Review by dominic_t - The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Confession

dominic_t 's review for:

The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Confession by Leo Tolstoy

2.5

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

Have you been craving an existential crisis? Is your own self-loathing just not cutting it anymore and you want to viscerally experience someone else's? Do you want to know the feeling of an elderly Russian man taunting you to die by suicide? Search no more, for you have found the perfect book that will give you all these things and more!

In all seriousness, this was a very tough read. I read the edition with both The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Confession. They did go together very well; reading Confession was like getting a peek behind the curtain at Tolstoy's beliefs that shaped his writing of The Death of Ivan Ilyich. The introduction and translator's note were also really valuable and provided a lot of insight into how this writing was shaped by Tolstoy's experiences. I would definitely advise you not to skip those parts.

This book was well-written, but it wasn't a pleasant reading experience. I think Tolstoy would be pleased at this review. He was making a point, not seeking to entertain. Both pieces that make up this book dig deep and forced a level of introspection I found uncomfortable. I tried reading this after taking an edible with the idea that it might soften the effect the prose was having on me, and oh boy. That. Did. Not. Work. Would not recommend. Perhaps it would pair better with shrooms? Someone try it and let me know.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich was brilliantly written. He strips away every artifice of the title character and brutally showcases what a wasteful and hypocritical life he has led. Ivan has striven for material and social success his entire life, and he has achieved it! He's rich and has a fun group of friends. The omniscient narrator shows the path of Ivan's life and how he attained all he desired.

And it's nothing particularly nefarious. He just always did what society expected him to, and he never questioned if "the rules" and "decorum" were actually morally right. He never questioned anything until he was dying; that was his great sin. He lived a shallow life in pursuit of money, social capital, and fun.

The title does not lie. Ivan Ilyich does indeed die. And Tolstoy details all the nasty physical processes that occur as one is dying. He shows all the gross parts of having a body, and he keenly describes Ivan's feelings of shame. He also shines a light on how most people are uncomfortable acknowledging death and aren't able to stare the reality of death in the face in order to comfort their dying loved ones.

In Ivan's case, his life lived in the pursuit of pleasure has created a social circle of people with the same values. Dying is a real bummer, and his friends don't like bummers, so none of them do more than perfunctory visits where they give the same few platitudes about how he'll be better soon. Even his family treats him like it's inconvenient to them that he is dying. His kids are focused on their relationships and activities, just like he taught them. He checked out of his family life when it was no longer fun, so he didn't have strong relationships with them.

The story is grim, and it presents some uncomfortable questions. Does my life have meaning? Am I contributing anything to the world that will outlast me? Am I living my life the right way? Are my friends the types of people who would be so callous towards a dying friend? Am I the type of person who would be so callous towards a dying friend?

Like I said, this wasn't a pleasant read. And then I finished The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and I thought Confession would be a nice coast to the finish line. I cannot express to you just how wrong I was. I cannot communicate to you in written word the magnitude of my error. But I will try.

Confession is basically a narration of Tolstoy's faith journey. He was raised a nominal Christian, but the educated upper class he was part of largely disavowed religion, so he left the church as a young adult. He talks about the dissolute, meaningless life he was living as a writer and how it ultimately didn't bring him happiness. He had a personal crisis because he couldn't find any meaning to life, and he was very suicidal. He said his intellectual pursuit of the question of the meaning of life failed, and he only answered the question by finding God. However, he drifted away from the institution of the Russian Orthodox Church because he found it limiting and didn't agree with everything.

I found Confession really hard to get through for a few reasons. It's really repetitive. He repeatedly describes his academic searches for truth and how his secular values failed him. He shares in great detail just how depressed he was, and it was a hard read. He literally writes out his suicidal thoughts, and it reads like suicide baiting. I would not recommend reading this book if you struggle with suicidal thoughts or if you are currently depressed. He also gets into philosophy in a way that I found boring and difficult to parse. He borderline fetishizes the working class and comes off as patronizing at some points.

It wasn't all bad. There were some beautifully written passages, and he really illuminated the hypocrisy and dissolution of the upper class. He also gives an absolutely scathing evaluation of academia and the Russian literary scene, and I found his critiques very interesting. He seems to have a generally low opinion of writers, himself included. He doesn't seem to see much value in writers or in literature, and it was interesting to see him espouse those viewpoints...in the book he was writing.

All in all, this was a very thought-provoking read. Just be warned that the provoked thoughts will not be happy ones.

Content Warnings