The Death of Ivan Ilyich By Leo Tolstoy

This is only the second book I've read by Tolstoy. Anna Karenina was a wild ride but much, much longer than this one. I listened to this story in a car drive and I'm thinking that this why I did not enjoy it as much as I could have. In my opinion, it can be difficult to appreciate the author's true writing style when you only listen to it, maybe I'm just more of a visual person. 
This story follows the life of a man, Ivan Ilyich, up until his death (lol). He lives in Russia and become a moderately wealthy married with children by the end. The final scene is quite intense as he realizes he is approaching death. The story opens with Ivan's funeral and I should have went and relistened to it after the story was over which could have led to a more complete feeling story. 
I appreciate Tolstoy's somewhat sense of humor and matter of factness in his description of life in this book. He sees things as they are and looks beyond the façade. His storyline of starting at the end and then going through Ivan's full life was a work of art, because there was so much mystery in the beginning as to who Ivan is and why people are acting certain ways toward him. 
I will likely read this again sometime in the future because of my inability to see the words on the page. The reader for the audiobook had a Russian accent which made it feel more real, but then sometimes, in the more intense scenes, I honestly got a little scared. 

All in all, I give this book a 4/5 star rating since I audiobooked it. 
Finished January 20, 2020. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 25, 2021 at 5:26 PM

    Oh I like that you are doing ratings. I rate Dracula 5/5. I also cannot listen to audio books, whenever I have done it I always miss just reading a physical book, and I found it hard to pay attention at times, or I feel like I might miss something if I'm not reading it myself. That's a really interesting story plot, I'd like to read this now and I need to read Anna Karenina too, I think I actually own the book.

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  2. Martha D'AnnaFebruary 4, 2021 at 1:43 PM

    I just finished listening to Pride and Prejudice on audiobook a while back and I loved it. I'm thinking that if it's a story that I already know, it might be easier to listen to it on audiobook. Also, maybe Austen is better suited for listening than Tolstoy? I'm sure some authors are much better suited for audiobooks than others.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2021 at 7:36 AM

    Oh I should listen to that. I think here is a Pride and Prejudice on my Spotify podcast list. I think I can't listen to podcasts/audiobooks well just in the car maybe since I listen to podcasts at home fine. I definitely think some books are better to listen to, if the style of writing is more to the point/less flowery, it's probably easier to listen to.

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