The Death of Ivan Ilyich

A Leo Tolstoy Short Story

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Bill DeWees

Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The brilliance of this story is in how a normal bureaucrat, a judge in this case, has a small accident that winds up gradually taking his life. As he deals with this incident, with hope at first and then despair, he comes to terms with his family, his life, and the mediocrities that we all suffer with, except for the exceptional few. This story rings a particularly poignant note for those in early middle age facing the next part of their lives. This story is considered Tolstoy's best.

Public Domain (P)2011 Christina Brown

Good book, bad narrator

Good book about the considerations of the purpose of life and death. I think it might take another listen or two for me to fully appreciate the depth of the protagonists thoughts, but overall it's an enjoyable book. However, the narrator did not do a great job of narrating. It feels very stiff, and his pauses are either lacking or feel very synthetic. It's as if he is simply hastily reading up from the book without having any thoughts about what it is he is reading aloud. I would recommend to find another narration of the book.

There's no better way to spend $2 and 2 hours.

What did you love best about The Death of Ivan Ilyich?

If you like stories that make you reflect and give you some insight on life, you'll love this one. And it is under 2 hours and $2... honestly, what better way to spend your time and money? This book is great food for thought in an economic little package.

What does Bill DeWees bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

DeWees doesn't stand in the way of this book with his narration. A lot of narrators, to me, do too much dramatization/interpretation of their own. I love that DeWees's delivery isn't flat/boring, but he just reads it simply and directly, not adding too much personal flair to it. Really helped me to get into the story in my own head.

A Russian story with a (somewhat) happy ending.

Any additional comments?

The novella begins a few moments after Ivan Ilyich dies. A number of people have gathered to mark his passing: judges, family members and acquaintances. However, these people cannot understand death, because they cannot really believe that they will ever die. They only praise God that the dying men is not him, and then start considering how his death might be to their advantage them in terms of money or position.

The novella then takes us back thirty years. We see Ivan in the prime of his life. He is the middle child and lives a life of studied mediocrity. He studies law and becomes a judge. Along the way, he completely expels all personal emotions from his life. He does his work objectively and coldly. He becomes a strict disciplinarian and father figure (that the Russian head of the household ought to be).

He is also a jealous and pole-climbing sort of man. He is intensely happy when he gets a job in the city, where he can buy and decorate a large house. While decorating, he falls and hits his side. Although he does not know it at the time, this injury will facilitate the illness that eventually kills him. He becomes bad tempered and bitter--he refuses to come to terms with his own death. Through his final illness, Gerasim (a peasant)stays beside the his bed and becomes his friend and confidant.
Only Gerasim can understand Ivan's problems. The rest of his family either think that he is a malingerer or a bitter old man. But, Gerasim offers kindness and honesty. Ivan begins to look at his life with fresh eyes. He realizes that the more successful he became, the less happy he was. He also wonders whether he has done things that were right. He had been living his life on auto-pilot: doing and saying everything that was expected of him.

He agonizes over this, unable to break away from his belief that the kind of man he became was the kind of man he should have been. Then he sees a bright, white light. He begins to feel sorry for all those around him, realizing that they are still too involved in the life that he has left to understand that it is artificial and ephemeral. He dies in a moment of exquisite happiness.

Okay

Was not the same as the book. wish it was much closer to the book for a easier read.

the reader was horrible

I enjoyed the story but had a difficult time with the reader and did not seem to connect to the characters due to the reader, if the book was much longer I would have quit listening.

Very sobering, and enlightening, story!

And Tolstoy could best describe why this narrator is just right, because he has a certain natural, impartial aloofness and a coolness.

Worst narrator ever

Great story, superb writing, but please get another edition than this one! The narrator is the worst I've encountered, it is as though he's in a hurry to get to the bus and is just rattling off the text at great speed and with zero inflections. There is no pathos, no reflection on the words... It's as though someone was watching the Family Guy satire of William Shatner and went "oh, that'd be a great way to read a book!"

It all but ruins this great literary work! So get another edition and spare yourself the grief of having to listen to this terror of a performance.

Terrible narration

I had to return this title after only a short time listening. The narration is truly terrible. It's very one-toned, the pronunciation is questionable, and the narration voice is identical to the voice of EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER. I can't say much of they story, because I gave up and went a different narrator entirely.

Narrator is AWFUL

The narration of this one has NO affect. It was so bad that I downloaded it on my nook so I could read instead of listen. I will never download a book narrated by this guy again.

not good

Robotic read. Flat and dull. Had to stop and remove the book. Sorry to have wasted a point. Better to just read it yourself.