Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

41 reviews

michela_ognibeni's review against another edition

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emotional sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0


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gracefm's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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flooooo's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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katewhite77's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I never knew Tolstoy could be  so readable.

The short novella packs so much in to a short page. It discusses the biggest philosophical question of all. Life and the meaning of it and in doing so warns against taking life for granted. 

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atuin's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautiful work focusing on the meaning of life and death. The main characters introspection of whether he lived a good life is something everyone can relate to, and this should be required reading to make sure no one makes the same mistake as the main character in this book.

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annabellw06_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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mariavdl's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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imrath's review

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medium-paced

3.75


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theabee's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A frank look at death and characters confronting it, the surface signs of success but an unsatisfying internal sense of mediocrity

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pillswor's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A truly beautiful short story on the experience of death from Tolstoy's own reflection upon faith and religion. I could do without the incredibly repetitive and mundane introduction which makes up half the length of the book. Tolstoy's transformative writing really gets dragged down by Blythe's surface level and faux deep analysis of a text which plainly puts everything at your feet already. I appreciate the real historical context as to what Tolstoy's life was when writing the story though. 

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