The Death of Ivan Ilich by Gary R. JahnCall Number: PG3366 .S63 J3 1993
ISBN: 0805785833
Publication Date: 1993-06-01
With this new entry in Twayne's Masterworks Studies series, Gary R. Jahn ably fills that gap in the scholarship on Tolstoy. Here readers will find a straightforward explanation of the novel's historical, literary, and critical significance and a well-crafted, chapter-by-chapter analysis of the literary techniques, patterns, and themes Tolstoy employed in writing his text. Invoking an inventive and engaging strategy, Jahn asks the reader to approach the text from an ironic or "reversed" standpoint - that is, to view what seems literal as figurative and vice versa - with an eye toward discovering the multiple patterns of organization and allusion permeating The Death of Ivan Ilich. Jahn's exploration of the critical response to the novel puts the emphasis on English-language scholarship, but takes foreign-language commentary into account as well.