La muerte de Iván Ilich

At the age of forty-one, Leo Tolstoy suffered a profound existential crisis, from which he emerged believing he had encountered death itself. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, the protagonist, a high-ranking civil servant who has lived according to the social and professional expectations of his class, faces an existential crisis when he realizes that his achievements and status cannot offer him solace in his final moments as he faces a terminal illness. As his health deteriorates, Ivan reflects on the choices he has made and discovers the precariousness of his past life.