The Death of Ivan Ilych: And Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

2/5 rating. 293 pages.

Book #85 of 2020. Read December 12, 2020.

If Tolstoy’s other stories are like this, I don’t need to read them. The only shared idea between the first 3 stories is that marriage is awful and sets you up for a life of misery. I get that Russian life in the 1800s must have been tough, but I would think you could come out of it with at least something worthwhile to say…but I guess not. Below are quick synopses of the 4 stories so you don’t have to read them:

Family Happiness

This tells of two people in love and their lives. It shows the difficulties that relationships can have. I loved the early part of the story as their love is infectious, but as it begins to fade and almost dies out, I really hoped for something more. Maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me, but I hope to aspire to a marriage with more love and spark than that between these two.

The Death of Ivan Ilych

This is the utterly depressing story of Ivan Ilych who is shown to not really have any friends, and not have lived a worthwhile life. His life is absolutely destroyed by some malady that causes him ceaseless pain. During this torture, Ivan continually asks why it’s happening and eventually realizes that he has wasted his life, but can somewhat remedy that by making it easier on his family.

The Kreutzer Sonata

This tells of a murderous husband’s life and final vindictive act against his wife. Told by the man himself, this occurs during a long train ride as the narrator sits next to this man who explains how awful the world is and how marriage is a sham. He explains the murder and what led up to it, and all his mea culpa is: “Had I then known what I know now, everything would have been different. Nothing would have induced me to marry her…” He can’t even offer up that he wouldn’t slay her again, only that he just shouldn’t have married her!?!

Master and Man

This tells of a master (Vasili) and his servant (Nikita) who go out in a blizzard to do some business. They decide after dark to continue on towards their destination. After spending the story focused on money, Vasili gives his life to warm Nikita, as if he lives, his sacrifice was worth it.

Quotes:

“[Y]our whole life lies before you, and now or never is the time to prepare for it and save yourself future regrets. A year hence it will be too late.”

“‘Poor thing!’ I thought; ‘why does not she feel as we do? why are we not all young and happy, like this night and like him and me?’”

“[T]o live for others was the only true happiness…”

“‘Don’t spoil your present mood,’ he said, ‘you have the sweetest of all music in your soul just now.’”

“He in his madness prays for storms,/

And dreams that storms will bring him peace.”

“But for me there seemed to be no future, no desires at all and no hopes.”

The Death of Ivan Ilych

“Very soon, within a year of his wedding, Ivan Ilych had realized that marriage, though it may add some comforts to life, is in fact a very intricate and difficult affair towards which in order to perform one’s duty, that is, to lead a decorous life approved of by society, one must adopt a definite attitude just as towards one’s official duties.”

“Yes, life was there and now it is going, going and I cannot stop it.”

“It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done and there is only death.”

“‘Maybe I did not live as I ought to have done,’ it suddenly occurred to him.”

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