The Death Of Ivan Ilych

Mortally injured after a fall, Ivan Ilyich questions the fairness of his pain and suffering—if pain can strike a man such as himself, who has lived a just life, then his pending death can only be arbitrary. It is only through the deathbed ministrations of his servant, Gerasim, that Ivan embraces the idea of an authentic life in which compassion is valued above self-interest, and thereby frees himself from his fear of dying. Be it mystery, romance, drama, comedy, politics, or history, great literature stands the test of time. ClassicJoe proudly brings literary classics to today's digital readers, connecting those who love to read with authors whose work continues to get people talking. Look for other fiction and non-fiction classics from ClassicJoe.

One of Tolstoy's most exquisitely constructed novellas is presented here with The Devil,a further work exploring the powerful and destructive nature of obsession. On learning of Ivan Ilyich's sudden demise, his former colleagues begin vying for promotion; it seems in neither life nor death has Ivan Ilyich made any lasting impression. And, as the author takes us back to Ilyich's early days, we are shown a life of futility, emptiness, and spiritual barrenness. Yet, in the end, Tolstoy reveals Ivan Ilyich's final resolute gesture to come to terms with his mortality and to embrace his impending death. Leo Tolstoy wrote two of Russia's greatest novels, Anna Kareninaand War and Peace,as well as many short stories and essays.

The judge Ivan Ilyich Golovin has spent his life in the pursuit of wealth and status, devoting himself obsessively to work and often neglecting his family in the process. When, after a small accident, he fails to make the expected recovery, it gradually becomes clear that he is soon to die. Ivan Ilyich then starts to question the futility and barrenness of his previous existence, realizing to his horror, as he grapples with the meaning of life and death, that he is totally alone.Included in this volume is another celebrated novella by Tolstoy, The Devil, which addresses the conflicts between desire, social norms and personal conscience, providing at the same time a further exploration of human fear and obsession.

In this dynamic and utterly novel presentation, David Loy explores the fascinating proposition that the stories we tell--about what is and is not possible, about ourselves, about right and wrong, life and death, about the world and everything in it--become the very building blocks of our experience and of reality itself. Loy uses an intriguing mixture of quotations from familiar and less-familiar sources and brief stand-alone micro-essays, engaging the reader in challenging and illuminating dialogue. As we come to see that the world is made--in a word--of stories, we come to a richer understanding of that most elusive of Buddhist ideas: shunyata, the "generative emptiness" that is the all-pervading quality inherent to all mental and physical forms in our ever-changing world. Reminiscent of Zen koans and works of sophisticated poetry, this book will reward both a casual read and deep reflection.

Fresh translations of Tolstoy's four richest shorter works by the award-winning Boris Dralyuk Tolstoy's stories contain many of the most acutely observed moments in his monumental body of work. This new selection of his shorter works, sensitively translated by the award-winning Boris Dralyuk, showcases the peerless economy with which Tolstoy could render the passions and conflicts of a life. These are works that take us from a self-interested judge's agonising deathbed to the bristling social world of horses in a stable yard, from the joyful vanity of youth to the painful doubts of sickness and old age. With unwavering precision, Tolstoy's eye brings clarity and richness to the simplest materials.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich, first published in 1886, is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, considered one of the masterpieces of his late fiction, written shortly after his religious conversion of the late 1870s.

Most people are familiar with the classics of Western literature, but few have actually read them. Written to equip readers for a lifetime of learning, this beginner’s guide to reading the classics by renowned literary scholar Leland Ryken answers basic questions readers often have, including “Why read the classics?” and “How do I read a classic?” Offering a list of some of the best works from the last 2,000 years and time-tested tips for effectively engaging with them, this companion to Ryken’s Christian Guides to the Classics series will give readers the tools they need to read, interact with, and enjoy some of history’s greatest literature.

On Ghosts - Mary Shelley - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (née Godwin) (1797-1851) was an English romantic gothic novelist. She received an excellent education, which was unusual for girls at the time. She never went to school, but she was taught to read and write by Louisa Jones, and then educated in a broad range of subjects by her father, who gave her free access to his extensive library. In particular, she was encouraged to write stories, and one of these early works Mounseer Nongtongpaw was published by the Godwin Company's Juvenile Library when she was only eleven. One night, perhaps attributable to Galvani's report, Mary had a waking dream; she recounted the episode in this way: "What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow. " This nightmare served as the basis for the novel that she entitled Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). Amongst her other works are: The Last Man (1826), Proserpine and Midas (1922) and Notes to the Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. On Ghosts is an essay written by Mary Shelley, first published in London Magazine (March 1824).

While largely unknown today, Danish writer Jens Peter Jacobsen was the leading prose writer in Scandinavia in the late nineteenth century. Despite his untimely death from tuberculosis at the age of thirty-eight, Jacobsen became a cult figure to an entire generation and continues to occupy an important place in Scandinavian cultural history. In this book, Morten Høi Jensen gives a moving account of Jacobsen's life, work, and death.--Adapted from book jacket.

There is no explanation. Written eight years after the publication of Anna Karenina—a time during which, despite the global success of his novels, Leo Tolstoy renounced fiction in favor of religious and philosophical tracts—The Death of Ivan Ilych represents perhaps the most keenly realized melding of Tolstoy’s spirituality with his artistic skills. Here in a vibrant new translation, the tale of a judge who slowly comes to understand that his illness is fatal was inspired by Tolstoy’s observation at his local train station of hundreds of shackled prisoners being sent off to Siberia, many for petty crimes. When he learned that the sentencing judge had died, Tolstoy was roused to consider the judge’s thoughts during his final days—a study on the acceptance of mortality only deepened by the death, during its writing, of one of Tolstoy’s own young children. The final result is a magisterial story, both chilling and beguiling in the fullness of its empathy, its quotidian detail, and the beauty of its prose, and is, as many have claimed it to be, one of the most moving novellas ever written. The Art of The Novella Series Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.