisher, the communist [[Giangiacomo Feltrinelli]], had also given him a commission to find new works of Soviet literature that would be appealing to Western audiences, and upon learning of ''Doctor Zhivago''{{'}}s existence, D'Angelo travelled immediately to Peredelkino and offered to submit Pasternak's novel to Feltrinelli's company for publication. At first Pasternak was stunned. Then he brought the manuscript from his study and told D'Angelo with a laugh, {{qi|You are hereby invited to watch me face the firing squad.}}<ref>[[#Fleishman|Fleishman]], p. 275.</ref>

According to Lazar Fleishman, Pasternak was aware that he was taking a huge risk. No Soviet author had attempted to deal with Western publishers since the 1920s, when such behavior led the Soviet State to declare war on [[Boris Pilnyak]] and [[Evgeny Zamyatin]]. Pasternak, however, believed that Feltrinelli's Communist affiliation would not only guarantee publication, but might even force the Soviet State to publish the novel in Russia.<ref>[[#Fleishman|Fleishman]], pp. 275–276.</ref>

In a rare moment of agreement, both Olga Ivinskaya and Zinaida Pasternak were horrified by the submission of ''Doctor Zhivago'' to a Western publishing house. Pasternak, however, refused to change his mind and informed an emissary from Feltrinelli that he was prepared to undergo any sacrifice in order to see ''Doctor Zhivago'' published.<ref>[[#Fleishman|Fleishman]], p. 276.</ref>

In 1957, Feltrinelli announced that the novel would be published by his company. Despite repeated demands from visiting Soviet emissaries, Feltrinelli refused to cancel or delay publication. According to Ivinskaya, {{qi|He did not believe that we would ever publish the manuscript here and felt he had no right to withhold a masterpiece from the world – this would be an even greater crime.}}<ref>[[#Ivinskaya|Ivinskaya]], p. 203.</ref> The Soviet government forced Pasternak to cable the publisher to withdraw the manuscript, but he sent separate, secret letters advising Feltrinelli to ignore the telegrams.{{r|washingtonpost}}

Helped considerably by the Soviet campaign against the novel (as well as by the U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s secret purchase of hundreds of copies of the book as it came off the presses around the world – see "[[#Nobel Prize|Nobel Prize]]" section below), ''Doctor Zhivago'' became an instant sensation throughout the non-Communist world upon its release in November 1957. In the [[State of Israel]], however, Pasternak's novel was sharply criticized for its [[Jewish assimilation|assimilationist]] views towards the [[Jewish people]]. When informed of this, Pasternak responded, {{qi|No matter. I am above race...}}<ref>[[#Ivinskaya|Ivinskaya]], p. 136.</ref> According to Lazar Fleishman, Pasternak had written the disputed passages prior to Israeli independence. At the time, Pasternak had also been regularly attending Russian Orthodox [[Divine Liturgy]]. Therefore, he believed that Soviet Jews converting to Christianity was preferable to assimilating into [[atheism]] and [[Stalinism]].<ref>[[#Fleishman|Fleishman]], pp. 264–266.</ref>

The first English translation of ''Doctor Zhivago'' was hastily produced by [[Max Hayward]] and [[Manya Harari]] in order to coincide with overwhelming public demand. It was released in August 1958, and remained the only edition available for more than fifty years. Between 1958 and 1959, the English language edition spent 26 weeks at the top of ''[[The New York Times]]''' bestseller list.

Ivinskaya's daughter Irina circulated typed copies of the novel in [[Samizdat]]. Although no Soviet critics had read the banned novel, ''Doctor Zhivago'' was pilloried in the State-owned press. Similar attacks led to a humorous Russian saying, "I haven't read Pasternak, but I condemn him".<ref>[[#Ivinskaya|Ivinskaya]], pp. 268–271.</ref>

During the aftermath of the Second World War, Pasternak had composed a series of poems on [[Gospel]] themes. According to Ivinskaya, Pasternak had regarded Stalin as a {{qi|giant of the pre-Christian era.}} Therefore, Pasternak's decision to write [[Christian poetry]] was {{qi|a form of protest}}.<ref>[[#Ivinskaya|Ivinskaya]], p. 134.</ref>

On 9 September 1958, the ''Literary Gazette'' critic Viktor Pertsov retaliated by denouncing {{qi|the decadent religious poetry of Pasternak, which reeks of mothballs from the [[Russian Symbolism|Symbolist]] suitcase of 1908–10 manufacture.}}<ref>[[#Ivinskaya|Ivinskaya]], p. 231.</ref> Furthermore, the author received much [[hate mail]] from Communists both at home and abroad. According to Ivinskaya, Pasternak continued to receive such letters for the remainder of his life.<ref>[[#Ivinskaya|Ivinskaya]], p. 230.</ref>

In a letter written to his sister Josephine, however, Pasternak recalled the words of his friend Ekaterina Krashennikova upon reading ''Doctor Zhivago''. She had said, {{qi|Don't forget yourself to the point of believing that it was you who wrote this work. It was the [[Russian people]] and their sufferings who created it. Thank God for having expressed it through your pen.}}<ref>[[#Slater|Slater]], p. 403.</ref>