If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re living the right life—whether you’re chasing the right things or just playing along—this short book will stop you in your tracks.

Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych is only 64 pages, but it’s one of the most honest and unsettling things I’ve ever read. It holds up a mirror to the reader, forcing us to consider the gap between what looks like a “successful” life and what it means to live with real purpose.

I love this book because it’s unflinching. It doesn’t shy away from our insecurities, our fears, or the quiet compromises we make. It walks straight into them. And yet, somehow, it’s not bleak—it’s redemptive. Tolstoy makes space for something beautiful at the end: the chance to live authentically, even when it feels too late.

This translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky is the one I recommend and use in my own teaching. It’s clear, vivid, and powerful.

Whether you’re a seasoned reader of classics or just beginning your journey into Russian literature, this is a book worth returning to—again and again.

Vintage Classics Edition | Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

64 pages | ISBN: 9780307951335