When we first meet Doctor Yuri Zhivago, he isn't a doctor yet. In fact, he's just a little boy at his mother's funeral. His father has deserted him, and with his mother gone, he feels like he has nothing left. The only person to take care of him is his beloved uncle Nikolai, a published social thinker who raises Yuri to always be independent and to think for himself. As Zhivago gets older, he leaves his uncle and goes to live with the Gromeko family. While growing up there, he gets married to Tonya Gromeko, and the two of them have a son. Right after his son is born, however, Yuri gets called away to work as a doctor for the Russian army in World War I. While serving in the war, Zhivago meets a nurse named Lara Antipova and falls in love with her. Lara's husband Pasha has gone missing in the war and is presumed dead. But rather than have an affair with Lara, Zhivago stays true to his wife Tonya and heads back home when the fighting is over. Meanwhile, the Bolshevik Revolution has taken hold of Russia, and the entire country is turned upside down.When it becomes almost impossible to survive the Moscow winter, Yuri and his family move to the Ural Mountains to go stay on Tonya's old family property at Yuriatin. But the property has been seized by the Bolsheviks (the group of Communists who eventually took over), and since Zhivago and Tonya both come from rich families, they're not very well liked by the Communist Party. They try to live as quietly as possible without letting anyone know they're living there.One day, Zhivago gets kidnapped by a band of merry men and is forced to work as a doctor for them as they wage war on the remaining "Whites"—the dudes who are trying to fight the Communists for control of Russia. After spending years away from his family, Zhivago finally escapes and heads back to Yuriatin, only to find that his family has gone back to Moscow. But guess who's still living in Yuriatin when he gets back? Yup, his old flame Lara Antipova. Zhivago and Lara have an affair that keeps Zhivago from going to his family in Moscow. As time passes, though, it becomes clear that Lara and Zhivago are both in deep trouble with the Communist authorities. They move out into the woods to avoid arrest. But soon enough, they know they'll be found.विसाव्या शतकातील एक महान. श्रेष्ठ आणि नोबेल पारितोषिक-विजेती कादंबरी. रशियन राज्यक्रांतीच्या अतिशय अस्थिर अशा कालखंडात समाजातील सर्वच स्तरांतील व्यक्तींच्या जीवनात घडून आलेला दुःखद बदल या कादंबरीत एका विस्तीर्ण कालपटलावर अत्यंत प्रत्ययकारी पद्धतीनं रेखाटला आहे.नष्ट झालेलं व्यक्तिगत जीवन, देशाच्या नियतीशी अटळपणे बांधली गेलेली लोकांची आयुष्यं, उद्ध्वस्त झालेली स्वप्नं.... आणि युद्धाच्या आणि क्रांतीच्या छिन्नभिन्न वातावरणातही अकलंक राहिलेली प्रेमाची कोवळीक आणि जगण्याची अनिवार ओढ! ही कादंबरी म्हणजे एक विशाल जीवनप्रवाह आहे. माणसं येतात-जातात, युद्धं होतात, क्रांत्या होतात, देश निर्माण होतात, नष्ट होतात; पण जीवनाचा ओघ अखंड चालूच असतो. डॉक्टर आणि कवी असलेला युरी, त्याची पत्नी टोनिया आणि विलक्षण सुंदर प्रेयसी लारा या तिघांची ही कहाणी बोरिस पास्तरनाकच्या उच्च कोटीच्या प्रतिभेच्या स्पर्शानं वैश्विक पातळीवर जाऊन पोहोचते. समग्र मानवी जीवनाला कवेत घेण्याचं सामर्थ्य फार थोड्या साहित्यकृतींमध्ये असतं. `डॉक्टर झिवागों' ही त्यापैकी एक.
