The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo TolstoyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
There is a panicked urgency that picks up in this book. The beginning is softer, slower, even satirical, but the pace grows in an subtle way till you need to know what comes next with fervour. The Death of Ivan Ilych is a book about many things, but primarily a book about pain and falsity and the end.
I want to say more, but I am afraid that spoilers aren’t your friend here. The book must be discovered by a reader, it cannot be taught or reviewed. It will mean something to you, as it will to everyone, because it is a book about death. Tolstoy is beautiful. The power of his words, the pain he is dealing with, and the existential struggle of being that this period of his life suffered bleeds through the pages.
It is a terrifying book, worth reading.
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