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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
'Yes, I have been alive, and now my life is steadily going away and I can’t stop it. No. There’s no point in fooling myself. Can’t they all see – everybody but me – that I’m dying? It’s only a matter of weeks, or days – maybe any minute now. There has been daylight; now there is darkness. I have been here; now I’m going there. Where?’ A cold shiver ran over him; he stopped breathing. He could hear nothing but the beating of his heart. ‘When I’m dead, what happens then?'
This novella previews our inevitable confrontation with death. Ivan Ilych has worked his way up to being an official in the Court of Justice. Married to Praskovya, his relationship with his wife is unpleasant, but his work gives him a deep satisfaction. But then, after a fall from hanging curtains in his family's new home, Ivan's life unfurls. The pain from the fall does not abate, and slowly, he realises that he will die. He has a wife, children and connections, but there is a solitariness in death that he must face. His family breeze past an admission of him dying, lulling themselves into a shared avoidance.
There are aspects of the human experience that Tolstoy explores which merit reading by anyone. For example, much like we might hear of someone we know die, a friend of Ivan, Pyotr Ivanovich regards Ivan's death as a curiosity, 'as if death was a chance experience that may have applied to Ivan Ilyich but certainly didn’t apply to him.'
Another example is when Ivan is dying. He frets that not one person who surrounds him understands his experience. When we are 80 and dying, there will be a nonchalant liveliness to those decades younger. They will be completely unable to grasp our ontological reality during that period:
'‘Why bother? It doesn’t make any difference,’ he said to himself, staring into the darkness with his eyes wide open. ‘Death. Yes, it’s death. And not one of them knows, or wants to know. They have no pity for me. Too busy playing.’ (Through the door he could hear the distant sounds of a singing voice and the accompaniment.) ‘They don’t care, but they’re going to die, too. Fools! Me first, then them, but they’ve got it coming to them. And they’re enjoying themselves! Animals!’'
The exception to this lack of empathy is the servant Gerasim, who helps Ivan gets ready, feeds and cares for him. Unlike the other characters, Gerasim acknowledges that Ivan is dying, telling him: '‘We’ve all got to die one day. Why shouldn’t I give you a hand?’'
The impersonal nature of the physical pain and the lack of control Ivan can exert over his situation reminds one of the teachings of Buddhism. There is a ruthlessness during the period of death which gives credence to what the Buddhists tell us: life is all impermanent, none of it can be claimed as our own and the nature of reality is dissatisfaction. When we are in perfect physical health, and we are indulging in the rewards of status, we can forget these characteristics. A similar message is portrayed in Herman Hesse's 'Siddhartha'. Ivan is like a nobleman in 'Downtown Abbey', or one of the top magistrates in the French police drama 'Engrenages' - he has ostensibly won the game of life. And it is only when he is faced with death that he realises that he has completely misjudged the rules and even the type of game! Death confronts him, and he is no longer safeguarded by status or love of another. He is as he entered the world, alone.
This novella also echoes the Stoics and Montaigne's teachings to continually keep death in mind. We should never be surprised that it has come. Both Ivan, his family and his friend Pyotr are caught flatfooted. But, it has found every single animal and human that has ever existed, and it will do so everlastingly. It will find you, too. In this novella, Tolstoy gives us the opportunity to to die before we die.
This novella previews our inevitable confrontation with death. Ivan Ilych has worked his way up to being an official in the Court of Justice. Married to Praskovya, his relationship with his wife is unpleasant, but his work gives him a deep satisfaction. But then, after a fall from hanging curtains in his family's new home, Ivan's life unfurls. The pain from the fall does not abate, and slowly, he realises that he will die. He has a wife, children and connections, but there is a solitariness in death that he must face. His family breeze past an admission of him dying, lulling themselves into a shared avoidance.
There are aspects of the human experience that Tolstoy explores which merit reading by anyone. For example, much like we might hear of someone we know die, a friend of Ivan, Pyotr Ivanovich regards Ivan's death as a curiosity, 'as if death was a chance experience that may have applied to Ivan Ilyich but certainly didn’t apply to him.'
Another example is when Ivan is dying. He frets that not one person who surrounds him understands his experience. When we are 80 and dying, there will be a nonchalant liveliness to those decades younger. They will be completely unable to grasp our ontological reality during that period:
'‘Why bother? It doesn’t make any difference,’ he said to himself, staring into the darkness with his eyes wide open. ‘Death. Yes, it’s death. And not one of them knows, or wants to know. They have no pity for me. Too busy playing.’ (Through the door he could hear the distant sounds of a singing voice and the accompaniment.) ‘They don’t care, but they’re going to die, too. Fools! Me first, then them, but they’ve got it coming to them. And they’re enjoying themselves! Animals!’'
The exception to this lack of empathy is the servant Gerasim, who helps Ivan gets ready, feeds and cares for him. Unlike the other characters, Gerasim acknowledges that Ivan is dying, telling him: '‘We’ve all got to die one day. Why shouldn’t I give you a hand?’'
The impersonal nature of the physical pain and the lack of control Ivan can exert over his situation reminds one of the teachings of Buddhism. There is a ruthlessness during the period of death which gives credence to what the Buddhists tell us: life is all impermanent, none of it can be claimed as our own and the nature of reality is dissatisfaction. When we are in perfect physical health, and we are indulging in the rewards of status, we can forget these characteristics. A similar message is portrayed in Herman Hesse's 'Siddhartha'. Ivan is like a nobleman in 'Downtown Abbey', or one of the top magistrates in the French police drama 'Engrenages' - he has ostensibly won the game of life. And it is only when he is faced with death that he realises that he has completely misjudged the rules and even the type of game! Death confronts him, and he is no longer safeguarded by status or love of another. He is as he entered the world, alone.
This novella also echoes the Stoics and Montaigne's teachings to continually keep death in mind. We should never be surprised that it has come. Both Ivan, his family and his friend Pyotr are caught flatfooted. But, it has found every single animal and human that has ever existed, and it will do so everlastingly. It will find you, too. In this novella, Tolstoy gives us the opportunity to to die before we die.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
A relentless exposition of the death of an ordinary man. Not the “die in your sleep” type of death, but the death that takes place with full awareness of its approach over months, weeks, days, hours. Tolstoy was obsessed with the idea of death. About the experience of it, and about how we avoid thinking about it in civilized society. To those not in its imminent grip, it’s an inconvenience. But to those experiencing it firsthand, it’s absurd. An awful injustice. A howling agony. An internal drama of the most shattering kind.
Until the end, anyway. By all reports, there is a peace and acceptance that finally sets in.
Until the end, anyway. By all reports, there is a peace and acceptance that finally sets in.
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Death comes and we know it. Dodging this inevitability distorts our assignments of meaning.