1 - Well, the reason why you cannot refer to a specific book is because such book does not exist. All the works that have several good momments are among the best works ever produced: The Bible, 1001 Nights, Quixote, Hamlet, Iliad, Aneid, etc. Simple to confirm what I suggested, that a great work of literature has those momments of joy and the bigger works usually have more of those momments. As a small work, being better than a bigger? Sure, I can list a hundred sonnets that are better than hundred novels, but that is not the same as "having many momments of joy could make the book bad". It is about small works with those momments compared to big works with no joy at all.

2 - You can? So please, you must stop the whole debate about Kafka's intentions, meaning, etc. Kafka's specialists are debating about his works since ever. It would be a great advance for the critical studies of Kafka if they can reach a consensus.

3 - You mention that "It's one of the best books about our existence, about life and death, about human nature that was ever written. ". You made a reference to the theme of the book. I am not making things up.

4 - Which is the way? You said a few times "how he builds" or "the way he", but you do not say much about those ways. You just mentions that there is such "way", I can accept a vague, almost spiritual power, the way, but I am not sure if that is the same thing you want to express. I am well aware it is about that Tolstoi show the degradation of a character, his moral evolution pararel with the physical disease evolution, I am well aware it is an emotional trip to that character inner self, but somehow it seems to me that you talk more about your reading experience than Tolstoi writting process.

Yes, if a book has the capacity to affect many readers for a long time, it means the book has some quality. But you know what. People say the same about Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. All you talk about Ivan Ilitch could be easily said by a Paulo Coelho fan. Then my suggest, find out what in Ivan Ilitch is the joy i talk (i am well aware the use of Joy here is misleading, but I am borrowing the word from Borges), you may have even listed it, it is not only about internal coherence or technical skill, It is that thing that set aparts The Alchemist from Ivan Ilitch.