Books
by Leo Tolstoy: translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkhonsky
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The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories |
The spare elegance of Tolstoy’s ‘Death of Ivan Ilyich’ has fascinated me for
decades, and continues to lure me back for yet another reading. In this masterful short story, Tolstoy describes the despairing and bewildered thoughts of a successful man coming to grips with his own imminent (and, to him, inconceivable) death. Family and friends, equally self-absorbed, are more concerned with their own lives than with his approaching death. Tolstoy is unflinching in his portrayals.
(Sharron Calkins - bwl 116 Spring 2025) |
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