Ivan Ilyitch and Other Stories
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1887. Presumed First U. S. Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xi, [1], 311, [1] pages. Glossary. Green cloth cover with gilt lettering and a decoration at the center of the front cover. Cover has wear and soiling, edges and corners rubbed, with some fraying at top and bottom on spine. Decorative endpapers. Footnotes. Some page wear and soiling. Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910), usually referred to as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909; the fact that he never won is a major controversy. Tolstoy's notable works include the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth, and Sebastopol Sketches, based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. His fiction includes short stories, novellas, plays and numerous philosophical essays. In the 1870s, Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his nonfiction work A Confession. Nathan Haskell Dole (August 31, 1852 – May 9, 1935) was an American editor, translator, and author. A writer and journalist, he translated many of the works of Leo Tolstoy and of other Russians; novels of Armando Palacio Valdés; and works from the French and Italian. From 1887 to 1901 he was literary advisor to T. Y. Crowell Publishing Company. The short stories here presented form about one-half of the twelfth volume of Count Tolstoi's collected writings. In the translation of these stories, no attempt has been made to make smooth, easy reading: the effort has been rather to reproduce the crisp, sharp staccato of the Russian. A glossary of all the words found in the text may not be found amiss. For the sake of some reader, who may like a little stronger flavor of the original, certain words and expressions are referred to in footnotes. The Death of Ivan Ilyich, first published in 1886, is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, considered one of the masterpieces of his late fiction, written shortly after his religious conversion of the late 1870s. Considered to be one of the finest examples of a novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich tells the story of a high-court judge in 19th-century Russia and his sufferings and death from a terminal illness. Ivan Ilyich lives a carefree life that is "most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible". Like everyone he knows, he spends his life climbing the social ladder. Enduring marriage to a woman whom he often finds too demanding, he works his way up to be a magistrate, thanks to the influence he has over a friend who has just been promoted, focusing more on his work as his family life becomes less tolerable. While hanging curtains for his new home one day, he falls awkwardly and hurts his side. Though he does not think much of it at first, he begins to suffer from a pain in his side. As his discomfort grows, his behavior towards his family becomes more irritable. His wife finally insists that he visit a physician. The physician cannot pinpoint the source of his malady, but soon it becomes clear that his condition is terminal. Confronted with his diagnosis, Ivan attempts every remedy he can to obtain a cure for his worsening situation, until the pain grows so intense that he is forced to cease working and spend the remainder of his days in bed. Here, he is brought face to face with his mortality and realizes that, although he knows of it, he does not truly grasp it. During the long and painful process of dying, Ivan dwells on the idea that he does not deserve his suffering because he has lived rightly. If he had not lived a good life, there could be a reason for his pain; but he has, so pain and death must be arbitrary and senseless. As he begins to hate his family for avoiding the subject of his death, for pretending he is only sick and not dying, he finds his only comfort in his peasant boy servant, Gerasim, the only person in Ivan's life who does not fear death, and also the only one who, apart from his own son, shows compassion for him. Ivan begins to question whether he has, in fact, lived a good life. In the final days of his life, Ivan makes a clear split between an artificial life, such as his own, which masks the true meaning of life and makes one fear death, and an authentic life, the life of Gerasim. Authentic life is marked by compassion and sympathy, the artificial life by self-interest. Then "some force" strikes Ivan in the chest and side, and he is brought into the presence of a bright light. His hand falls onto his nearby son's head, and Ivan pities his son. He no longer hates his daughter or wife, but rather feels pity for them, and hopes his death will release them. In so doing, his terror of death leaves him, and as Tolstoy suggests, death itself disappears. Condition: Fair / No dust jacket present.
Keywords: Death, Ivan Ilyitch, Fire, God, Candle, Old Men, Wood-cuts, Devil, Little Girls, Brothers, Gold, Mendicants, Legends, Repentant, Sinner, Godson, Skazka, Fool
[Book #85166]
Price: $175.00