darbo 's review for:

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

4.0

dark informative reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Tolstoy writes with an everyday mundanity and no extravagant prose which might seem boring on a surface level but if you dig a little deeper, you will find an enrapturing account of Russian life and sociopolitical circumstances in 1880s Russia, especially that of the often despised upper-middle class, which Tolstoy was himself a part of, if not one step above. The subject of the novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich is, as the name suggests, Ivan Ilyich who is a member of justice in court. Surprisingly, the title reveals the untimely end of Ivan Ilyich, which the novella takes as its predominant course of action. Ilyich himself recounts his life, including his final moments and what led up to his death. Fascinatingly, he talks about what it means to have the power of choice over other people's lives, very much similar to a recent work of nonfiction that I have read called When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. While the main aims of these two books are very much different, they remind me of each other and show similarities in style and subject.