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Life Lessons From ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’

Leo Tolstoy’s novella reminds readers about what life is really for.
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Life Lessons From ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’
A detail from "Count L.N. Tolstoy in His Work-Room," 1891, by Ilya Repin. Public Domain
Walker Larson
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“The past history of Ivan Ilyich’s life was most simple and ordinary and most terrible.”

These striking words from Leo Tolstoy’s 1886 novella “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” leap from the page. What could be so terrible about a simple and ordinary life? What does Tolstoy mean by this cryptic line? Aren’t great writers like Tolstoy known to extol the beauty of an ordinary life?
Walker Larson
Walker Larson
Author
Prior to becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master's in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, "Hologram" and "Song of Spheres."