Six notable books that deal with illness and dying

Katie Roiphe's new book, The Violet Hour, examines how several great writers confronted their own impending deaths. One of Roiphe's six favorite books that deal with illness and dying, as shared at The Week magazine:

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

This fierce, bleak, slim novel contains a remarkable account of how death transforms a dying man and everyone around him. Tolstoy brings his satiric eye, and a surprising generosity, to a subject rarely addressed in literature.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich is among Erica Jong's six favorite books that deal with death and Jerome Groopman's five best books about doctors and patients.

--Marshal Zeringue