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The Death of Ivan Ilyich

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The Death of Ivan Ilyich

By: Leo Tolstoy
Narrated by: Oliver Ford Davies
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About this listen

The subject of this well-known Tolstoy novella is a high court judge in St. Petersburg who lives a carefree life. One day, without warning, he is beset by pains and soon has to come to terms with the fact that he is going to die. The judge has to learn to face death without fear and yet feel compassion for the family he is leaving behind.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2008 Naxos Rights International (P)2008 Naxos Rights International Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Fiction

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Editor reviews

Tolstoy's novella offers a penetrating examination of the Christian faith and the nature of life and death. Listeners will also be sure to delight in Tolstoy's sharp and sometimes satirical eye for the very modern-sounding details of the life of a nineteenth-century Russian bureaucrat. With masterful ease, a warm tone, and conversational pacing, British actor Oliver Davies captures Ivan Ilyich's preoccupation with interior decorating and debt and his avoidance of family weddings and home remedies. Then the shadow of death wipes away all trivialities and pretense. This work's prose and performance are so vivid, so human, and so listenable that there's no doubt why Tolstoy stands as one of the giants of world literature.

Critic reviews

"Davies' skill with inflection, even within words, heightens the social satire of the early section and shifts with Ilyich's slide into ever increasing pain and irritability." ( Publishers Weekly)
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wonderfully narrated. a pleasing take on the philosophy life in any era. thought provoking and softening to the heart

timeless

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The story begins with the immediate aftermath of the death of an an ‘Everyman’ moving on to an overview of his Everyman life highlighting his history, life priorities and relationships, leading to his latter days when he gets ill and his last moments... and that is about it.

Well narrated and simplistic BUT boy, does this story resonate and get under the skin, almost demanding a re-reading and touching an inner nerve that gets you thinking and pondering the book long after.

It’s like ‘what hit me?’ , ‘what was that about? I expected more! It’s over..’ A bit like life really.

I’ve given an overall score of 4 but I have a funny feeling that may go up to a 5 when I read and re-read this deceptively simple but nonetheless powerful book which invites you to re-think the life you have led and the direction it is going, which of course is the direction we are all going.

A thoughtful novella - worth reading!

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What a totally masterful reading of a wonderful novel. Total perfection. This was my first Tolstoy and I loved it so much im continuing through his canon

One of the best narrations on Audible

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The death of Prince Andre in War and Peace and the death of Levin's brother in Anna Karenina are among the most memorable scenes depicting death in world literature. But in this short novella Tolstoy surpasses his earlier achievements in the unflinching portrayal of the death of a self-satisfied public official. Satire on the inauthenticity of most ordinary existence is joined with acute psychological insight into the effect that death has both on the dying person and on those around him.

I remember the overwhelming impact reading Tolstoy's story had when I first read it as an adolescent many years ago. Now from a very different perspective this superb reading by Oliver Ford Davies is no less powerful : throughout he judges the tone and variety of Tolstoy's writing with great intelligence and insight and has the dramatic ability to convey the author's insight into both major and minor characters. Such a reading provides effectively constant illumination into the text and the total effect is most moving. There are a number of readings of this work but I am sure this is the one to have. Strongly recommended.
I can only hope that Naxos will employ Oliver Ford Davies to read Master and Man,Hadji Murat, the Kreutzer Sonata,etc.

The best 'Death'

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In this brilliant novella Tolstoy focuses his attention on family frustrations and preparing for death, both of which I found very compelling. His characters are as vivid and vibrant as in ‘War and Peace’ - but on a much smaller scale! I found this translation was eloquent and flowed well, and Oliver Ford Davies’ performance was really engrossing.

Brilliant and poignant

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Struggled to finish it. Too many needless details. Too many foreign names making it hard to remember characters. I feel like the book is more about the person attending the Ivan's funeral than anything else. Anyway gave up after 1 hour so I might be wrong. Can't say I won't give it another go in the future.

Not for me

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