Take a photo of a barcode or cover
krishnaja 's review for:
The Death of Ivan Ilych
by Leo Tolstoy
This book was relatively short, a mere 90 pages in length, but the insight it provides is a lot to take in. [a: Leo Tolstoy|128382|Leo Tolstoy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1617138673p2/128382.jpg]'s [b: The Death if Ivan Ilych|18386|The Death of Ivan Ilych|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336967150l/18386._SX50_.jpg|234915] deals with, well, death. But in the most tremendously amazing way, it possibly can.
This is a short story, and we follow Ivan Ilych, a lawyer, throughout his life. He was the second son of their family, and while the first two children are in a good state as of now, the third one is considered a "failure" by the family and ultimately, the society. Ivan Ilych is nothing like him; not remarkably successful, but well respected. He is always careful to not turn society against him and lives by the set of unspoken rules the society said he should abide by.
When a woman falls in love with him, he marries her, despite not having any mutual interest or feelings for her. His reasoning is that marriage is something he is expected to do, and he found no fault in marrying her - he thought he was saving her from heartbreak. Their marriage turns out to be unpassionate and Ilych soon realizes that he might have made a wrong decision by marrying her. Instead of breaking off their marriage then, he leaves and returns to being the workaholic he always was.
He hurts himself one day and when he got himself checked, it turns out that he is diagnosed with a chronic illness. He is bed-ridden not long after, requiring the aid of another person to do even the minute of his needs.
That was when Ilych begins to wonder - what had he done wrong? He had lived a life not doing anything with ill intentions and neither had he hurt a single soul. So he ponders over the question, what did he do to deserve such a fate?
Throughout this book, it is made clear about the reasoning behind all of Ilych's deeds. Tolstoy shows us how every significant step of our lives is inspired by society - the constant yearning to fit in, - and how we lose our own individuality. In a world where so many things are expected from us, everything is dictated to us and is categorized as "right" and "wrong", it is much easier to just follow it and succumb.
The fact that this is told from the perspective of a dying man, not necessarily an old man — for he is merely forty-five, is genius in itself. Even though it is clear what Tolstoy is trying to tell through the [b: The Death of Ivan Ilych|18386|The Death of Ivan Ilych|Leo Tolstoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336967150l/18386._SX50_.jpg|234915], it still has this tremendous impact on its readers. Ilych is an absent father, despite having many children. He is also an absent husband with a fruitless marriage.
When on his deathbed, he couldn't help but question everything he had ever known. When he asked the voice in him, "What's the reason of my suffering; what have I done wrong to be deserving of such a painful end?" , the voice answers, Nothing. Not everything happens for a reason, Ilych.
Ilych tries desperately to escape his fate, his death, and when it becomes crystal clear to him that there is no avoiding it, and that trying to postpone perhaps the most idiotic of deeds, he dies a death of brutal pain but also utter satisfaction.
Ilych's story is obviously a reminder to each of us about the limitation of the span we'll be here for, and the fact that a majority of what we do every day is not necessarily what we desire, but are driven by what society desires from us. Reading about this from the perspective of a man whose days are being counted reminded me that so is mine.
Tolstoy created this short novella by taking nine years, and I can see why. This is a masterwork I think everyone, ranging from the pauper to the prince, should read at least once. After-all, if there is something that unites every single one of us together, it is death.