Searing, albeit depressing, reflections on the process of aging. Born in Vienna in 1911, AmÇry fled Austria at the time of the Anschluss, joined the Belgian Resistance, and was eventually captured by the Germans and shipped to Auschwitz. Making his home in Belgium after the war, he produced At the Mind's Limits, a collection of essays on the meaning of the concentration camp experience. On Aging was his second book, written when he was 55. Originally a series of radio lectures, it consists of five pieces on the depredations age brings to the human body, mind, and spirit. Fiercely determined not to grow old, the author assumes an attitude that, as the subtitle suggests, is one of both resistance and resignation to the inevitable. Literature forms the springboard for many of his ruminations. Taking its cue from Proust, the first essay, ``Existence and the Passage of Time,'' discusses how the aged come to see time as the essence of their existence. Following de Beauvoir, the second article, ``Stranger to Oneself,'' details the infirmities of body brought on by growing old. The third piece, ``The Look of Others,'' draws heavily upon Sartre, considering the death of dreams: The old realize that they no longer will abe able to make it to the top of the hill and are forced to sit down and make do with the view from where they are. The fourth, ``Not to Understand the World Anymore,'' looks at the increasing inability of the old to grasp and accept new developments and ideas. The final essay, ``To Live with Dying,'' considers the approach of death itself as the culmination of the aging process. Shortly after this book's original publication in Europe, AmÇry wrote a companion volume, By One's Own Hand—A Discourse on Voluntary Death. Two years later, at age 65, apparently unable to accept growing old, he took his own life. On Aging is a record of a brilliant and tormented soul.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-253-30675-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Indiana Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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