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THE COSSACKS / THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH / HAPPILY EVER AFTER
Tolstoy, Leo. The Cossacks, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Happy Ever After. Translated with an Introduction by Rosemary Edmonds. Middlesex, Penguin Books, 1969. 11 x 18cm. 334 pages. Original softcover. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. From the library of swiss - american - irish poet Chuck Kruger. [Penguin Classics]. In 1851, at the age of twenty-two, Tolstoy joined the Russian army. The four years he spent as a soldier were among the most significant in his life and inspired the tales collected here. In The Cossacks, Tolstoy tells the story of Olenin, a cultured Russian whose experiences among the Cossack warriors of Central Asia leave him searching for a more authentic life. In writing about individuals and societies in conflict, Tolstoy has penned one of the most brilliant stories about the nature of war. The other stories in the volume are gripping and eloquent lessons on two of Tolstoy's most persistent life and death. More experimental than his novels, Tolstoy's stories are essential reading for anyone interested in his development as one of the major writers and thinkers of his time. [Penguin Books]
334 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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83 people want to read
About the author
Leo Tolstoy
7,941 books28.4k followersLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; most appropriately used Liev Tolstoy; commonly Leo Tolstoy in Anglophone countries) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.
His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent Christian anarchist and anarcho-pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 27, 2021
The Cossacks was a good story, all three were really. I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite novels, A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov. Cossacks seemed a version of that. I loved learning about the Cossacks and life for them. The landscape described was so lush and evocative. In this time of travel bans and lockdowns it makes you want to travel all the more! A very good story told in the quintessential Leo Tolstoi style.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich was a summary of the rushed unenjoyable lives we live and how all too soon we die at 25 and are not buried until we are 75. It was I felt very sad but as relevant today as it was back then when Tolstoi wrote it. You can feel what he is trying to tell you. The story is told on more than just a literal plain but a spiritual one too. There is much deeper knowledge in this work by Tolstoi than many others by him.
Happy Ever After was basically Anna Karenina but in a short form. Think of it as a TV series whereas Anna Karenina is a big Hollywood movie, but insightful all the same into the mentality of marriage and making it work and how this is all off set against an age difference between the married couple.
Well done Tolstoi!
The Death of Ivan Ilyich was a summary of the rushed unenjoyable lives we live and how all too soon we die at 25 and are not buried until we are 75. It was I felt very sad but as relevant today as it was back then when Tolstoi wrote it. You can feel what he is trying to tell you. The story is told on more than just a literal plain but a spiritual one too. There is much deeper knowledge in this work by Tolstoi than many others by him.
Happy Ever After was basically Anna Karenina but in a short form. Think of it as a TV series whereas Anna Karenina is a big Hollywood movie, but insightful all the same into the mentality of marriage and making it work and how this is all off set against an age difference between the married couple.
Well done Tolstoi!
June 17, 2019
A Decent read
May 16, 2024
Three stars to the Cossacks,
Five stars for the death of Ivan ilyich
Four stars for happy ever after
It surprised me to learn that these stories were published after anna karenina, because they read (Cossacks and happy ever after) in some ways like an exercise for the themes Tolstoy explores in anna karenina. I’d recommend these stories to anyone who doesn’t want to undertake those (albeit masterful) 800+ pages. I’d like to know more about the choice to publish these three together.
With happy ever after I liked the pressure build in the principle relationship—first of romantic tension, then of the unhappy words unspoken. It was a cathartic and deeply satisfying reading experience.
The death of Ivan ilyich is unlike anything I’ve read. Completely breathtaking and raw look at the descent of mortality, the resistant and desperate winding down of life. I imagine it would be interesting for someone working in medicine to read, given the dismissal of ilyich’s concern for his symptoms.
The Cossacks, in romanticizing the abandonment of high society in favor of a simple country life, felt like the parts of anna karenina I found somewhat boring but which I also know are a core element to tolstoys principles (ideology?). Marianka was underdeveloped as a character (boring, sexist, and unoriginal also in my opinion the female archetype of a quiet and dutiful beauty yuck, I know Tolstoy is better than this) so I didn’t root for or invest in her as a character the way I did with Kitty.
Five stars for the death of Ivan ilyich
Four stars for happy ever after
It surprised me to learn that these stories were published after anna karenina, because they read (Cossacks and happy ever after) in some ways like an exercise for the themes Tolstoy explores in anna karenina. I’d recommend these stories to anyone who doesn’t want to undertake those (albeit masterful) 800+ pages. I’d like to know more about the choice to publish these three together.
With happy ever after I liked the pressure build in the principle relationship—first of romantic tension, then of the unhappy words unspoken. It was a cathartic and deeply satisfying reading experience.
The death of Ivan ilyich is unlike anything I’ve read. Completely breathtaking and raw look at the descent of mortality, the resistant and desperate winding down of life. I imagine it would be interesting for someone working in medicine to read, given the dismissal of ilyich’s concern for his symptoms.
The Cossacks, in romanticizing the abandonment of high society in favor of a simple country life, felt like the parts of anna karenina I found somewhat boring but which I also know are a core element to tolstoys principles (ideology?). Marianka was underdeveloped as a character (boring, sexist, and unoriginal also in my opinion the female archetype of a quiet and dutiful beauty yuck, I know Tolstoy is better than this) so I didn’t root for or invest in her as a character the way I did with Kitty.
May 17, 2023
The slow demise of the bureaucratic elite, the mundane horrors of comfort and vanity, and the consequences of cumulative, reeling rejection of people. Philosophically rich and quietly, devastatingly thrilling.
January 4, 2024
Cossacks was easily the best read... I too romanticize and yearn for the rural simplicity of my youth..
Ivan Illyich is basically what is in store for me post-grad, and Happy Ever After is like a shortfilm of Anna Karenin
Ivan Illyich is basically what is in store for me post-grad, and Happy Ever After is like a shortfilm of Anna Karenin
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July 15, 2025DNF cus I actually just cba.
December 1, 2021
The Cossacks:
Of the three here, I found The Cossacks to be the most compelling novel. The protagonist is at times frustrating, but the vividness of the emotion that Tolstoy portrays drives it forward. Olenin is made sympathetic despite his foolishness through the depiction of his thoughts, whims, and emotional confusion. The story is made stronger by its switching focus between Olenin and the often mundane scenes of life in the village in the Caucasus he inhabits and idealizes as an outsider. Through this Tolstoy demonstrates the reality buried in Olenin's vision of his environment.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich:
I feel that this story must have had a political significance, the bulk of which is lost on me. It centers a judge who is dying and realizing that his life has been purposeless and seemingly without meaningful choices. The portrayal of class differences in attitudes towards death between Ivan Ilyich and the peasant who assists him was to me the most interesting aspect.
Happy Ever After:
This story is similar to The Cossacks in that it focuses on a youthful idealization of love, though this time through the first-person perspective of a teenage girl. I found it difficult to drop my modern sensibilities regarding her age compared to that of her much-older love interest. That said, the writing is superb and the protagonist is relatable across time and culture because of this. I felt the husband was meant to be sympathetic at the end which to me seemed like a sharp turn from how immature he was prior. Apparently the story is somewhat autobiographical which may explain why it ends with who I assume is Tolstoy's self-insert pontificating about how love and family life works.
Of the three here, I found The Cossacks to be the most compelling novel. The protagonist is at times frustrating, but the vividness of the emotion that Tolstoy portrays drives it forward. Olenin is made sympathetic despite his foolishness through the depiction of his thoughts, whims, and emotional confusion. The story is made stronger by its switching focus between Olenin and the often mundane scenes of life in the village in the Caucasus he inhabits and idealizes as an outsider. Through this Tolstoy demonstrates the reality buried in Olenin's vision of his environment.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich:
I feel that this story must have had a political significance, the bulk of which is lost on me. It centers a judge who is dying and realizing that his life has been purposeless and seemingly without meaningful choices. The portrayal of class differences in attitudes towards death between Ivan Ilyich and the peasant who assists him was to me the most interesting aspect.
Happy Ever After:
This story is similar to The Cossacks in that it focuses on a youthful idealization of love, though this time through the first-person perspective of a teenage girl. I found it difficult to drop my modern sensibilities regarding her age compared to that of her much-older love interest. That said, the writing is superb and the protagonist is relatable across time and culture because of this. I felt the husband was meant to be sympathetic at the end which to me seemed like a sharp turn from how immature he was prior. Apparently the story is somewhat autobiographical which may explain why it ends with who I assume is Tolstoy's self-insert pontificating about how love and family life works.
January 27, 2021
Tolstoy's hard, right? Big Russian books with angsty, morose stories, populated by characters with hard to remember names that have something to do with either their mother or their father's family name, plus diminutive plus nicknames.
The reality is far from the truth because Tolstoy has such a light touch to his writing. Yes there are big themes (LIFE! LOVE! DEATH!) but his writing is so beautifully, accessibly clear and his characters are so vibrant, often ridiculous, the sense of reading great literature is swiftly forgotten in the swirl of a fab story populated by engaging protagonists.
The Cossacks, telling the story of a young aristocrat who flees society to save money, winding up as a military cadet on the borders of Chechnya, is the best of the three. Featuring a cast of comic countryfolk showing up the aristo from the city's ideals as nothing more than idle dreams, it also contains an early showcase of Tolstoy's skill at writing about man's place in nature, later beautifully replayed in Levin's hunting and working in his fields in Anna Karenina.
The names remain a royal pain in the arse though. Particularly as two of the Cossacks have virtually the same name.
The reality is far from the truth because Tolstoy has such a light touch to his writing. Yes there are big themes (LIFE! LOVE! DEATH!) but his writing is so beautifully, accessibly clear and his characters are so vibrant, often ridiculous, the sense of reading great literature is swiftly forgotten in the swirl of a fab story populated by engaging protagonists.
The Cossacks, telling the story of a young aristocrat who flees society to save money, winding up as a military cadet on the borders of Chechnya, is the best of the three. Featuring a cast of comic countryfolk showing up the aristo from the city's ideals as nothing more than idle dreams, it also contains an early showcase of Tolstoy's skill at writing about man's place in nature, later beautifully replayed in Levin's hunting and working in his fields in Anna Karenina.
The names remain a royal pain in the arse though. Particularly as two of the Cossacks have virtually the same name.
November 27, 2024
3 thinly veiled self-inserts about how Tolstoy hates modern society for being pretentious, lazy, and superficial. Think I will probably stop reading Tolstoy after this as it seems to be the only theme he writes about (sorry, Oak). The concept is fine and good but it only needs to be written once.
Happy Ever After was actually good, I'm going to make one of my friends read it. It's the story of Anna Karenina if the story ended happily and her husband had more depth, but with extra religious feeling and more garden imagery.
I thought the Death of Ivan Ilyich would be better because the prolonged death in Anna Karenina was represented so well and true to life. Comparatively this felt like a very hollow representation of death and served no real purpose except to say that living a superficial life isn't fulfilling.
The Cossacks had striking imagery but again it just made the same points Tolstoy's already made a million times before with some additional points about not belonging.
Happy Ever After was actually good, I'm going to make one of my friends read it. It's the story of Anna Karenina if the story ended happily and her husband had more depth, but with extra religious feeling and more garden imagery.
I thought the Death of Ivan Ilyich would be better because the prolonged death in Anna Karenina was represented so well and true to life. Comparatively this felt like a very hollow representation of death and served no real purpose except to say that living a superficial life isn't fulfilling.
The Cossacks had striking imagery but again it just made the same points Tolstoy's already made a million times before with some additional points about not belonging.
October 19, 2025
Happy ever after:
Really good short story. Written beautiful, very well paced, perfect amount of description. I think it shines most in the narrator's inner thoughts and dialogue, as they are relatable and not too wild or complex. It doesn't end the way I wanted it to. Kind mad ngl that it was finished so abruptly but then again it is a short story. 4.5/5
Death of Ivan Ilyich:
Sad, miserable and short. Nevertheless, it is extensive and does what it does perfectly. Ivan dies, yes, but his life and his slow degradation makes you feel happy for your own situation. 5/5 there was nothing it could've done better, besides not being about someone dying.
Cossacks:
The longest of three stories and perhaps my favourite. The world building was great, towards the end of the book it felt like I was living in the Caucasian steppes, with the Cossack way of life being a very normal thing to me. Great characters, all with very interesting quirks and personalities. The overall story is okay, it ends very similar to the last two.... Not how you want it to end. The love triangle is pretty much the only thing which gives the plot it's density. 4.5/5
Overall the book as a collection of three stories is a 4.5/5.
Really good short story. Written beautiful, very well paced, perfect amount of description. I think it shines most in the narrator's inner thoughts and dialogue, as they are relatable and not too wild or complex. It doesn't end the way I wanted it to. Kind mad ngl that it was finished so abruptly but then again it is a short story. 4.5/5
Death of Ivan Ilyich:
Sad, miserable and short. Nevertheless, it is extensive and does what it does perfectly. Ivan dies, yes, but his life and his slow degradation makes you feel happy for your own situation. 5/5 there was nothing it could've done better, besides not being about someone dying.
Cossacks:
The longest of three stories and perhaps my favourite. The world building was great, towards the end of the book it felt like I was living in the Caucasian steppes, with the Cossack way of life being a very normal thing to me. Great characters, all with very interesting quirks and personalities. The overall story is okay, it ends very similar to the last two.... Not how you want it to end. The love triangle is pretty much the only thing which gives the plot it's density. 4.5/5
Overall the book as a collection of three stories is a 4.5/5.
September 28, 2018
Death of Ivan Ilyich is a story that we all can identify with at tines; that we don't stop to think about what we are really doing here on earth until it's too late to change ourselves.
The Cossacks is a romantic, historical story about a period of near constant fighting between semi- civilized Christian Cossacks on the border with various mountain tribes and Muslims in the Caucasus Mountain region on the present border between Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Here the main character is young Russia with no purpose in his easy life. He discovers a better life on the frontier, but can't shake who he was enough to change.
The Cossacks is a romantic, historical story about a period of near constant fighting between semi- civilized Christian Cossacks on the border with various mountain tribes and Muslims in the Caucasus Mountain region on the present border between Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Here the main character is young Russia with no purpose in his easy life. He discovers a better life on the frontier, but can't shake who he was enough to change.
April 16, 2025
First of the writings I have read from Tolstoy after wanting to read his stories for a few years. Each story had its own personal appeal to me and Tolstoy does a fantastic job conveying the inner-thoughts of his characters. Thoughts and feelings evoked in various relationship dynamics —marriage, friendship, love and family— were all imagined and put into words at a level at which I found I had never found myself thinking as far into. Great collection of stories and start into Tolstoy!
October 15, 2021
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Happy Ever After were really focused on their respective ideas (the regret of a meaningless life prematurely ended, and marriage/love) and painted impressively clear lives/relationships in their short length.
The Cossacks wasn't as neat in scope as the first two, and I enjoyed it a bit less, but it was still pretty good.
The three aren't super connected, but all felt in the same vein of regret, love, how to live ones life, etc., themes which are obviously eternal. Overall I was impressed by Tolstoy (and feel prepped for Anna Karenina :)).
The Cossacks wasn't as neat in scope as the first two, and I enjoyed it a bit less, but it was still pretty good.
The three aren't super connected, but all felt in the same vein of regret, love, how to live ones life, etc., themes which are obviously eternal. Overall I was impressed by Tolstoy (and feel prepped for Anna Karenina :)).
December 6, 2022
Happily Ever After: A glimpse into the life of a newly married couple with a gulf of intelligence between them. Well written, empathetic and well paced. 3 stars.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich: The life and death of Ivan made me laugh, made me sad, and made me think of where I fit in this shit show we call life. Fantastic piece of literature. 4 stars.
The Cossacks: No thanks. 1 star
The Death of Ivan Ilyich: The life and death of Ivan made me laugh, made me sad, and made me think of where I fit in this shit show we call life. Fantastic piece of literature. 4 stars.
The Cossacks: No thanks. 1 star
July 22, 2024
i don’t think tolstoy cares much for marriage, happily ever after was brutal
May 20, 2025
Happy Ever After: 4 stars
The Death of Ivan Ilyich: 4 stars
The Cossacks: 3 stars
The Death of Ivan Ilyich: 4 stars
The Cossacks: 3 stars
August 24, 2019
This is a strong 4.5 stars for me.
This collection of short stories includes three really interesting and diverse tales. I enjoyed The Cossacks the most and The Deat of Ivan Ilyich (tDoII) the least. Happy Ever After was a really interesting study on relationships and marriage which I loved to read. Meawhile, I didn't feel like I could garner a lot of wisdom or analogies or even make a connection with tDoII, though I appreciate it's one of his most famous short works.
Finally, The Cossacks was the main reason I picked up this collection, and I thoroughly loved it. The setting, plot and character development was everything I wanted and needed from the story. What a wonderful character Olenin is, and even Luka. I can't seem to find any room in my heart for Marianka however. Regardless, I had a great time reading this triology and would recommend it to anyone who wants to dip their toes into Tolstoy.
This collection of short stories includes three really interesting and diverse tales. I enjoyed The Cossacks the most and The Deat of Ivan Ilyich (tDoII) the least. Happy Ever After was a really interesting study on relationships and marriage which I loved to read. Meawhile, I didn't feel like I could garner a lot of wisdom or analogies or even make a connection with tDoII, though I appreciate it's one of his most famous short works.
Finally, The Cossacks was the main reason I picked up this collection, and I thoroughly loved it. The setting, plot and character development was everything I wanted and needed from the story. What a wonderful character Olenin is, and even Luka. I can't seem to find any room in my heart for Marianka however. Regardless, I had a great time reading this triology and would recommend it to anyone who wants to dip their toes into Tolstoy.
June 13, 2020
Happy Ever After - 3.8/5.0
The Death of Ivan Ilyich - 4.4/5.0
The Cossacks - 4.6/5.0 - she‘s a slow-starter but worth it
The Death of Ivan Ilyich - 4.4/5.0
The Cossacks - 4.6/5.0 - she‘s a slow-starter but worth it
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