Rating: 
Summary: immensely important and meaningful--except the end
Review: "the death of ivan illyich" is probably one of the most important books ever written, but not for the reason that many of the other reviewers on this page imagine. tolstoy describes a man who simply drifted in life, let himself be led by convention, and realized the inauthenticity and falsehood of everything he had done and thought up to the point of his terminal illness. unfortunately, ivan (like tolstoy) embraces an illusory answer as the solution to his failure in the ONLY life we can be sure of. tolstoy may have been a passionate and unbelievably talented writer, but his uncritical embrace of christianity only detracts from the seriousness of his work. form your own way of life, be creative, live each day to the fullest, and accept that death may indeed be the end of our lives, and so make the most of it right now. tolstoy's attitude toward society, however, is right on the mark--following the herd and drowning oneself in conformity is indeed inner death and amounts to a caricature of life.
Rating:
Summary: immensely important and meaningful--except the end
Review: "the death of ivan illyich" is probably one of the most important books ever written, but not for the reason that many of the other reviewers on this page imagine. tolstoy describes a man who simply drifted in life, let himself be led by convention, and realized the inauthenticity and falsehood of everything he had done and thought up to the point of his terminal illness. unfortunately, ivan (like tolstoy) embraces an illusory answer as the solution to his failure in the ONLY life we can be sure of. tolstoy may have been a passionate and unbelievably talented writer, but his uncritical embrace of christianity only detracts from the seriousness of his work. form your own way of life, be creative, live each day to the fullest, and accept that death may indeed be the end of our lives, and so make the most of it right now. tolstoy's attitude toward society, however, is right on the mark--following the herd and drowning oneself in conformity is indeed inner death and amounts to a caricature of life.
Rating: 
Summary: An Inauthentic Life Redeemed
Review: "He went to his study, lay down, and once again was left alone with It. Face to face with It. Unable to do anything with It. Simply look at It and grow numb with horror."Death is eating away at the core of Ivan Ilyich and it horrifies him. But even more horrifying than death itself is the fact that Ilyich, despite prominence and prosperity as a Russian high court judge, has done nothing to make his life worth saving. The Death of Ivan Ilyich begins at the end, as his family and friends receive the news of his demise. Unable to fully comprehend the enormity of death, Ilyich's friends tend to dismiss it instead and seem more concerned with their game of whist. Even Ilyich's widow, while comporting herself with the utmost propriety, secretly tallies the ways in which she will profit from her husband's demise. Except for Ilyich's grief-stricken son, for whom we feel much sympathy, those who knew Ivan Ilyich in life, now seem to dismiss him in death, considering him little more than an inconvenient corpse, something to be disposed of as soon as possible and with a minimum of fuss. The story next flashes back and Tolstoy begins to develop the character of Ilyich as a living human being. At first glance, he seems to be a man much like his contemporaries...empty and superficial, but socially correct, much admired and possessing tremendous personal charm. On closer examination, however, we learn that it is propriety, not morality, that rules Ilyich's life. He takes glory in power and seems to be an individual devoid of understanding and empathy. A bump on the hip provides the first crack in Ilyich's polished veneer. Instead of healing, the bump develops into something more insidious and Ilyich is plagued by a mysterious degenerative disease that causes him great pain and terrible mental anguish. His family and friends show little more than indifference at his sufferings, an indifference that drives Ilyich to both anger and despair. Finally, exhausted with pain, Ilyich makes a last desperate assessment of his life and comes to conclusions that both shock him and serve as catalysts in healing his broken soul. In Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy shows us his genius for characterization. Ilyich's illness is so degrading (the pain, the injections of morphine, the assisted bowel movements) that we come to feel extreme sympathy for (and empathy with) Ilyich. His death comes as a relief for all: Ilyich is relieved from the pain of dying and living a lie, his family and friends are relieved of an obligation and the reader is relieved of a harrowing emotional journey. Tolstoy presented himself with a formidable challenge when he created Ivan Ilyich. Reader identification and sympathy is not easily aroused with a shallow and superficial protagonist. However, as Ilyich examines his own life, we not only witness his transformation into a fully-functioning (albeit dying) human being, we come to understand Ilyich and know why he chose the life he did and why he is now so dissatisfied with it. Ilyich's epiphany in the hours preceding his death provide the moments of greatest pathos. We feel his suffering and degradation, his denial and fear, his misery and loss. And, like Ilyich, we come to the inevitable conclusion that a life not lived authentically is really no life at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Tolstoy's best
Review: "Perhaps I did not live as I should have... but how could that be when I did everything one is supposed to?" These are the words of Ivan Ilyich as he awaits death. He has been a law professional, a proper and decent man who enjoyed a game of whist and a nicely decorated house. As his condition deteriorates, he realizes that this seemingly perfect and solid life lacks meaning and that nobody cares about his suffering and impending demise. The moral agony of the situation is even worse than the excruciating pain, until finally, on his deathbed, Ivan Ilyich experiences something of a revelation. The description of human nature as it relates to death and suffering is keenly written, and there are elements of dark comedy that are funny and horrifying at the same time. However, the ending does not strike me as particularly convincing, and it gives the reader a very strong feeling that the whole purpose of the story is to make a point. My personal opinion: this is not Tolstoy's best work.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I could read Russian...
Review: ...so I could read this story in the original. This novella is an absolute masterpiece. It made me think about things my jaded self had long since given up on, like God, purpose of life, death, fear. Tolstoy has an absolute deadpan sense of humor, which was so subtle it took me a while to catch on (for example, Ivan's fatal injury occurs while he is hanging expensive drapery out to impress his friends--what a beautifully ironic, even funny way to point out the meaninglessness of his life?). If you're like me, and don't have the time to slog through "War and Peace" but are interested in Tolstoy, try this book. It's outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: great great great
Review: A brief look at typical (and brilliant) Tolstoy. Great story about a man who, through his suffering, slowly learns the real meaning in his life and attempts to make changes. A prime example of Tolstoy's obsession with self-discovery and finding the true essence of God. A perfect warm-up for War & Peace and Anna Karenina.
Rating:
Summary: A man who life is meaningless dies.
Review: A magistrate becomes sick after hurting himself while hanging curtains. The mans life has no meaning nor value and no one cares that his is dying. Those around him jockey for his position or concern themselves with securing a larger pension. A short book, perhaps three hours long. Tolstoy's books are engrossing because the reader sees himself in one of the characters. I look at Ivan Ilyich and see nothing of myself in him and so it is difficult to appreciate the death of a worthless person.
Rating: 
Summary: I have just one thing to say: "What?!"
Review: After reading other reviews posted for this book, I am really, utterly confounded. I'd love to know -- what is everyone else getting out of this that I'm not?!
Look, I'm not a person who struggles with hidden meanings or roundabout wording. I was reading Charles Dickens by the age of 11. But this... THIS I don't understand. As far as I'm concerned, it's a rambling, ranting, overwritten account of some random fellow's entire and entirely UNNECESSARY life story, interspersed with events leading to his death. It isn't an exciting death. It's a very random, uneventful death. This entire book was a waste of my time to read, and a waste of the author's time to write as far as I can tell.
Really now. I mean REALLY, people... if someone can explain to me why any of this is useful or extraordinary, why it even qualifies as literature, I'll be happy to listen. But I've wondered and pondered and read it over again to see if I missed some single, crucial sentence that tied it all together... and no. No, I'm sorry, but if Tolstoy intended to communicate some lesson in the pages of this book, he failed miserably as far as I'm concerned. The man simply was not writing to whatever percentage of his audience I represent.
I guess it's existential or something. Look... my advice is this: if you don't start to get something out of it by the end of the first chapter, put it away and don't look at it again. Ever.
Utter nonsense, I call it. Oy.
Rating:
Summary: A work that masterfully exhibits the essence of Christianty
Review: Few literary works are capable of properly representing Christianity especially in such a brilliant way. The few that do are Flannery O' Connor and Dostoevsky's works. However, the problem that occurs is that people who are not Christians in order to understand the work create their own idea of what the author is trying to say. For instance, The Death Of Ivan Ilyich is often seen only in existential terms by those that are not Christian or is given a broad psychological analysis. What the work is really about is the selfishness of man, his loneliness,and the meaninglessness of life without Christ. He empahsizes the meaninglessness by Ilyich and their all consuming materialism. Notice how no matter how much his wages increase it isn't enough. This should resonate with American society, however it is too busy trying to act as Ivan and his family did. Although, written before Capitalism, Tolstoy stunningly rebukes it. In addtion, he brilliantly shows what true Christianity is about and not as the American church would like people to perceive it. For instance, he repeatedly emphasizes the notion of dying to sin (dead to sin) and being alive in Christ. But this is too often missed because people have failed to understand the true nature of Christianity. How he does this is brilliant. For instance, in the beginning of the book his supposed friends are seen as thinking well at least he's dead and I'm not. But Tolstoy is mocking them and everyone who thinks this way. For they are really dead in that they are spirtually dead and slaves to sin, while Ivan has moved on from being dead in sin to dead to sin and alive in Christ. This is what baptism is supposed to represent. Chiefly, this work is a blatant example of the process that an individual undertakes when they convert to Christianity. As a result, those that are not Christian too often don't understand the story and great it is. If you want to examine more work that is equally brilliant read Flanney O'Connors short story's, especially A Good Man is Hard to Find, which is best story available on demonstrating God's grace and essence of the gospel. As to the person who said that the story is ruined by the ending being told at the beginning you are missing the point entirely. Tolstoy was more interested in the content in the story making a specific point, rather than shrouding the ending in mystery. Additionally, the reader is unaware that Ivan will convert to Christianity in the end, so the ending is still not entirely known to the reader. And the title is ironic because Ivan is the one that actually finds life and didn't die, while all the other characters are spiritually dead with the exception of Geraism the servant. He actually represents God's grace being actively present on earth.
Rating:
Summary: Ivan Ilyich=Kevin Spacey
Review: Go see American Beauty. Same incredible story
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