The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

This was one of the best books I have ever read. It was also one of the first short stories I have read. It begins as told by some acquaintances of Ivan Ilych, reading about the news of his death. They all have the same thought: At least it's him and not me. It then moves on to the dead man's life, and finally to his thoughts in his last days. These were incredibly touching. It seems he lived his life contentedly, but as he dies he thinks of it all as going downhill from the bright days of childhood. Death is imminent and he is miserable, but on his last day, he finds what he had never seen before.