The Death Of Ivan Ilych - by Leo Tolstoi

An exceptional novel for those who have experienced how misunderstood and enigmatic an person’s mind can become when facing day-to-day a terminal illness.

The carer tends to consider it simply an illness, and unconsciously fills it with while lies and false optimisms.

The ill person, on the other hand, only wants to feel comforted, protected, understood.

One of Ivan Ilych’s more valuable reflections is how intrandescent a life “that should be” is.

When wishing to go back to the truly pleasurable and good moments of his life, he finds that his joy was always far from what is usually considered valuable by society (money, power).

He found the worthy memories on the smallest flashes of happiness like, on his example, the first time he tasted marmalade.

A quote that promptly can be used to summarize his reflections on his life:

“It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done and there is only death.”