Status Updates From La muerte de Iván Ilich

Chapters X-XII. More pain and philosophy from Ivan's point of view. He's easily vexed at this point, and at simple comments from his wife and daughter about his own health, he replies that soon they'll be free of him. Tolstoy portrays a very ill man, full of bouts of pain and internal rambles.

Chapters VII-IX. Ivan, still deeply ill, believes himself to be dying. He's able to stay positive, in part, by appreciating the vigor and youth of his servant Gerasim, even putting his legs upon the lad's shoulders sometimes to ease the pain, but then slowly spins into depression again. Internal monologues race through his mind, and I wonder if Ivan is at the edge of insanity, or has already stepped into it.

Chapters IV-VI. Emotional panic as Ivan's stream of consciousness fills this section, and he is convinced that the long-term (several months) illness has taken place because of a simple poke to his side by a metallic object, causing some kind of appendicitis.