— Anonymous Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” impressed me significantly since he narrates the thoughts, feelings and experience of death so vividly, and more importantly, he reveals life wisdoms and society problems beneath Ivan’s death. It reminds me of Cao Xueqin’s words about what is a great work “a grasp of mundane affairs is […]
Russian/Slavic
What is important and how we value things
— Anonymous Reading “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Tolstoy opened my mind in so many thoughts and feelings. Spending most of our time in our homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I think some of us have lots of free time and either we want it or not, we spend some of it thinking […]
This text can connect to how people are feeling being quarantined during the Covid-19 pandemic
— Sumi Paul Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, is about a man who spends his whole life trying to get higher and higher in his career path. However, it is only when he is in his deathbed that he realizes the mistake he made throughout his life. Instead of focusing on the things that […]
One of the most engaging and erratic stories I’ve ever read
— Alexandra Shyklo “The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov seems to be one of the most engaging and erratic stories I’ve ever read. Since I began my semester in Dr. Pasquesi’s Great Works course, I have learned to look at stories from a very intellectual and philosophical perspective. We’ve been taught to find […]
Can we really judge a man for wanting to be happy, free, and true to himself?
— Anonymous On first read, The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekov seemed to be a poignant commentary on the reality of love and sex. More often than not, people seem to end up in relationships that do not make them happy. Now what to do in this kind of situation is what made […]
