من فقط از توصیفات زیاد رمان ها و داستانهای روسی کلافه میشم! وگرنه بقیش عالیه :)) 9780451528803 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 is the story of a respected, gregarious and a healthy middle aged court justice who suddenly sickens and dies. He leaves behind a wife (a woman Ivan disliked), two grown up children, and a few startled friends/acquaintances whose reaction to his death range from better-him-than-me to how-will-this-affect-my-career-prospects. The novella examines the reactions of the wife, children and friends at Ivan’s funeral, but the bulk of the story summarizes Ivan’s life and his battle with death.
'I'll probably get Shtabel's or Vinnikov's job now,' thought Fyodor Vasilyevich. also 'I'll have to request a transfer from Kaluga for my brother-in-law now,' thought Pyotr Ivanovich.’the wife will be delighted. And now she won't be able to say I've never done anything for my relatives.'
At the beginning of the book, Ivan’s death is announced,the effects of which are clearly seen amongst the colleagues. Who are Fyodor Vasilyevich and Pyotr Ivanovich? Well, they are you and I. Individuals who react to death in selfish, materialistic, and fearful ways.
Can it be that I have not lived as one ought? suddenly came into his head. But how not so, when I've done everything as it should be done?”
In the eyes of the world, Ivan Ilyich was the epitome of success but in his own eyes he was a failure. Ilyich realizes that his entire hunt to befit himself into the shades of the society left him with absolutely no knowledge for coming to terms with death. Ultimately, the values of society left Ilyich with nothing of any true worth, with no idea of what his life should be. The modern society compels us to gloss over the reality of death. Society’s illusory and ludicrous norms force us to become strangers from life and death as well.
“The very fact of the death of someone close to them aroused in all who heard about it, as always, a feeling of delight that he had died and they hadn't.”
The brilliance of the book reflects when it brings light upon the dehumanizing aspects of our society. The doctor’s indifference towards the dying Ivan is nothing different than the insensitivity with which Ilyich treated the many that passed through his court during his career as a judge. Here, Tolstoy reminds us about the inability to recognize that other people’s lives are as significant as our own, is society’s greatest ill.
“And suddenly, it became clear to me that all this should not exist. Not only that it should not exist, but that it does not exist, and if this does not exist, then there is no death or fear, and the former rending in me is no more, and I am no longer afraid of anything. Here the light shown fully upon me, and I became what I am.”
At the very end Ilyich glimpses the joy of an authentic life and warns the reader of the dangers of living an unawakened life. Ivan’s last breath hopes that we can experience more than just a brief minute of this joy. Therefore, live fully!
Life is itself a memento mori and death is the proof reminding us that only by accepting our death can we hope to live an authentic life. According to Tolstoy, we must go against the grain and contemplate what the value of our lives can be when they will eventually end in death, if we are to find any meaning in a society that has taken so much of it away from us.
9780451528803 Chronology
Introduction & Notes, by Anthony Briggs
Further Reading
--The Raid
--The Woodfelling
--Three Deaths
--Polikushka
--The Death of Ivan Ilyich
--After the Ball
--The Forged Coupon
Notes 9780451528803 xxx 9780451528803 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 ✰✰✰½
The 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 example, is courage, while a choice made under the influence of base feelings is cowardice.
The narrator originally seems intrigued by the idea of participating in battle and questions why people willingly fight. We follow this narrator and meet a couple of key characters. One in particular peaked my interest. He is described as a charismatic man who in reality has a noble heart. He nurses one of his enemies to health after shooting him.
And how that man suffered, just to appear in his own eyes the way he wanted to appear, for his fellow officers and the soldiers could never see him the way he wanted to be seen.
Overall, I'm incredibly impressed by this short story and believe it was a strong start. I might have to get used to the lack of riveting plot I'm used to with fantasy novels and instead focus on the hidden meaning of the narrative.
The Woodfelling ✰✰✰
Through the perspective of a cadet, we meet a cast of characters once again fighting a battle in Caucasus. We learn that some are fighting in battle just to get recognition because returning to Russia without it would be unspeakable. The situation in Russia is regarded as fantastic by one person, but it is contrasted in the following chapter as a soldier's family has not responded to his letters and he assumes they're too poor to reply or want him to come home. The ending is a bit sad and overall I think the story captures the range of people you would meet in battle.
His last moments had been as bright and calm as his whole life. He had lived too honestly, too simply, for his unquestioning faith in the heavenly life to come to falter at the moment of truth.
Three Deaths ✰✰½
Finally encountered the first female characters in this collection of short stories. As expected this story is about three deaths, though the last one is not as obvious as the first two. Incredibly short and quick read that I enjoyed.
Polikushka ✰✰✰✰
So far the best short story I have read, however, it was considerably longer than the others. The main character, Polikey, is a man that has been a thief most of his life due to the influence of the man that raised him. Now poor, married, and a father of three children, Polikey is a drunk and continues to steal. After being caught by the mistress and begging for forgiveness, she gives Polikey an opportunity to show he has changed by tasking him with picking up a huge sum of money from a nearby village. Polikey does not know that the mistress has determined that his spot in the army will be taken by the nephew of another poor serf Datlov. An unfortunate circumstance occurs, forever changing the life of Polikey and Datlov. The ending chapter was a bit confusing, however, this short story was still a great read.
The Death of Ivan Ilych ✰✰✰✰✰
The past history of Ivan Illyich's life had been straightforward, ordinary and dreadful in the extreme.
Phenomenal from start to finish. This short story begins when Ivan's colleagues learn of his death. All are selfishly thinking of who will take his job, but are reminded that they must pay respects at his funeral. We meet Ivan's family at this funeral, but are taken back to the beginning of Ivan's life in the third chapter. Following along from his birth up to his death we learn that not all the riches in his life bring the happiness he so desperately desired. Once again, this was an outstanding short story; it is no surprise that this is his one of his most well-known works.
After the Ball ✰✰
Ivan discusses the events that occurred the night of a ball. He begins the tale as a love story, how enamored he was with the colonel’s daughter. Riding on a high back in his home, he decides to return her glove and heads to her place. Here he sees a frightening scene that changes his feelings and demonstrates the unsettling feeling of whether actions can truly be justified.
The Forged Coupon ✰✰✰✰½
Absolutely loved this one from start to finish. A 15 year old boy forges a coupon to pay back a debt he has with his friends. Initially we follow along with this forged coupon, and eventually we start seeing the drastic outcomes and how people's lives change from this simple illegal act. Although a lot more religious than the previous short stories, this one had my attention from the start. 9780451528803
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 Ilych
The Prisoner of the Caucasus
The Diary of a Madman
The Kreutzer Sonata
The Devil
Master and Man
Father Sergius
After the Ball
The Forged Coupon
Alyosha the Pot
Hadji 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 redemption. Mostly, the first leads to the second or the third!
As with any collection of stories, there are some I like more than others. I think my favourites would be “Master and Man” and “The Forged Coupon”. I found “Hadji Murat” a bit of a slog.
9780451528803 (این ریویو را من برای درس اخلاق پزشکی مینویسم و بنابراین از دوستان گودریدزی بخاطر اظهار فضلهای موجود در آن عذرخواهی میکنم!)
داستان تولستوی ماندگار است چون دربارهی نقصان علم پزشکی در قرن نوزدهم روسیه نیست (که از درمان یک آپاندیس عاجز بودند و دارویی برای هپاتیت نداشتند). و نیز دربارهی چگونگی رنج کشیدن یک بیمار در حال مرگ نیست.
داستان تولستوی از انسانی سخن میگوید که خواهان یافتن معنا برای دردش است. و پاسخ؟ هیچ معنایی در کار نیست!
در نیمهی اول داستان، تولستوی با طنزی گزنده سبک زندگی بورژوایی قرن نوزدهمی را به سخره میگیرد؛ آن انتظار برای ترفیع و موقعیت اجتماعی، آن دوستیهای کاذب، این مبنا بودن ثروت برای تعیین خوشی و غم، ازدواجهای بیعشق و طبقاتی، تئاتر رفتنها و مهمانیهای از سر پز، و شغلهایی که برای فرار از تنهایی انتخاب میشوند.
و شاید همین --به تعبیر من-- «زندگی نااصیل» است که در روزهای قبل از مرگ، ایوان ایلیچ را به این نتیجه میرساند که زندگی بیحاصلی داشته.
برای ایوان ایلیچ، قضیهْ بیماری کبدی نیست، بلکه خود مرگ است. (و برخلاف تفسیرات معمول این داستان، بنظرم ایوان ایلیچ از همان ابتدا مرگ را میپذیرد و کشاکش انکار روانکاوانهای در کار نیست.)
در مقابل، برای دکترها هم، «انسان بودگی» ایوان ایلیچ مهم نیست، بلکه خود بیماری اصل است (تشخیص بین آپاندیس و هپاتایتیسْ دغدغهی ذهن پزشکان است و نه زندگی ایوان ایلیچ).
و اما نکتهای که داستان تولستوی بسیار بر آن تاکید میگذارد، مفهوم تنهایی دم مرگ است. تولستوی، برخلاف نوربرت الیاس، تنهایی دم مرگ را محدود به بعد فیزیکی صرف نمیکند؛ بلکه میگوید فرد محتضر نیازمند همدم است. و آن هم نه همدمیکردنی مصنوعی (مثل تیم درمان یا خانوادهی وی)، بلکه کسی که از سر حقیقت با او مواجه شود: «بله تو داری میمیری، و مهم نیست سالها نوکرت بودم، بلکه حالا من بدنی سالم دارم و همین مرا برتر از تو قرار میدهد.» و ارتباط با همین بدنهای سالم راستگو است که حس زندگی را در ایوان ایلیچ زنده نگه میدارد.
در عوض، زندگان، برای فراموش کردن ترس از مرگ، آرزوی خلاصی از بدن ناقص همسر/پدر/همکار را دارند (که یادآور اضمحلال قریبالوقوع خودشان است).
بعد از ده سال به تولستوی برگشتم؛ آن هم با ترجمهی کاظم انصاری که زحمت نسخهی جنگ و صلح مرا هم او کشیده بود.
پرسپکتیو سوم شخصی که بر ذهن همهی اشخاص داستان احاطه دارد. گاهی جزییات بسیار کوچکی را تعریف میکند و گاهی --بنابر اتوریتهی خودش-- یک واقعهی ظاهرا مهم را تنها با یک فعل توصیف میکند و تمام. به عبارتی در داستان روسی، راوی حرفی برای گفتن دارد و همین باعث میشود نکاتی از قصه را تعریف کند که مناسب پیام مدنظرش است. 9780451528803 What a great collection of Tolstoy’s shorter fiction. Here are my star ratings for each story/novella:
The prisoner of the Caucasus - 5
The diary of a madman - 3.5
The death of Ivan Ilyich - 5
The Kreutzer sonata - 5
The devil - 4
Master and man - 4.5
Father Sergius - 5
After the ball - 3.5
The forged coupon - 3
Alyosha the pot - 3
Hadji Murat - 5
I thought Father Sergius was the best, followed closely by Hadji Murat and Ivan Ilyich. 9780451528803 Primo libro che leggo di Tolstoj... bella scrittura! 9780451528803 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 spirit of the Scriptures, astounding everyone how infected (Tolstoy keyword) he was by one of his victims who calmly informed him that he'd be damned by what he was about to do (cut her throat). Of all the Tolstoy stories read so far, it's this one I'll definitely re-read and study.
After the Ball is worth a re-read too, the story of how one night changed the narrator's life, when he witnessed a colonel's grace in one setting and soon after his cruelty in another -- it changed his life because he would've married the colonel's daughter if he hadn't witnessed the colonel's brutality and decided he was better off passing on the colonel for a father-in-law.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich is notable in part for its structure, starting with the titular character's death and then backtracking to his life, lightly mentioning the knob that bumped his side and caused some difficult to diagnose kidney damage. The story infects you with his suffering, the sense that everyone around you is aware of something they don't directly say, and it ends with a sort of luminous release into joy as he dies.
These final three stories are worth the price of admission -- doubly clear compared to The Cossacks thanks to the maturity of the writer and also I think the translator. I sense that Briggs errs on the side of clarity and traditional syntax in a way that makes these stories seem more like fables. Same was true with his translation of W&P.
I don't have much to say about the other stories in the collection because I didn't read them -- I'd start them, find it difficult to engage/latch on, skip to the next one, and then the next one, before I finally got to the one I'd bought the book for (Ivan Ilyich). I'll probably re-read the title story in a different translation at some point to compare and try to return to the first few stories at some point when I can read them while walking instead of ready for sleep in bed. 9780451528803
With an Introduction and Notes by Dr T.C.B.Cook
Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is best known for War and Peace and Anna Karenina, commonly regarded as amongst the greatest novels ever written. He also, however, wrote many masterly short stories, and this volume contains four of the longest and best in distinguished translations that have stood the test of time. In the early story 'Family Happiness', Tolstoy explores courtship and marriage from the point of view of a young wife. In 'The Kreutzer Sonata' he gives us a terrifying study of marital breakdown, in 'The Devil' a powerful depiction of the power of sexual temptation, and, in perhaps the finest of all, 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich', he portrays the long agony of a man gradually coming to terms with his own mortality.
Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN 1840224533 here. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories