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A review by storydevgrace
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
2.0
A dry and thankfully short read.
The protagonist does little more than roll around in bed complaining about his pain and the unfairness of his situation despite it being self-inflicted. As a housebound, barely-mobile sufferer of chronic pain myself, I find it hard to feel sympathy for Ilych, who makes his pain and self-inflicted depression everyone else's problem despite having the privilege of a generous opium supply - a strong painkiller and a controlled substance in the modern age, even for the terminally ill.
The reason why I did not give this novel one star is because Ilych's complaining and the interactions of those who knew and lived with him came with a few interesting insights on the themes of domestic abuse, death, depression and success vs wealth. I intend to re-read it mindfully and with a highlighter to pick those insights out and any more I might have missed on my first reading, but the prospect of facing the insufferable Ilych again makes me wonder if the task is worth it.
The protagonist does little more than roll around in bed complaining about his pain and the unfairness of his situation despite it being self-inflicted. As a housebound, barely-mobile sufferer of chronic pain myself, I find it hard to feel sympathy for Ilych, who makes his pain and self-inflicted depression everyone else's problem despite having the privilege of a generous opium supply - a strong painkiller and a controlled substance in the modern age, even for the terminally ill.
The reason why I did not give this novel one star is because Ilych's complaining and the interactions of those who knew and lived with him came with a few interesting insights on the themes of domestic abuse, death, depression and success vs wealth. I intend to re-read it mindfully and with a highlighter to pick those insights out and any more I might have missed on my first reading, but the prospect of facing the insufferable Ilych again makes me wonder if the task is worth it.