Boris Pasternak attempted to capture the contradictions of his time in his poetry. Yet, to many, he appeared as a living contradiction himself: he stood beside the deceased Mayakovsky as one of the first and received late-night calls from Stalin, whom he later held accountable in 'Doctor Zhivago.' The second volume of the collected works edited by Christine Fischer showcases Pasternak's years of decision from 1923 to 1943: after he describes in the autobiographical 'Protective Letter' that he finds no calling in music or philosophy, he bets everything on poetry and a prose that becomes the sister of his poetry. Two riddles and a life.