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Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy
1 review
missbear's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-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
3.75
I was gifted this book several years ago, immediately after reading and absolutely falling in love with Anna Karenina. Anna Karenina will always be my favorite, but I did really enjoy these stories as well, which captured much of the philosophical spirit and smooth, easy writing that I associate with Tolstoy.
The thing that is always the most intriguing to me about Tolstoy is how artfully he describes characters' feelings, perspectives and understandings of the world. To this end, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" was a chilling masterpiece, digging into the psychological state of a tragic character in a fascinating and terrifying way. I also particularly enjoyed "The Kreutzer Sonata," which followed an even more unlikable character. I may not agree with Tolstoy's views about romantic relationships, but I certainly enjoy reading about these twisted, horrible ones.
It's not just the characters, it's that I always find moments in Tolstoy's work where he captures so perfectly and eloquently an emotional state that I've experienced before, but had trouble putting into words or even identifying. Two such moments stood out to me especially in "The Kreutzer Sonata":
in one, a character describes the almost disturbing power of music to bend our emotions to its will, in the other, he explains the "ecstasy" of a fit of anger and despair. I'll leave them here.
"Music makes me forget myself, my real position; it transports me to some other position not my own. Under the influence of music, it seems to me that I feel what I do not really feel, that I understand what I do not understand, that I can do what I cannot do. I explain it by the fact that music acts like yawning, like laughter: I am not sleepy, but I yawn when I see someone yawning; there is nothing for me to laugh at, but I laugh when I hear people laughing."
"An old conversation I had had with Trukhachevski's brother came to my mind, and in a kind of ecstasy I rent my heart with that conversation, making it refer to Trukhachevski and my wife."
The thing that is always the most intriguing to me about Tolstoy is how artfully he describes characters' feelings, perspectives and understandings of the world. To this end, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" was a chilling masterpiece, digging into the psychological state of a tragic character in a fascinating and terrifying way. I also particularly enjoyed "The Kreutzer Sonata," which followed an even more unlikable character. I may not agree with Tolstoy's views about romantic relationships, but I certainly enjoy reading about these twisted, horrible ones.
It's not just the characters, it's that I always find moments in Tolstoy's work where he captures so perfectly and eloquently an emotional state that I've experienced before, but had trouble putting into words or even identifying. Two such moments stood out to me especially in "The Kreutzer Sonata":
in one, a character describes the almost disturbing power of music to bend our emotions to its will, in the other, he explains the "ecstasy" of a fit of anger and despair. I'll leave them here.
"Music makes me forget myself, my real position; it transports me to some other position not my own. Under the influence of music, it seems to me that I feel what I do not really feel, that I understand what I do not understand, that I can do what I cannot do. I explain it by the fact that music acts like yawning, like laughter: I am not sleepy, but I yawn when I see someone yawning; there is nothing for me to laugh at, but I laugh when I hear people laughing."
"An old conversation I had had with Trukhachevski's brother came to my mind, and in a kind of ecstasy I rent my heart with that conversation, making it refer to Trukhachevski and my wife."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, and Murder
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