senoyreve 's review for:

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

4.5

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

beautiful prose, a book that makes you want to live. i’ve been thinking a lot about the (in)finite expansion of our brains and how humans exist as self contained universes. i think this book in a way affirmed that. it’s a truly beautiful tale and i think i want to live more tranquilly but at the same time ivan suffers because he cannot face the pain or strife he begins to exist within. i think that you can never know when your universe will begin to contract and you can never know if you really did live right.