i love your enthusiasm and energy in this. i can't stand that type of sterile, dry and dead analysis that (seemingly) everyone else does. i've been writing and then deleting this comment over and over for a while now 'cause i'm trying not to rant lol. but looking forward to watching more of you guys. never change. keep it up :)
Great breakdown! And great quotes throughout the review. I agree, young people would benefit from reading this one--even if they don't get it right away. I've only read it once, but it's one of my top 5 favorite classics. (Krypto, agreed, it was hard to read!! Haha. I didn't exactly "enjoy" it, but it grew on me.) I need to reread it! Can't wait to check out part 2 😊 P.S. The Spongebob clips are HILARIOUS! 😆🤣
I think D.H. Lawrence, "Odor of Chrysanthemums", placated the question Tolstoy sets before us. Why we hate to love this dichotomy of death poking every moment of our lives. The question that Adam and Eve faced as the knowledge of good and evil began to course through their minds.
I also found Ivan to be a dislikable character. However, I think Tolstoy invites us to sympathize with him because of the horrible pain he’s in, much as Gerasim does. Which Kierkegaard book did you cite? The comparison of this book to Kierkegaard’s thought was brilliant.
Kierkegaard is one of those writers that kind of expanded his work as he wrote. He started the theory with "Either/Or" on the Aesthetic/Ethical planes. He later wrote more about Christian ethics and the concept of love within the lens of Christianity. While it's more scattered, I think "Stages of Life's Way" is probably the best single source for that part.
It’s so interesting to me that y’all didn’t like the book upon first impression. I just read the book, and I absolutely loved it. It filled me with this almost existential apathy and just…sadness. It really makes you think about your life and your place in society and the meaning behind every action you take, every decision you’ve made. And as someone who loves horror and just generally stuff that makes me think and feel ways I don’t normally feel, this was probably one of my favorite books I’ve read in a while. About halfway through, as I was reading about Ivan’s suffering as it first began to get bad, I remembered the comment his wife had made at the very beginning of how he was lucid and suffering until the end and it just filled me with dread. I know this isn’t a horror novella, but there were aspects of this that just shook me in a way and had me on the edge of my seat. Maybe it helps that I was listening to an audiobook as I read? Anyways, sorry for the ramble. I’m only like 3 minutes into the video, but I just finished the book and I have SO MUCH to say about this.
I agree with Uno 100%. I loved it from the beginning and upon first read. It didn’t even bother me at the slightest what the reason of his death was. People want everything given them already masticated, predigested, and made up into capsules ready to be swallowed.
This story changed my life. I'll try my best to tolerate you guys to see if another layer of Tolstoy emerges. Death and pain above all else provide unquestionable meaning to life when nothing else will. Who decides if agony is a negative aspect of being? (Maybe that is a reference to my own epistemology.)
It! I totally got sucked into the book just as Ivan was sucked into the black sack. Reminds me that the most interesting topic that sucks is in is our mortality and that we should pay attention to ourselves! not others.
