The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories. Leo Tolstoy

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The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories. Leo Tolstoy

by Leo Tolstoy

3.99 · rating details · 3,720 ratings · 270 reviews

General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1915 Original Publisher: John Lane Company Subjects: Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary Language Arts

Hardcover

Published November 1st 2009 by Vintage Classic (first published 1886)

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Nov 28, 2009

brian rated it

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you meet someone and they tell you that The Beatles are their favorite band and you kinda hate 'em, yeah? The Beatles are the most popular pop/rock band of all time, wildly innovative, and wrote, probably, more great songs than any other band... but to be your all-time favorite band? kinda dull. i think i'd take someone who champions Rush or The Eagl- (no, not the Eagles. any other band but The Eagles, Steve Miller, or Aerosmith) over The Beatles just because it's more interesting.

...moreyou meet someone and they tell you that The Beatles are their favorite band and you kinda hate 'em, yeah? The Beatles are the most popular pop/rock band of all time, wildly innovative, and wrote, probably, more great songs than any other band... but to be your all-time favorite band? kinda dull. i think i'd take someone who champions Rush or The Eagl- (no, not the Eagles. any other band but The Eagles, Steve Miller, or Aerosmith) over The Beatles just because it's more interesting.

this is why i'm so so hesitant to call out tolstoy as my favorite writer. same kinda shit, y'know? but he just might be. at the very least he's sitting at the (head of the?) table with genet borges orwell and the other usual suspects. yes. and i know it because when i popped into the book store and saw this gorgeous new hardback of tolstoy short stories by badass russian translators Peavar & Volokhonsky, well... i felt it move. took all i had not to rub against this book in the store -- waited till i got in the car and dry-humped the shit outta this beautiful bitch.

so listen: this book is a must buy. great writer. great translators. great looking edition (during masturbation i find my eye wandering away from my television freeze-framed on a naked rosario dawson or marisa tomei and to the tolstoy section of my bookshelf where - next to all my penguin softback tolstoy short story collections - my hardback P & V translated editions of war & peace, anna karenina, & ivan ilyich and other stories sit. of course, in order to prolong the experience i've gotta think back to when kowalski exposed himself in my car -- the visual equivalent of a cold shower). and a great selection of stories.

A GREAT selection of stories. i hate when they release a newly translated collection of a great writer's stories and they leave out the greatest hits. well, they're all here, kids: ivan ilyich (love me do) is terrific if slightly overrated. the kreutzer sonata (happiness is a warm gun)? fucking great! master and man (blackbird)? i cry. the devil (i'm a loser)? amazing! hadji murat (a day in the life)? fucking genius! they're ALL great.

trust me, booknerds.(less)

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May 24, 2010

Briynne rated it

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It's been too long since my last Russian novel, and my brother's suggestion that I try Ivan Ilyich was a welcome push back into the wonderful world of Tolstoy. In addition to the title story, this collection also included Family Happiness and The Cossacks, and they were all very enjoyable.

Family Happiness was an intriguing, if rather depressing and pessimistic, study of the disintegration of a marriage. The moral of the story seems to be that romantic love has the shelf life of a...moreIt's been too long since my last Russian novel, and my brother's suggestion that I try Ivan Ilyich was a welcome push back into the wonderful world of Tolstoy. In addition to the title story, this collection also included Family Happiness and The Cossacks, and they were all very enjoyable.

Family Happiness was an intriguing, if rather depressing and pessimistic, study of the disintegration of a marriage. The moral of the story seems to be that romantic love has the shelf life of a banana; and that men should logically turn their passion to polite indifference and women should sublimate theirs into obsession over their children. There were some interesting shadows of Anna Karenina in this story.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich was really all it's cracked up to be. I don't know that I have anything original to say on it, but it is certainly the most in-depth look into a dying man's mind that I can recall reading. His whole life seems so wasted and vainly-spent that it's painful to realize he won't have the chance to fix any of it. And I remember feeling betrayed after initially feeling so bad for the wife, who turned out not to care in the least about him except for how his death would effect her own comfort.

Finally, The Cossacks, which was the longest of the short stories/novellas in the collection had a wonderful foreignness about it. In my experience with Russian lit - which is admittedly limited to Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, a handful of anarchist writers, and a smidgen of Bely - the focus almost always has been on St. Petersburg and Moscow. The Cossacks is almost entirely set in the Caucuses and most of the characters are far removed from the European-ness I've come to expect. The plot centers around the love triangle among the Muscovite Olenin, the Cossak Luka, and the Cossack girl they both want Maryanka. But more so, it is about Olenin's desire to escape the city rat-race and to find a more naturalistic life - which, as I recall, was something that Tolstoy himself was deeply concerned about. I found that aspect of the story fascinating as Tolstoy doesn't give his fantasy a fairy-tale ending, as I would think most authors would be wont to do.

Great collection. I've resolved to officially dive into War and Peace during the two weeks James is going to be on an externship in Alberta later this year. Seems like a good use of an empty house - wish me luck! (less)

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Aug 13, 2007

Cody rated it

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Shelves: fiction

One of my favorite aspects of Tolstoy's writing is his ability to create such deep, fully formed characters (the reason Anna Karenina is so bloody long). In The Death of Ivan Ilyich his attention is focused so sharply on Ivan, and specifically on his inner life, that the character nearly takes on a physical presence. Despite the title, the novella is much more of a meditation on life than death, as - in his dying days - Ivan begins to live for the first time. It is very beautiful and poetic, per...more

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May 07, 2010

Mrs. Crane rated it

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I'm not even going to proof-read this because it's late, I'm tired, and you get the point..

Family Happiness(**)
This was a beautiful introduction to Tolstoys work. It was my first official experience with reading one of his stories, and although I immediately took to the novel I thought it was anti-feminist and full of propaganda. It reminded me of Flauberts's defense in court when he was charged with indecency for writing Madame Bovary- in that it was meant to teach...more

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Oct 07, 2009

Justin Evans rated it

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Shelves: fiction

There are obviously a lot of books called 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories.' The volume I read had Ivan, The Cossacks, and Happily Ever After (aka Family Happiness.) There's not too much to say- it seems that if you've read any Tolstoy, you know the general thrust; depressing, but with at least apparently uplifting endings in which characters come to do and feel the right thing. DII and Cossacks are both great (four stars each), but if I was going to read one, it'd be the Cossacks. HE...more

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Jul 29, 2009

Bird Brian rated it

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Shelves: russia, literature-19th-century

Let's talk about death.
Picasso had his "blue phase", and Tolstoy had his "obsession with death" phase. This collection of short stories all relate to death in some way.

The best and most widely-known of these is The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Ilyich is a successful lawyer who has gone through life checking all the right boxes to ensure respect and material success. His shallow understanding of the people around him resembles the title character of Upton Sinclair...more

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Jan 14, 2010

Erik Simon rated it

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Once again, I bump into my own technological idiocy, for if I knew how to do it, I would download the link to the review of this book by my goodreads friend Brian, because he really says all one needs to say (which is that the translation is great, the stories are great, Tolstoy is great), and that's probably what everyone would say (save for the stupid and stubborn), but he says it in a way that is so worth reading, a way that includes allusions to masturbation, Marisa Tomei and The Eagles, but...more

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Jan 23, 2008

Jennie rated it

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Recommends it for: Wimps who can't handle W&P or AK

Family Happiness: Well-written but trite. Still a pleasant reading experience. Such a view of marriage is very depressing though.

The Death of Ivan Ilych: Very thought-provoking, especially in the context of the literature of contemporary Russian intelligentsia. Easily the best of the bunch.

The Kreutzer Sonata: Another story where somebody is a psychologically disturbed douchebag, and tries to redeem themselves by coming up with an extensive new system of morality th...more

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Aug 18, 2007

Tatiana rated it

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Shelves: classics

The story "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is one of my favorite stories ever written. Everything about it is so true. Tolstoy had that knack of speaking plain truth about subjects like death and war that we almost instinctively idealize for ourselves in our thoughts and writings, so that the simple truth, when we read it, hits us like a powerful revelation. This narrative of one man's journey from a busy, full middle class life into sickness and then his final slide into death is like de...more

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May 21, 2011

Chris Fazio rated it

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What a brutal read. The great Russian novelists had a way of attacking psychological phenomena without any frill or pretense. "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" strips bare a typical, mundane life by methodically removing each meaningless layer until the reader is left with the same terrible realization of the protagonist: that there is nothing more than this.

Tolstoy doesn't guide you toward any interpretation or offer a soothing moral. This is a story that treats death as starkly ...more

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Apr 19, 2011

James Dye rated it

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Tolstoy is someone, an earthling concerned about the community at large, ourselves, rather than the body politic or the lords in the feudal state of Russia in the 19th century. Tolstoy’s story, The Death of Ivan Illych, speaks volumes about the frail human condition of the Russian soul, and vices like greed and vanity. We attain the conduct of our behavior from the hand we’re dealt by the land. The circumstances of the place in society the Russian gentry were born into limited their journey for ...more

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Feb 06, 2011

The Awdude rated it

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At this point I've read just about all of Tolstoy's fiction (except War & Peace) as well as some of his non-fiction, and I've found all the usual reasons to take him only half seriously--namely his chauvinism, antisemitism, and incessant moralizing--which are all perfectly legitimate criticisms, of course, especially in light of the more modern(ist) fiction by Chekhov, a contemporary of whom Tolstoy quite completely disapproved, but I also think it's important to remember all the reasons why Gra...moreAt this point I've read just about all of Tolstoy's fiction (except War & Peace) as well as some of his non-fiction, and I've found all the usual reasons to take him only half seriously--namely his chauvinism, antisemitism, and incessant moralizing--which are all perfectly legitimate criticisms, of course, especially in light of the more modern(ist) fiction by Chekhov, a contemporary of whom Tolstoy quite completely disapproved, but I also think it's important to remember all the reasons why Grandaddy Leo was still, despite his crotchety shortcomings and his crazy beard, a fantastic writer. The stylistic diversity of his stories alone is a good reason not to discount him. "The Forged Coupon," for instance, travels seamlessly through a mile-long cast of characters without ever seeming disjointed or schizophrenic. His descriptions are another thing. He makes Russian winters (the actual bleakness of which I can't even begin to fathom) pound on your senses with terrifying beauty and overtones of the Kantian sublime. In "Master and Man," a story about freezing to death, you can pretty much feel the impossible cold creeping in on the two characters. Not to mention his details and descriptions in general. And the way he writes about war--breathtaking. He zooms in and out on the battlefield, intermingling grand scope with intimate psychology, as gracefully as a virtuoso cinematographer. "The Prisoner of the Caucasus" and "Hadji Murat" will testify to that. I'm sure War & Peace, which I doubt I will ever read, is even more fantastic as far as that goes. "Diary of a Madman" shows how well Tolstoy can handle a smaller narrative space and the first person voice (in which we can almost hear Dostoevsky). But the real masterpiece here is Hadji Murat, the novella which Harold Bloom apparently called "the best story in the world." And right now I'm not really prepared to argue with him. Today it is perhaps still the most relevant of Leo's work, apropos of globalization, the so-called war on terror, and the rippling butterfly effects of which even God and Allah are probably unaware. And the ending--the last sentence is maybe the best closing line I've ever read--is just absolutely perfect.

So anyway, nothing about Leo's masterful technique should induce us to forget about what a grumpy old preacher he was. He had me rolling my eyes at him half the time, sure. But damn, the guy could write a story. (less)

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Jun 13, 2010

Rowland Bismark rated it

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It is not insignificant that The Death of Ivan Ilych, written in 1886, was the first major fictional work published by Tolstoy after his crisis and conversion. Tolstoy's religious philosophy serves as a background to the understanding of the novel. Brotherly love, mutual support, and Christian charity, values that became essential to Tolstoy in the second half of his life, emerge as the dominant moral principles in The Death of Ivan Ilych.And just as Tolstoy's discovery of the true meaning of li...moreIt is not insignificant that The Death of Ivan Ilych, written in 1886, was the first major fictional work published by Tolstoy after his crisis and conversion. Tolstoy's religious philosophy serves as a background to the understanding of the novel. Brotherly love, mutual support, and Christian charity, values that became essential to Tolstoy in the second half of his life, emerge as the dominant moral principles in The Death of Ivan Ilych.And just as Tolstoy's discovery of the true meaning of life led him to fulfillment and an acceptance of death, so too, Ivan Ilych's awakening exposes him to the light of a meaningful life and assuages his fear of dying. Thus, The Death of Ivan Ilych can be seen as a reflection and an elaboration of Tolstoy's post- conversion philosophical concerns. The novel is a fictional answer to the questions that plagued Tolstoy during the mid 1870s.

From the time of his conversion to his death, Tolstoy remained actively engaged in publicizing his religious beliefs. He wrote various pieces on social, political, and economic topics ranging from vegetarianism to capital punishment. In hopeless opposition to the government, nearly all of his writings were censored or banned. Tolstoy died in 1910 after nearly a decade of continuing ill health.

The Death of Ivan Ilych begins at the chronological end of the story. A group of judges are gathered together in a private room of the courthouse when Peter Ivanovich, a judge and close friend of Ivan Ilych, announces that Ivan has died. Consoled by the thought that it is Ivan who has died and not them, the men in the room cannot help but think of the promotions and transfers that Ivan's death will occasion. That evening, Peter drives to Ivan's house to attend his funeral. But while looking at Ivan's corpse, Peter is bothered by an expression of disapproval and warning on Ivan's face. Ivan's wife Praskovya quizzes Peter about possible strategies to maximize her dead husband's government pension. On his way out, Peter encounters Gerasim, Ivan's sick nurse. Peter mentions that Ivan's death and funeral are a sad affair, and Gerasim surprises Peter with the observation that everyone dies some day.

From the outset of the novel it is clear that Tolstoy believes there are two types of lives: the artificial life—represented by Ivan, Praskovya, Peter, and most everyone in Ivan's society and company—and the authentic life represented by Gerasim. The artificial life is marked by shallow relationships, self-interest, and materialism. It is insular, unfulfilling, and ultimately incapable of providing answers to the important questions in life. The artificial life is a deception that hides life's true meaning and leaves one terrified and alone at the moment of death. The authentic life, on the other hand, is marked by pity and compassion. It sees others not as means to ends, but as individual beings with unique thoughts, feelings, and desires. The authentic life cultivates mutually affirming human relationships that break down isolation and allow for true interpersonal contact. Whereas the artificial life leaves one alone and empty, the authentic life fosters strength through solidarity and comfort through empathy. It creates bonds and prepares one to meet death.

Gerasim alone is unafraid of death. Confident in the correctness of his life and unafraid of personal involvement, Gerasim has a self-sacrificing love for others that infuses his life with meaning. The spiritual support that Gerasim provides to Ivan by empathizing with his plight and relieving his isolation is even more important than the physical support Gerasim provides by holding Ivan's legs. Gerasim is able to lessen Ivan's pain by sharing in it. The virtue of the authentic life is that at the same time Gerasim is helping Ivan, he is also benefiting from the relationship. Compassion and love go both ways, and the authentic life is the right life.

The story of Ivan's steady approach toward death is also the story of Ivan's recognition of death and his search for a compromise with its dreadful and nullifying power. How is one to make sense of the end of one's life, of one's relationships, projects, and dreams, of one's very existence? Throughout the novel, Tolstoy makes clear that preparation for death begins with a proper attitude toward life. As Ivan's attitude toward life changes, prompted by pain and the prospect of death, his emotions progress from sheer terror to utter joy. The avoidance of death that characterizes Ivan's social milieu is based on a delusion designed to protect people from unpleasant realities. It leads only to emptiness, horror, and dissatisfaction. An acceptance of death, however, and recognition of the true unpredictable nature of life allows for confidence, peace, and even joy at the moment of death. More than anything else, then, the novel can be seen as a lesson on making sense of death through living rightly.

Much like the artificial/authentic dichotomy, Tolstoy depicts human existence as a conflict between the inner and the outer, the spiritual life and the physical life. Up until Chapter IX, Ivan is a purely physical being. He shows no indication of any spiritual life whatsoever. He lives for the benefit of his own flesh and relates with others only insofar as they promote his desires. Worst of all, Ivan mistakes his physical life for his true spiritual life. He believes that his existence is the "right" existence, and he refuses to see the error of his life. As a result of denying the spiritual, Ivan is incapable of transcending the physical. He experiences excruciating pain, overwhelming unhappiness, and absolute terror. Yet when the prospect of his death forces Ivan to confront his isolation, he gradually begins to see the importance of the spiritual life. As he grows toward understanding, as he supplants the physical with the spiritual, he moves beyond suffering, conquers death, and experiences extreme joy. Tolstoy's message is clear: the task of each individual is to recognize the duality of the self and to live so as the less important physical life conforms to the more important spiritual life.

Characteristic of the artificial life as well as of the purely physical life is the tendency toward alienation. Whenever Ivan encounters a situation or relationship that does not promote his pleasant existence, he distances himself from it. This reaction ties in to the larger theme of the inner life v. outer life. Because Ivan has no spiritual existence, he is incapable of seeing other people as individuals. He acts only to obtain the good for himself and has no value for those that impinge upon his pleasure. Thus, in his selfish quest for happiness, Ivan shuts out individuals. Yet by fencing others out, he fences himself in. Tolstoy makes use of several images of enclosure and isolation to reinforce this point. From the funeral notice surrounded by a black border to the coffin lid leaning against the wall, Tolstoy hints and the voluntary separation that Ivan created.

Tolstoy incorporates several patterns of reversal into the structure of the novel. The actual death of Ivan Ilych, the chronological end of the story, occurs in the first chapter. The remainder of the novel is devoted not to Ivan's death as the title seems to indicate, but to his life. Tolstoy reverses the very concepts of life and death. During his early life, when Ivan seems to be growing in strength, freedom, and status, he is actually being reduced to weakness, bondage, and isolation. After Chapter VII, when Ivan is confined to his study and suffers physical degeneration and alienation, he is actually being reborn spiritually. Tolstoy reinforces this point by means of several verbal formulations. Ivan describes his spiritual awakening as if he were moving downwards while all the time believing he was moving up. He compares his sudden insight into the true nature of his life to the sensation one gets in a railway car upon discovering that the true direction of travel is opposite the supposed direction.

Throughout the novel, Tolstoy uses the words pleasant/proper/decorous to refer to the accepted norms of social life. These norms are an important factor in the theme of the right life, as discussed above. Ivan's inordinate concern with propriety, decorum, and standards of conduct is an excellent indication that he is living the artificial, rather than the authentic life. He is more concerned with external appearance than with internal substance, with the appearance of truth rather than with actual truth. The man who chooses not to concern himself with the opinions of high society, who disregards the pleasant/proper/decorous for the real, the true, and the genuine is the man who lives the right way.(less)

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Mar 19, 2010

Tienlyn rated it

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wow. subtle but not... and one of those books that became more cherished upon completion. conceptually, the full effect of this story did not consciously amalgamate until the last few pages - and even then, not completely until the last two words - rather like putting the lid on a jar, the contents within did not become contents until the lid was sealed. read a bit like jane austin meets dostoyevsky (weird combo, right?) but with more hope than most russian literature that i have been expo...more

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Aug 14, 2011

Noor Alam rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 26, 2010

Patrick rated it

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This is the first book I have read of Toltstoy, and I have to say I love it. I think his genius lies with describing the fullness of human experience in all its complexity. From the different stages and trials of love in Family Happiness, to realizing your life has been worthless in the coarse of your terminal illness and the redemption in finding God in death in The Death of Ivan Ilych, to lust of one partner and the subsequent deadly jealous rage of the other in Kreutzer Sonata, to the downfa...more

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Nov 04, 2010

Herbert rated it

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This little book contains four incredible masterpieces of short fiction. This is a great place to start if you haven't read any Tolstoy. After this intro, my next steps will be Anna Karenina and then War & Peace.

It's hard to praise one story more than another in this brief collection. Each one could stand individually as one of the greatest short stories ever written. "Family Happiness" is a heart-wrenching story about the difficulty of being true to one's self, of forgivene...more

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Mar 09, 2010

Ashley rated it

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It seems that Tolstoy always wants to leave his readers a bit agitated, which let's just say is the exact opposite of Jesus, or even Bill Gates. Family Happiness was my favorite of the 3 I read. The Kruetzer Sonata was next and I found myself skipping pages of seriously worthless mumbo jumbo about some idiot (the only good one exited the train at the end of the first chapter), and then i thought about anna karenina's introduction explaining how in the last years of his life Tolstoy ran away from...more

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Mar 16, 2011

Stacy rated it

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Family Happiness: Beautiful style, sad message
Rather depressing view of how love changes during a marriage, from infatuation to passion to dutiful respect. I agree with the first few phases, and his illustration of how easily couple can get bored in a marriage. Masha says something like "being in love was not as exciting as falling in love," which definitely rings true. However, the story ends with them caring for each other the way teammates would, with mutual goals instead of ro...more

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Feb 03, 2011

Eveline Chao rated it

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I just reread the title story for the first time since being an 18-year-old freshman in college, and am overwhelmed by how incredible it is (I would have said "overwhelmed anew" but I have like no memory of having read it the first time around). Am still reading the other stories in the book and so far they're weaker and too didactic/teachy, or I guess just didn't hold up as well against the changing times, but are still tremendous.

***

OK I finished reading the rest ...more

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Jan 01, 2010

Jeremy rated it

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Shelves: fiction

"Anti-Cancer", a book I recently reviewed as one of the most important I've read, made mention of "The Death of Ivan Ilych" because of its portrayal of life and its definition of death. So I checked it out, read it in two nights (it's only about 100 pages) and made sure to finish it just after midnight on New Years Day. So this was one of the first things I did in the new year.
Depending on your outlook on life and death the title of this book may rattle you. I'd encoura...more

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Jun 21, 2010

Bram rated it

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Shelves: 2010, the-russians

For some reason, I'm reluctant to bestow 5 stars on short story collections that have been cobbled together by persons other than the author. That said, this and Chekhov's set probably deserve it.

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Sep 18, 2009

Bob rated it

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Kind of a joyless fellow, that Tolstoy, and it only got worse as he got older. What is intriguing in both "The Death of Ivan Ilych" and "The Kreutzer Sonata" is a slight ambiguity - does Ilych actually die of cancer that 19th century medicine cannot cope with or do no two doctors come to the same diagnosis because it is psychosomatic, brought on by his fear of death and the oppressive weight of his misguided godless bourgeois life? Similarly, has the wife in The Kreutzer Sona...more

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Jan 08, 2009

Ken rated it

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Shelves: russian, philosophy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 04, 2010

Sachin Piya rated it

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"Death of Ivan Ilych" is one of the best short stories I have ever read. In only about 100 pages, Tolstoy describes the facing of death by Ivan Ilych, who basically has lived as any other ordinary man. The story shows how once joyous and happy moments can seem worthless and fruitless moments when one is staring at death. Through this story, Tolstoy makes us look back to our life and look for anything extraordinary we have done. He makes us wonder whether doing everything that we think ...more

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Nov 02, 2011

Mando rated it

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Shelves: 2011, russian, short-stories, classics

This collection of short stories provides a strikingly insightful look into Tolstoy's views on the human condition of his time. The four stories, a couple of them nearly novella length ("Family Happiness," "The Death of Ivan Ilych," "The Kreutzer Sonata," and "Master and Man"), are each quite distinct in their plots, but the overall theme of "to live for others" remains. The afterword, by David Magarshack, provides an interesting look at Tolsto...more

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Nov 26, 2009

Stefanie rated it

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Shelves: russian, short-stories

please note this review pertains only to 'the kreutzer sonata.' a cynical and caustic view of feminism and marriage. themes are universal and relevant for modern readers. while the subject matter is subject to controversy, i couln't help but feel that the narrator's vituperative accounting of his jealous rage revealed much more about the character's struggle with sexuality and uncontrolled passions. the advocation of celibacy is attributable more to the narrator's personal disgust, self-loathi...more

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Oct 02, 2011

Matt rated it

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Tolstoy had this amazing talent to write many different characters and in many different voices.

The first story in this collection "Family Happiness" is written from the point of view of a young woman who marries an old man.

The second story, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is very dense, the story is told through the gravity of the characters as much as it is told through the passage of the plot. I actually didn't like this story, but the writing is very go...more

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Jul 24, 2011

Becca Loo rated it

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i now know that i like the old tolstoy better then the younger version even though anna karenina was vibrant and energetic and beautiful and sad it wasn't as complex as this collection of short stories or at least not as mature. he's a little more cynical but he's so persuasive that it doesn't feel like a drag to read.

the kreutzer sonata was my favorite of the three. it's about a man who killed his wife out of jealousy but really i think he did it to be free from the institution of marriage....morei now know that i like the old tolstoy better then the younger version even though anna karenina was vibrant and energetic and beautiful and sad it wasn't as complex as this collection of short stories or at least not as mature. he's a little more cynical but he's so persuasive that it doesn't feel like a drag to read.

the kreutzer sonata was my favorite of the three. it's about a man who killed his wife out of jealousy but really i think he did it to be free from the institution of marriage. marriage as an institution is unnatural. although i understand the modern day reasons for marriage after reading this story i really don't think it's worth it.

master and man was an alright story about a rich dude and his servant going on a trip on a stormy winter day. they get lost twice then after warming up at an acquaintances house they get lost for a third and final time and have to sleep there for the night. long story short: the master freezes to death and the servant lives.

the death of ivan ilyich was kind of like master and man and the kreutzer sonata mixed together. ivan ilych is an average man who has an average life and a somewhat long drawn out slightly hypochondria-tic death. some of tolstoys best philosophical musings are written in this piece. on his death bed ivan goes over all the things that made up his life. he wonders why he married his wife and why he kept his mediocre job and why he is dying and if he deserves it. there isn't too much resolution at the end of the story but that's how it has to be, he dies. death isn't something to be written about in full sentences. what are we made up of in the end? can we really know? death, as they say, is the great equalizer it's the sum i'm worried about. it's paltry; we're worth so little. "life's a city full of strange streets/ death's the marketplace where each one meets" -shakespeare.

i'd recommend this collection to the philosopher or the terminally ill or anyone who wonders about death or marriage or servitude and wants someone to wonder with them.(less)

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Sep 01, 2011

Mike rated it

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READ FATHER SERGIUS AND HADJI MURAT! They are both works that should make this whole collection 5 stars altogether. Buy the book for those two stories. They really are awesome and make me want to shout “5 stars, you ass!” But what to do with the rest?

Short story collections are the damnedest thing to review – even if there is absolute and astounding perfection deep within its pages, it can be hard to recommend the collection on its merits as a collection. Realizing this mistake w...more

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About Leo Tolstoy

also: Lew Tolstoj, Lew Tolstoi, Leon Tolstoi, Leo Tolstoi

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й), commonly referred to in English as Leo (Lyof, Lyoff) Tolstoy, was a Russian writer – novelist, essayist, dramatist and philosopher – as well as pacifist Christian anarchist and educational reformer. He was the most influential member of the aristocratic Tolstoy f...more

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“Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible.” — 12 people liked it

“But it seems to me that a man cannot and ought not to say that he loves, he said. Why not? I asked. Because it will always be a lie. As though it were a strange sort of discovery that someone is in love! Just as if, as soon as he said that, something went snap-bang - he loves. Just as if, when he utters that word, something extraordinary is bound to happen, with signs and portents, and all the cannons firing at once. It seems to me, he went on, that people who solemnly utter those words, 'I love you,' either deceive themselves, or what's still worse, deceive others.” — 3 people liked it

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