ChronologyIntroduction & Notes, by Anthony BriggsFurther Reading--The Raid--The Woodfelling--Three Deaths--Polikushka--The Death of Ivan Ilyich--After the Ball--The Forged CouponNotes

you're all excited about someone new only to discover that the beatles are their all-time favorite band. the most popular pop/rock band of all time, wildly innovative, probably wrote more great songs than any other band... but your all-time favorite band? dullsville.which is why i'm hesitant to call out tolstoy as my favorite writer. but he just might be. at the very least he's sitting at the (head of the?) table with genet borges orwell and the other usual suspects. i know it because when i pop...

Got this for the title story/novella but came away more impressed/interested by the last long story, "The Forged Coupon." It's a baton passer, like Linklater's "Slacker" at first, before it settles on a handful of characters. Really loved it structurally, how it dramatized a chain of connections and consequences, and didn't mind that it introduced a rural Russian serial killer into the mix -- but since this is late Tolstoy, Stepan the Killer of course finds God, not the church but the true spiri...

Fantastic collection of stories, including The Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreutzer Sonata, and Hadji Murat among others. Generally, I find it hard to rate a single-author short-story collection five stars because either the quality varies, or too many of the stories sound similar. But with this collection, there are no duds, and there is also a wide variation in the types of stories. Highly recommended.

Ivan Ilyich had been a colleague of the assembled gentlemen, and they had all liked him. He had been ill for several weeks; it had been said that his illness was incurable. His post had been kept open for him, but there was an understanding that, in case of his death, Alexeev might be named to his post, and to Alexeev’s post either Vinnikov or Shtabel. So that, on hearing of Ivan Ilyich’s death, the first thought of each of the gentlemen assembled in the office was of what this death might mean

These may not be "Anna Karenina" by any means, but they are amongst Tolstoy's better work in my opinion. They are certainly worth checking out, especially for people who are unfamiliar with Tolstoy's shorter work (this being a relative term). "The Kreutzer Sonata" was a bit much of a moral tract as opposed to a story for my tastes, but I found the other stories to be very fine indeed.

I have something to say, which, for lovers of literature, might be borderline blasphemous. I read Tolstoy, and…and…He’s okay. Just okay. He didn’t rock my world. He didn’t change my life. His prose is good, but not magnificent; his characters are relatable, but not unforgettable; his stories are interesting, but not quite compelling. I didn’t come away from these stories convinced, as so many are, that Tolstoy is the greatest writer who ever lived. In fact, of the four great Russian writers I re...

My first Tolstoy.

"Death of Ivan Ilych" is one of the best short stories I have ever read. In only about 100 pages, Tolstoy describes the facing of death by Ivan Ilych, who basically has lived as any other ordinary man. The story shows how once joyous and happy moments can seem worthless and fruitless moments when one is staring at death. Through this story, Tolstoy makes us look back to our life and look for anything extraordinary we have done. He makes us wonder whether doing everything that we think we "ought

My introduction to Tolstoy was for a book group specifically reading Ivan Ilych, but I consumed the other short stories in this collection as well. Tolstoy’s obsession with death prevails throughout, but it was never too dark to appreciate the literary value. I know that I will seek out more of his works on my own.I have the impression that the multitude of characters in War and Peace are previewed nicely in A Forged Coupon, a chain-of-events story that leads to suffering and redemption. Polikus...

The story of Ivan Ilyich was like wine — it goes down smoothly, but leaves a biting, succulent and lasting impression. The book is a deep and moving scrutiny of loss and absolution, in which the writer explores the dichotomy between the artificial and the authentic life. This book is probably the best account of the physiological and psychological panic, a man feels when so close to his own death. “Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible.” Ivan Ilyich...

What a great collection of Tolstoy’s shorter fiction. Here are my star ratings for each story/novella:The prisoner of the Caucasus - 5The diary of a madman - 3.5The death of Ivan Ilyich - 5The Kreutzer sonata - 5The devil - 4 Master and man - 4.5Father Sergius - 5After the ball - 3.5The forged coupon - 3Alyosha the pot - 3Hadji Murat - 5I thought Father Sergius was the best, followed closely by Hadji Murat and Ivan Ilyich.

My edition of “The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories” was the Vintage book, translated by Pevear and Volhokonsky. It contains the following stories:The Death of Ivan IlychThe Prisoner of the CaucasusThe Diary of a MadmanThe Kreutzer SonataThe DevilMaster and ManFather SergiusAfter the BallThe Forged CouponAlyosha the PotHadji Murat(those that are underlined, I have reviewed separately – follow the link for the review)There are some definite repeated themes - namely sex, death and religious r...

Using this novel as my introduction to Leo Tolstoy's work. I'll be updating my review as I read through each short story. Out of all the short stories, I really enjoyed The Death of Ivan Ilych and The Forged Coupon.3.5/5 The Raid ✰✰✰½The story takes place in the Caucasus region and begins with a conversation between the narrator and a military captain about bravery. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it seems to me that in every danger there is a choice, and the choice that springs from a sense of duty, for

This is a clear case of It's not you, it's me! I simply wasn't ready for this. When I couldn't participate in the War and Peace-readalong due to my busy schedule, I decided to compensate by reading a short story collection by Tolstoy instead. I thought it would be quick and fun. I couldn't have been more wrong. It turns out that Tolstoy is much more philosophical and political than I expected, and since I have no knowledge whatsover on Russian history and culture, it was extremely hard for me to...

Ivan Ilych’s life revolved around his career; as a high court judge he takes his job very seriously. However after he falls off a ladder, he soon discovers that he is going to die. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a novella that deals with the meaning of life in the face of death. A masterpiece for Leo Tolstoy written after his religious conversion in the late 1870s.Something that was fascinating about The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the drastic change in writing style when comparing it to Anna Karenina

I'm not a typically a fan of short stories, but this collection is unbelievable. Each story covers one or two topics central to life, society, and death. I can't help but think that stories like these gave way to the idea that fiction is better at conveying truth than any nonfiction possibly could.The first story is Family Happiness. It concerns romantic, passionate love and its passing nature, and how unhappiness is driven by our internal wants and losing sight of what brought happiness to begi...

What a wonderful collection of stories. All of them were excellent with the theme of death. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is thought provoking about how we view death. The device to use of short chapters as his death draws near and his reflections of his life works well. The judge who is dying is a person who lives the moment and is unreflective. Then he reflects on his life and questions whether it had any value. Some of us will all be in his position one day. My favourite story was the Forged Coupo...

This contains 4 of Tolstoy's short stories, although all four are relatively long tales. I found them all a bit slow for my tastes but there is some very good stuff here that hits pretty hard. The first story is "Family Happiness," about a love affair developing between a young woman just coming of age and a considerably older man. It details the build up of passion in the relationship that then matures into a more long-term emotional bond. I found it quite good, although longer than necessary.

The story "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is one of my favorite stories ever written. Everything about it is so true. Tolstoy had that knack of speaking plain truth about subjects like death and war that we almost instinctively idealize for ourselves in our thoughts and writings, so that the simple truth, when we read it, hits us like a powerful revelation. This narrative of one man's journey from a busy, full middle class life into sickness and then his final slide into death is like death itself, bo...