The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Bantam Classics)

Mass Market Paperback, 128 pages

English language

Published March 1, 1981 by Bantam Classics.

ISBN:
978-0-553-21035-4
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4 stars (56 reviews)

Ivan Ilych, a peaceful public official in the Russian provinces, has his life permanently changed by a serious illness which no doctor can accurately diagnose. Hailed as one of the world's supreme masterpieces on the subject of death and dying, The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the story of a worldly careerist, a high court judge who has never given the inevitability of his death so much as a passing thought. But one day death announces itself to him, and to his shocked surprise he is brought face to face with his own mortality. From world-renowned novelist Leo Tolstoy comes this story of a worldly careerist who must consider death for the first time and examine his own mortality. With a superb translation by Lynn Solotaroff, it features an introduction by Ronald Blythe.

97 editions

The fascination of the mundane - but with rather flat prose

3 stars

I'd been wanting to dive into some Russian classics for a while, and Google told me this one was the most accessible so there it is.

Found a cheap used copy from a little independent store, result!

Unfortunately, and I wonder if it was maybe due to the translator, I found the prose a little flat, lacking much depth or character.

I did like the story, there's something quite fascinating about a tale of the fantastically mundane.

I did also like how it ended but of course I won't say any spoilers here.

But ultimately... I didn't love this book. I liked it but I didn't love it.

It is short and accessible so if you're like me and just wanting to experience some Tolstoy in a few hours, it's a good choice.

Review of 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Interesting read. The beginning felt a little underwhelming but it grew on to be better by the end. I particularly liked the way Ivan is written to have a yearning for pity and detest for reminders of life from those around him, a more unique take on a chronically ill character aware that death is approaching him.

4/5 that up until halfway through was going to be a solid 3. I still do not believe Tolstoy's characters are such intricately designed masterpieces for a man that criticised Dostoevsky for his archetypal doomed protagonist.

Review of 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Tolstoy at his best. If anybody s unsure whether to try war and peace or Anna Karenina then try this first to see just what the man can do. This story is a brief intro into Ivan Ilych's life and then his illness and the thoughts going through his head as he is on his deathbed. Some shocking thoughts that you can't help but understand why he thinks them.

Fantastic stuff, I have another one of his to read next, I was gonna wait but gonna jump straight into it.

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Subjects

  • Literature: Texts
  • Russian & Former Soviet Union
  • Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Literature: Classics
  • Classics
  • Fiction / Classics
  • Fiction