Dick Collins' Tips to Fly by Book

I have long known Boris Pasternak () after watching the movie Doctor Zhivago (1965), first knowing him as its author during my college years. In fact, his literary stature had been internationally renowned by being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1958. This is my first trial reading of his 5-chapter autobiographical novella portraying Serezha's brief life and work as tutorship to Harry in the Fresteln family due to its seemingly readable length. Admittedly, I rarely found a bit of reading pleasure as it should have been due to my unfamiliarity with the scope of his narratives that involves various people and settings in which I recalled Serezha's bouts of seeming romanticism with a young Danish widow called Mrs Ariel [aka. Anna, Ariel, Tornskjold, who claims she is Mrs Fresteln's companion, not her chambermaid (p. 42)]; she telling him her husband died a young man aged thirty-two in March last spring. (p. 41) So she might have been in her early 30's or late 20's.

However, I couldn't recall the role of a female character named Sashka as encountered in chapters 3 and 4 till I came across her name in its Goodreads synopsis. I wonder if I should have a quick rereading and see if the role has any involvement with Serezha, the protagonist. Then, I would be back later.

Good news! I can find out 'Sashka' in chapter 3; the part being on this sentence by Mrs Fresteln (Serezha's employer), "If she had asked him where he had come from, he would have told her without reflecting all the places where he had been. " (p. 49) Thus, from pages 50-56, we would know more on her involvement and Serezha's as clarified in the mentioned pages.

In chapter 4, the name 'Sashka' appears twice in the second paragraph (p. 57); the two sentences being extracted as follows: (Here Nyura Rumina rose in his consciousness, and Sashka; and Anna Arild Tornskjold was not the last to emerge.) . . . 'But what had the old pawnbroker to do with it? The old pawnbroker - that was just another Sashka in her old age . . . ' Obviously, this sentence has affirmed the second name as his flame, "Serezha felt that he had never loved anyone as much as Sashka; and then, in his mind's eye, he saw - winding further away toward the cemeteries - the roadway spotted with meaty red patches; . . . " (p. 54)

From my rough skimming and scanning through chapters 1-5, I would like to say something suggestive to some Pasternak newcomers (I am one myself) due to his literary fame and stature. We need a pencil, at least, to underline any new, unfamiliar names related to the protagonist, events, settings, etc. so that we could follow the story's thread, the role of each character so that we would be on the right track, not get lost, become more perplexed till we see no light and throw it away with an unwanted pity and ensuing condemnation. One of the difficulties is concerned with how Russian names appear, especially the case of Mrs Arild (her middle name) whereas her first name (Anna) and last name (Tornskjold) appear as such in which they keep confusing me till I have at last reached page 39, informing me that Anna Arild Tornskjold is the same person!

Then, think positively and design any strategy we like. As for me, out of my respect and admiration stemmed from his Doctor Zhivago and his other works (if any), from my second exploration I have since enjoyed noticing his interesting clauses, phrases, words, etc. rarely found or never in other famous authors we have read and liked.

Some of these exemplary sentences, I think, are worth studying and applying in our English applications:
1) Dusk was falling; . . . (p. 28) . . ., twilight was falling. (p. 47) But, Suddenly the dawn flared. (p. 53)
2) The weather was stifling. (p. 44)
3) This, . . . , somewhat spoiled the sweetness of their embrace. (p. 90)
4) The whole room seemed to swim in brandy. (p. 91)
5) In the first place, he knew this man and, besides, he was confronting something tall and alien that devalued Serezha from head to foot. (p. 92)

In a word, reading this novella essentially requires our proper concentration as well as positive expectation in terms of how the author has described to portray some key characters in various settings, situations or time frames in which we read with our respect to his expertise in mind.