What make both works similar are the attitudes of the main characters: Zhivago and Shukhov each attempt to make the most of what fate and history have to deal them, although both experience decidedly unfavorable fates. "Shukhov is a 'simple heart,' a beloved type in Russian literature from Turgenev to Tolstoy." (Slonim, 333). Solzhenitsyn's character simplistically seeks out the small and minimal pleasures to be found in his deplorable condition. Although the character portrayed was not deemed challenging to Russian authority, the conditions that Solzhenitsyn matter-of-factly depicts eventually came under scrutiny.

Switches in policy and practice have meant that some authors have their work published both openly and as samizdat literature, or that sometimes samizdats become public. Particularly from 1966, when more effective controls were imposed after Khrushchev's 'thaw,' there was a proliferation of samizdats." (Shaw, 120). This has become the case with both Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn's writings. For instance,...
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