Dr zhivago book6/2/2023 ![]() ![]() The CIA published a hardback Russian-language edition of Doctor Zhivago in the Netherlands, and a miniature, paperback edition at its own headquarters – making sure that the "hand of the United States government" was "not to be shown in any manner", reveal the documents. ![]() "This book has great propaganda value, not only for its intrinsic message and thought-provoking nature, but also for the circumstances of its publication: we have the opportunity to make Soviet citizens wonder what is wrong with their government, when a fine literary work by the man acknowledged to be the greatest living Russian writer is not even available in his own country in his own language for his own people to read," runs one of the more than 130 newly declassified CIA documents.Īnother, written by John Maury, head of the Soviet-Russia division, in July 1958, states that "Pasternak's humanistic message – that every person is entitled to a private life and deserves respect as a human being, irrespective of the extent of his political loyalty or contribution to the state – poses a fundamental challenge to the Soviet ethic of sacrifice of the individual to the Communist system". In an excerpt in the Washington Post, the authors detail how the CIA recognised the value of the novel as a literary weapon in the cold war. ![]()
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