Leo Tolstoy is an interesting character in history. I've read his book The Kingdom of God Is Within You and enjoyed it, all things (his theology, for one) considered.

This book is even better. For one, it is a short, easy read. You can literally read it in one sitting. Two, there is little to nothing to disagree with and everything to agree with.

Somehow, Tolstoy takes a character, Ivan Ilych, whom (if you know anything about Tolstoy's political philosophy) you should hate--as a low-level oppressor and tyrant, then turns him into a character that not only you can relate to, but whom Tolstoy himself obviously related. Then, he takes the dying days (and thoughts) of that man and paints a picture of life and death that almost nobody could deny feeling and thinking.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Tolstoy tells us that Ivan, in his younger days, accepted the syllogism that Caius is a man, and all men are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal. Ivan accepts it, but only as true of Caius--not of himself. He couldn't possibly be mortal himself, he was young and strong, and certainly Caius had never loved like he loved, played like he played, enjoyed life like he enjoyed life. A man like Ivan (or us, as the case is intended to be), who has loved and played and enjoyed cannot possibly die--dying is for men like Caius who haven't done those things.

The Death of Ivan Ilych gives perspective on life and death; unfortunately, even in admitting that I think and feel about life and death just as Ivan had, it hasn't changed anything about the way I think, feel, or live my life.