Leo Tolstoy is quite simply one of the greatest writers to ever set pen to paper. Immortalized by such epic novels as
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina, Tolstoy's genius was also readily apparent in his short fiction.
The Death of Ivan Ilych, first published in 1886, follows the career of the unremarkable title character, who does not question his desire to live an "easy, agreeable, gay and always decorous" life, until he is lying on his death bed.
Translation © 2003 by Ann Pasternak Slater.