Leo Tolstoy 
The Death of Ivan Ilyich 

One of the world’s most famous writers, Leo Tolstoy, is probably best known for his epic romantic works “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace”. In addition to being the author of some of the greatest novels ever written, Tolstoy was also a prolific short-story writer. One of the finest examples of Tolstoy’s shorter narratives is “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, which Tolstoy wrote later in his life. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is a tale revolving around a man in his 40s who has spent his entire life climbing the social ladder in Russia. Barely tolerant of his wife and generally indifferent to the other people around him, Ivan has a minor accident hanging curtains in a new apartment that proves to be a terminal injury. As his life slowly and painfully spirals inexorably toward death, Ivan struggles immensely against what he perceives to be an unfair fate. Only in the end does he see how he might have lived differently and authentically. This edition includes a biographical afterword and follows the translation of Nathan Haskell Dole.