The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories (Wordsworth Classics) Paperback – December 5, 2004

Tolstoy’s classic on Death! Provides a positive spin on approaching Death in all its Mystery and Uncertainty! I’m reading this on my Deathbed!

When I read The Death of Ivan Ilyich, I was reading other books by Russian authors. I really enjoyed this book because it is a good description of the Russian government functionary of the 19th century.

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These stories give an excellent view of Tolstoy's vision on the real nature of man, his place in our world, on sex, marriage and women, on man's ultimate destiny and on morals.For Tolstoy, man as a species is barely more than an animal incapable of controlling his `animal passion'. More, `it is perhaps better that people should be pure animals, then they would not suffer from death and disease.'In `The Devil', the main character commits suicide because he cannot control his sexual drive ('his swinish life'). In `The Kreutzer Sonata', the main character knows his wife `only as an animal and nothing can restrain an animal.'To have sex is `necessary for physical health', but the solution lays in no way in marriage.In `Family Happiness', the novelty of the first years of marriage (`the wild delight') turns into routine. Pure love for her man becomes `love for her children and the father of her children.'But in `The Death of Ivan Ilyich', `conjugal love was in reality a very intricate and different business.' And, in `The Devil', marriage is not less than sin, `a deviation from the doctrine of Christ'.`The Kreutzer Sonata' is not less than the killing of marriage as an institute.For sex one needs a partner. Here, L. Tolstoy shows his serious misogyny. In `The Devil' it is crystal clear who the devil is and who constantly reminds the main character of his sexual drive. In `The Kreutzer Sonata': `that the women of our society have other interest in life than prostitutes, but I say no.'The only solution then is chastity and celibacy, in other words the extinction of mankind. Tolstoy has absolutely no problem with this outcome, for in any case science tells us that mankind is doomed with the death of the sun!Chastity and celibacy makes of man still more an island. In `The Death of Ivan Ilyich', the main character `cried at his awful loneliness, the cruelty of people, the cruelty and the absence of God.'If celibacy is Tolstoy's ideal of humanity what should man do? `Family Happiness' gives us the answer: `in life there is only one certain happiness - living for others.'As science has proven, pure altruism is a synonym for evolutionary death.This extremely emotionally driven short stories reveal clearly Tolstoy's demons and his catastrophic vision on mankind.Not to be missed.

Tolstoy must have been going through a bad patch when he wrote two of the stories in this collection, the eponymous title one and “The Kreuzer Sonata”.“The Death of Ivan Illyich” is a merciless account not only of the agonizing death of the main character, who is surrounded by family and friends who are basically indifferent to his plight, but also his whole life, which has been devoted to furthering his career as a lawyer and judge. Only his speechless 14-year-old son and a simple peasant servant express any sympathy and even the servant just sees the death as an act of God. Tolstoy is no more merciful and presents Ivan as a rather absurd figure whose career moves and marriage have taken him nowhere.“The Kreuzer Sonata” is more concentrated and even darker than “The Death of Ivan Illyich”. It is basically a monologue by a man who has murdered his wife and been freed on some kind of legal technicality. It takes place on a long train ride across Russia and he narrates his story and ideas to a fellow passenger. Much of its consists of self-pitying home philosophy in which he explains why sexual relations ruin marriages. His matter of fact account of how he stabbed his wife to death in front of their children makes me suspect that he is actually mad.

Leo Tolstoy is acknowledged as one of the greatest novelist in history, but his major works--Anna Karenina and War and Peace are very long and filled with Russian names and references that people not familiar with the country might find difficult to understand. Accordingly, it might be a good idea to get a taste of Tolstoy by reading some of his shorter works. The Death of Ivan Ilich and Other Stories affords just such an opportunity. These four short (40 to 70 pages) novellas feature some of the themes of Tolstoy's larger works, especially families and their disfunctionalities.A young woman, Masha, who at the age of 18 and recently orphaned marries a family friend, 34-year-old Sergey Mihalovich, narrates the first story, entitled "Family Happiness". The couple lives in Sergey's country home for a while but young Masha yearns for the bright lights of the big city and Sergey, reluctantly brings her to Petersburg. There Masha takes up with high society and the relationship deteriorates, but in the end the couple return to the country and Masha learns the true meaning of family.The second story is the best known of the group, "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." In this story Tolstoy tells of the life of a successful man who has a good career as a judge but whose family life suffers for it. Ilyich suffers an injury which turns into a debilitating disease and finally death. We see his declining health and, more to the point, witness his questioning of the meaning of his life.The third story, "The Kreutzer Sonata," is told by a man who killed his wife in a jealous rage over her supposed infidelity (shades of Othello with the husband being his own Iago) and who relates the story to another man while traveling on a train. He was freed by the despite being clearly guilty (maybe he had the OJ jury!).The final story deals with a young estate owner who, in his bachelor days, has sexual relations with a married peasant woman on his estate. He then gets married to a wonderful young woman but is still haunted by the other woman who appears periodically at his home. This story ends in tragedy, but with a twist, as Tolstoy provides two alternative endings.Reading these stories will provide you with insights into Tolstoy's ideas and prepare you for reading his more substantial works.