{"product_id":"book-6404","title":"The Death of Ivan Ilyich","description":"\u003cp\u003eHailed as one of the world’s masterpieces of psychological realism, \u003cem\u003eThe Death of Ivan Ilyich\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of a worldly careerist, a high-court judge who has never given the inevitability of his death so much as a passing thought. But one day death announces itself to him, and to his shocked surprise he is brought face to face with his own mortality. How, Tolstoy asks, does an unreflective man confront his one and only moment of truth?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first part of the story portrays Ivan Ilyich’s colleagues and family after he has died as they discuss the effect of his death on their careers and fortunes. In the second part, Tolstoy reveals the life of the man whose death seems so trivial. The perfect bureaucrat, Ilyich treasured his orderly domestic and office routine. Diagnosed with an incurable illness, he at first denies the truth but is influenced by the simple acceptance of his servant boy, and he comes to embrace the boy’s belief that death is natural and not shameful. He comforts himself with happy memories of childhood and gradually realizes that he has ignored all his inner yearnings as he tried to do what was expected of him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWill Ilyich be able to come to terms with himself before his life ebbs away?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis short novel was the artistic culmination of a profound spiritual crisis in Tolstoy’s own life, a nine-year period following the publication of \u003cem\u003eAnna Karenina\u003c\/em\u003e during which he wrote not a word of fiction. A thoroughly absorbing glimpse into the abyss of death, it is also a strong testament to the possibility of finding spiritual salvation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49312821313840,"sku":"BD6404","price":9.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49312821379376,"sku":"ZE6404","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD [ZM]","offer_id":49312821444912,"sku":"ZM6404","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Audio CD [ZP]","offer_id":49312821510448,"sku":"ZP6404","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/109645-6404-Square.jpg?v=1733313139","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-6404","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}