Original Publication Date: 1886
Genre: Fiction, classic, nineteenth century, Russia
Topics:
Dying, death, family, doctor, Russia, medicine, illness
Review by:
Liz Inskip-Paulk (www.ravingreader.wordpress.com)
I dug this title up as it was mentioned in my recent read of
Atul Gawande’s On Mortality book, and I’m all about following down the rabbit holes of different books and
topics sometimes. Although somewhat intimidated by Russian authors (although
not sure why), I picked this up with trepidation and then relaxed. It was going
to be a good read.
Gawande’s reference to this Tolstoy novella meant that I
knew that the plot was about a man dying, but the actual details were vague for
me (which I was happy about). I opened the book one morning and then finished it that
evening and it was a great read. The plot itself is pretty simple: a man works
hard in his career, get married with kids, falls off a ladder and gets slightly
hurt, and then ends up dead. (And I’m not giving the game away here. This is
what the story is famous for, after all.) However, it’s a lot more than that as
Tolstoy (via his lead Ivan Ilyich
Golovin) ruminates on the process of dying and how it may affect one’s
thinking.
Ivan Ilyich feels that he has done all the “right” things in his life: he has worked hard on his career rising in the legal ranks of the municipal
court, he has married well, and has a good family. So why is he so uncomfortable
dying in this way? And that’s what most of this work is about – how the dying process evolves for both this particular participant and the family around
him/her. It’s really quite fascinating especially after that recent read of
Gawande’s book (which also focuses on death and dying). Sounds desperately
morbid (doesn’t it?) but it’s not. This dying thing happens to everyone, and as
with almost anything else, the more you know the better. (At least that is how
I’m approaching things).
Using the POV of Ivan Ilyich himself, the story follows his
thinking process as his life winds down. His pain in the side (originally
triggered by an accidental fall at home) worsens, and as it progressively gets
more and more painful, he visits a few doctors trying to get his diagnosis.
However, the doctors are unable to agree and give him a final diagnosis (let
alone a cure) and so Ivan struggles on, unable to talk about his concerns about
dying with no one, not even the medical professionals let alone with his
family.
And I find this to be so relevant with attitudes towards
death today. In my experience, I've noticed that when one has a difficult illness, people usually don’t mind acknowledging
it at first when everything is mostly normal, but as time progresses and one’s
prognosis worsens, many people would prefer to talk around it than actually
address it face on (a la elephant in the living room). This is how Ivan Ilyich’s
family and friends handled the situation, and so the reader learns about the
frustrations, struggles and the sheer loneliness of the person who’s doing the
dying. I really don’t think that this is an untrue situation for a lot of
people, but I wish it wasn’t that way.
Gawande mentioned that this novella was taught in med school
in a class about death and dying, but I’m not sure how common that is across
the nation. (Anyone know?) However, common or not, I think this is an excellent
novella about a very common natural human process which is frequently denied or
skirted around as people are uncomfortable with it (for whatever reason).
A provocative read about a pretty ordinary guy who is going
through a totally natural process. Although the subject may be dark, this is extremely
well written, not maudlin at all, and is a good demonstration of something that
happens but most people would prefer not to talk about. It was an excellent
read when paired with reading the Gawande book. Recommended.
Download The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy at Project Gutenberg Consortia Center|Librivox|
