A review by relf
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

A short and dark meditation on death and dying. Ivan Ilyich, a judge, has led a superficially successful but unfulfilling, unexamined life. A painful illness causes him to reflect on the triviality of his life and the unfairness of his coming death. Only a servant, a simple, loyal young man, brings him any solace on his death bed. I read the novella having just watched the film "Living," based on the Kurosawa film "Ikiru" ("To Live"), which in turn was based on this book. While "Ikiru" was the darker of the two films, neither was as dark as Tolstoy's vision; both films' protagonists achieve real redemption through practical works of kindness before their deaths, which Ivan does not.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings