The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading!
Review: An excellent collection of Tolstoy's short stories...Family Happiness should be required reading for those getting married. The Death Of Ivan Ilych makes one consider death, and life, in a new light. Kreutzer Sonata makes one take a step back and look truthfully at relationships. Master and Man gives a great perspective of the lives of 2 men. Tolstoy proves himself a consumate artist through these tales. Five stars aren't enough.

Rating:
Summary: If only I could give it more stars
Review: Death of Ivan Ilich is one of the greatest things ever written! It follows the life story of Ivan Ilich but specificly his dying.This story is a lesson for life, for everybody that reads it,because it demonstrates how a person can make all the sociably acceptable choices yet all the wrong ones ,personaly.Ivan Ilich did everyting that was expected of him,and what he expected of himself, yet,he never knew that he never really lived,that he was never happy.That is to say he never knew it, until it was too late,until he was about to die.This story,for me at least, is not about death as it is about life.It's about doing all the right things yet finding out you are all alone in the world.Nobody really loves you and you don't love anyone.You("IVAN")never liked your job and never had any real friends and the last time you were really happy was when you were four years old.The worse thing is that you can't do anything about it,now!Tolstoy manages to take the reader and lead him through Ivan's life until his last breath,until you feel, you almost die with him.It is an incredible experience that will make you stop and think about life and what you want to make of it before it's too late.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: I am so sorry only 9 other people have reviewed this book for Amazon. If it were up to me, I'd place a copy in every hotel and motel room in America, right next to Gideon. I realize that some books just hit us the right way at certain times in our lives, and I once had a hard time trying to persuade 18- and 19-year-olds to appreciate this one. But when I was around 30, I read the title novella, and it changed my life by changing my outlook on life and enabling me to make some decisions I'd never have taken seriously if I hadn't read it.

But I don't want to scare you off. Tolstoy is perfectly accessible, the title character's dilemma is heartrending (the title gives you a clue), the characters universal, and the effect upon closing the cover after the last page indelible. If one person reads it after reading these 10 reviews, I'll be happy.

Rating:
Summary: Only 10 of us??
Review: I am so sorry only 9 other people have reviewed this book for Amazon. If it were up to me, I'd place a copy in every hotel and motel room in America, right next to Gideon. I realize that some books just hit us the right way at certain times in our lives, and I once had a hard time trying to persuade 18- and 19-year-olds to appreciate this one. But when I was around 30, I read the title novella, and it changed my life by changing my outlook on life and enabling me to make some decisions I'd never have taken seriously if I hadn't read it.

But I don't want to scare you off. Tolstoy is perfectly accessible, the title character's dilemma is heartrending (the title gives you a clue), the characters universal, and the effect upon closing the cover after the last page indelible. If one person reads it after reading these 10 reviews, I'll be happy.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: I bought this book to test the waters before I tackled something big like his War and Peace, and to gain appreciation for such a well respected author before a teacher or professor had the opportunity to shove it down my throat. I am very glad I did!

Tolstoy has a gift for words that draws the readers in and allows him to project his character's emotions onto them. He has the capacity to be romantic without being mushy or dark without being overbearing. At the end, he left me with a sincere impression, profound respect and still-lingering admiration.

This book belongs on everyone's bookshelves.

Rating:
Summary: Bubble of Life framed Forever
Review: In this seemingly monotonous novella, Tolstoy approaches death with a fresh view for his contemporaries. Life, says Tolstoy, is nothing but a long stretched road of regulations, of normalities, and of ordinance. Ivan Ilych, a prominent official has led a glamorious life until he is struck by the notion of the transitory life. As he lay dying, the only pleasantry he could recall is from his distant childhood when his path was clear and his vision unclouded by ambition. Modern society is indeed a fierce experiementation ground for Social Darwanism: only the stronger survive, and the stronger pays the ultimate price with their soul in order to sustain the forever momentum of the conformist world. Death in no longer an end, it is the beginning, it is the resurrection Ivan Ilych could not achieve during his lifetime when he was dazzled by the illusions of life. But what of that life? He never lived as a person, instead, along w/ other toiling automaton striving to shed individuality in order to paint a great picture of unity, Ivan Ilych glided across time to reach the end without having once set foot on his path.

Rating:
Summary: Bubble of Life framed Forever
Review: In this seemingly monotonous novella, Tolstoy approaches death with a fresh view for his contemporaries. Life, says Tolstoy, is nothing but a long stretched road of regulations, of normalities, and of ordinance. Ivan Ilych, a prominent official has led a glamorious life until he is struck by the notion of the transitory life. As he lay dying, the only pleasantry he could recall is from his distant childhood when his path was clear and his vision unclouded by ambition. Modern society is indeed a fierce experiementation ground for Social Darwanism: only the stronger survive, and the stronger pays the ultimate price with their soul in order to sustain the forever momentum of the conformist world. Death in no longer an end, it is the beginning, it is the resurrection Ivan Ilych could not achieve during his lifetime when he was dazzled by the illusions of life. But what of that life? He never lived as a person, instead, along w/ other toiling automaton striving to shed individuality in order to paint a great picture of unity, Ivan Ilych glided across time to reach the end without having once set foot on his path.

Rating:
Summary: excelente tematica
Review: la novela es corta y tiene una tematica excitante y a veces escalofriante, la perspectiva de la muerte cercana a una edad temprana. el autor estuvo durante los ultimos anos de su vida casi paralizado de temor por la muerte y la vejez, tanto es asi que murio como si estuviese huyendo de ella. esta pequena novela refleja sus miedos y angustias, ya que presenta a un hombre sano que contrae una enfermedad y que sabe que su fin esta cerca y no se resigna a morir como debemos morir todos los seres humanos, con dignidad .... LUIS MENDEZ [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but drawn out
Review: Leo Tolstoy is brilliant at expressing and delving to the core of human emotions, his insight into both males and females emotions is exceptional. The different stages of love and the beauty of death. Written in the 1800's and still prevalent today.

I found the stories to linger too long on emotions as the pace grew slower and slower, almost to an irritating halt.

An interesting read, although for the reader with a bit of patience.

Rating:
Summary: The Death of Ivan Ilych lives on.
Review: The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Tolstoy is a wonderful collection of short stories by the undisputed master. Ivan Ilych is a middle class man who receives a fatal injury from an accident. Then trapped in illness and caught in the long throes of death, looks back upon his life. Within his musings and perspective you discover more about the man called Ivan Ilych. A well written and thought provoking piece that will stay with you for a long time. Highly recommend.