The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
| Author | Leo Tolstoy |
|---|---|
| Published | 1886 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | A senior judge falls ill, realises he is dying, and discovers that the correct, agreeable life he built is no consolation at all; the only person who does not lie to him is a peasant servant. One of the most direct treatments in fiction of what a life is worth when measured at the end of it. |
The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
Where I heard about it
- Dissident Teacher — on A Library to Build Great Americans, a 468-title curriculum published on Substack in December 2025, listed under Fiction in the Ages 13-99+ band.
About this edition
Tolstoy (1828-1910) published the novella in 1886, after War and Peace and Anna Karenina, in the middle of the moral turn that followed his religious crisis. The other late short fiction gathered with it varies by edition; the title novella is the reason to read it.
Connections
- A Library to Build Great Americans — the 468-title curriculum this card came from; listed in the Ages 13-99+ band under Fiction.
- Leo Tolstoy — the author.
- Death — the subject.
- Faith — the question left standing at the end.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.