Death comes to us all . . . and in my opinion, we don't spend enough time thinking about that fact, nor on the consequences it should have for our lives now. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy (of War and Peace fame) explores the just this topic. Ivan Ilyich is a person of good standing in society, who believe he's lived a good life, and is surprised/shocked when he falls ill and appears to be dying. His deteriorating state forces him to look back on his life and ask if he really lived it as he should. Eventually, he concludes that no, he really didn't live as he ought- he wasn't as good as he believed, and he should have done things differently. It's a painful realization at a painful moment in his life- it's too late to change, and he passes away.
This book is quite short (~80 pages), and the topic is very interesting. Bits and pieces of it were absolute gold- I was especially convicted when Tolstoy talked of Ivan always thinking he needed a little bit more money, but as money increased in his life, so too did his desires. Never being satisfied is a struggle I have, and I tend to think that if I had "just a bit more," I'd be good. After reading this, I realize that contentment isn't about reaching a certain level- because that level will keep changing- it's about a mindset that is satisfied. I also liked Ilyich's realization at the end about how selfish he'd been- something I, too, struggle to accept. Those points aside, though, on the whole it wasn't quite as good as I hoped. Perhaps listening to it in the car was foolish (I had trouble maintaining interest), and I should have read it more thoroughly/analytically in the traditional fashion. Due to its trivial length, I would recommend it, but there may be better treatments of the topic out there.
Rating: B
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