Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Barnes & Noble Classics
Pages
368
Description
A collection of Tolstoy's short stories, including "Master and Man," "Family Happiness," and "The Kreutzer Sonata."
Description
Chief among Tolstoy’s shorter works is The Death of Ivan Ilych, a masterful meditation on the act of dying. The first major fictional work published by Tolstoy after a mid-life psychological crisis, this novella reflects the author’s struggle to find meaning in life, a challenge Tolstoy resolved by developing a religious philosophy based on brotherly love, mutual support, and charity. These guiding principles are the dominant moral themes in The Death of Ivan Ilych, an account of the spiritual conversion of a judge—an ordinary, unthinking, vulgar man—in the face of his terrible fear about death.
Also included in this volume are Family Happiness, an early work that traces the arc of a marriage; The Kreutzer Sonata, a frank tale of sexual love that shocked readers when it first appeared; and Hadji Murád, Tolstoy’s final masterpiece about power politics, intrigue, and colonial conquest.
Also included in this volume are Family Happiness, an early work that traces the arc of a marriage; The Kreutzer Sonata, a frank tale of sexual love that shocked readers when it first appeared; and Hadji Murád, Tolstoy’s final masterpiece about power politics, intrigue, and colonial conquest.
Collection
Language
Original language
Russian
Original publication date
1859: Family Happiness
1886: The Death of Ivan Ilych
1889: The Kreutzer Sonata
1895: Master and Man
Physical description
368 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
1593080697 / 9781593080693
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User reviews
LibraryThing member hampusforev
Wow... This is such an unpleasant and disturbing read. In the Keutzer Sonata we've come lightyears, it would seem, from the Tolstoy I thought I knew. The Death of Ivan Ilych is as brilliant as anything else, but the Keutzer Sonata is the taint of Tolstoy's entire career in my opinion. Brilliant, in
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purely aesthetical terms, as always with Tolstoy, but the beliefs espoused in this novella (obviously Tolstoy's own) is so far removed from todays and seem so harsh and unrelenting that it becomes almost unbearable. I don't know what to think of it all. I loved Ivan Ilych so much that I would like to give it something beyond perfection, but felt so repulsed by the sonata that it rocked the entire pedestal upon which I had placed Tolstoy. It might just keel over... Show Less
LibraryThing member ateolf
this is a book i tried to read many years ago...i only made it halfway through the first story ("Family Happiness") before i quit and decided i hated it...so i just gave it another chance and made it through this time...which was a good thing, i guess...i still didn't like "Family Happiness" but
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the other three stories ("The Death and Ivan Ilych," "The Kreutzer Sonata," and "Master and Man") were pretty good...i gave it 3.5 stars, and if it weren't for the one story dragging it down i might've given it 4 stars... Show Less
LibraryThing member bostonbibliophile
A great collection from a master prose stylist. These stories are part of why I love to read.
LibraryThing member NativeRoses
Exquisitely crafted short stories. One of a small list of books i'll re-read. Ivan Ilych doesn't waste a word in illuminating the soul's contents. Brilliant flashes of humor throughout lighten the agony.
LibraryThing member jpsnow
Includes Family Happiness, The Death of Ivan Illych, The Kreutzer Sonata, and Master and Man. Together they present a soulful look at 19th century Russia and explore the ideas of love, sacrifice, redemption and eudaimonia.
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Reading this short novel reminded me of some of the existentialist works that I have read and studied over the years. Tolstoy's meditation on the death of an everyman, a bureaucrat whose life was anything but uncommon. Effortlessly, Tolstoy examines life’s shallow exteriors as well as its inner
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workings. And in the quotidian details of a life we see pageant of folly. Only slowly does wisdom emerge not like a dull moral lesson, but heavy, as if from a downpour, with all the weight, shine and freshness of real life. We see, vividly, Ivan Ilych’s errors until one day we realize that someone is looking at us as if we were a character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. This is a small book with a large impact on the reader. It is one that has not lost its power more than a century after its first appearance. In addition to The Death of Ivan Ilych this volume also includes the stories: The Kreutzer Sonata, Hadji Murad, and Family Happiness. Show Less
LibraryThing member BradKautz
This particular volume contains three of Tolstoy’s shorter works: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Happy Ever After, and The Cossacks. A common theme that I found within them was a growing dissatisfaction by the protagonist with living according to the norms of their particular culture. At some point
I found The Death of Ivan Ilyich to be enthralling from start to finish. As a teaser to encourage you to read the story I’ll share the mindset of Ilyich’s wife after he dies. She laments that his mournful wailing over the final three days of his life was virtually unbearable for her to endure, without displaying even the least amount of compassion for the pain her husband was suffering through. I have not read Tolstoy much, nor for a long time, but taking in this easy-to-read collection is spurring me on to dig into his work anew.
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the central character in each story awakened to the fact that they were living a life that, while full of material goods, was empty morally and/or spiritually. The way in which this realization was addressed differed in each story, and each of the protagonists found themselves at a destination that was unique when compared to the others. And while I found this particular theme “connecting” the stories, they were each very unique stories in and of themselves. I found The Death of Ivan Ilyich to be enthralling from start to finish. As a teaser to encourage you to read the story I’ll share the mindset of Ilyich’s wife after he dies. She laments that his mournful wailing over the final three days of his life was virtually unbearable for her to endure, without displaying even the least amount of compassion for the pain her husband was suffering through. I have not read Tolstoy much, nor for a long time, but taking in this easy-to-read collection is spurring me on to dig into his work anew.
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LibraryThing member stillatim
There are obviously a lot of books called 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories.' The volume I read had Ivan, The Cossacks, and Happily Ever After (aka Family Happiness.) There's not too much to say- it seems that if you've read any Tolstoy, you know the general thrust; depressing, but with
As a side note, the translation is a little strange (minus one star). Translation-ese is rarely good prose, but it can be (e.g., the older translations of Proust). Edmonds seems to have gone for transparency here, with no concern for the language. Which is fine, except that having read Pevear & Volokhonsky's War and Peace, I know that it can be done better. So you should read the Cossacks, but maybe in a different translation.
In sum: 4 4 3 - 1 = 10. 10/3 = roughly three.
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at least apparently uplifting endings in which characters come to do and feel the right thing. DII and Cossacks are both great (four stars each), but if I was going to read one, it'd be the Cossacks. HEA is pretty dull (two stars), although important for Tolstoy's biography according to the introduction. So if you care about that sort of thing, you'll get something out of it. As a side note, the translation is a little strange (minus one star). Translation-ese is rarely good prose, but it can be (e.g., the older translations of Proust). Edmonds seems to have gone for transparency here, with no concern for the language. Which is fine, except that having read Pevear & Volokhonsky's War and Peace, I know that it can be done better. So you should read the Cossacks, but maybe in a different translation.
In sum: 4 4 3 - 1 = 10. 10/3 = roughly three.
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LibraryThing member Lynsey2
A short story about life and death and the mental suffering that results at the end of a life lived without meaning. For a book written in the 1800's, I found this to be still relevant today. It is the very common story of a man who throws himself into his work when he finds himself dissatisfied
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with his home life. His focus becomes about upward mobility but as he reflects at the end of his life "It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up." A very short read, if you haven't read this classic yet it is worth the day to do it. Show Less
LibraryThing member justagirlwithabook
This one was recommended to me by a friend who has since passed away. He reminisced on this as the book that changed the way he looked at life. I read it shortly after he passed away, to feel a bit closer and to help me through the grieving process. It was a good one but definitely quite depressing.
LibraryThing member benuathanasia
The chronology of this is wonderful. It begins with the end, making the reader question why we should care, and then builds up, creating this flawed but sympathetic character going through life crises most of us can empathize with, before...A phenomenal ending that couldn't have gone any other way.
LibraryThing member suesbooks
The writing and the characters were so precise. Tolstoy's negative views of life and overall relationships was quite distressing. My copy (1960) included also Family Happiness, The Kreutzer Sonata, and Master and Man.
LibraryThing member MrDickie
Wonderful how the Russian translates to English and still reads smoothly.
LibraryThing member Zedseayou
Only actually read The Death of Ivan Ilyich here: the other stories will have to wait. Nevertheless, my first taste of Tolstoy and I can see why he is acclaimed: he writes with an intensity and purpose that brings out the struggles of Ivan Ilyich as he dies. Particularly compelling was the idea
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that we lie to ourselves about hope and the inevitability of death, and when this is gone you can only suffer. More thoughts to come, but perhaps I will attempt other Tolstoy at a suitable opportunity. Show Less
Call number
FIC A3 Tol