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La vejez
Con su lucidez y su valentía proverbiales, Simone de Beauvoir encara uno de los problemas cada vez más acuciantes en la sociedad contemporánea: la vejez. ¿Los viejos son seres humanos? El mundo actual parece negarlo, rehusándose a admitir que tienen las mismas necesidades, los mismos derechos que los demás. La vejez: víctima de una cruel marginación, amenazada por la soledad y la miseria. Muchas veces se pretende ignorar esta situación. Y no es infrecuente asociar la vejez a la enfermedad, a algo que ni siquiera puede nombrarse.
712 pages, Paperback
First published January 23, 1970
184 people are currently reading
3726 people want to read
About the author
Simone de Beauvoir
420 books11.4k followersWorks of Simone de Beauvoir, French writer, existentialist, and feminist, include
The Second Sex
in 1949 and
The Coming of Age
, a study in 1970 of views of different cultures on the old.
Simone de Beauvoir, an author and philosopher, wrote novels, monographs, political and social issues, essays, biographies, and an autobiography. People now best know She Came to Stay and The Mandarins , her metaphysical novels. Her treatise, a foundational contemporary tract, of 1949 detailed analysis of oppression of women.
Simone de Beauvoir, an author and philosopher, wrote novels, monographs, political and social issues, essays, biographies, and an autobiography. People now best know She Came to Stay and The Mandarins , her metaphysical novels. Her treatise, a foundational contemporary tract, of 1949 detailed analysis of oppression of women.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
May 15, 2019
I see reviewers here complaining that La vieillesse is boring, or disorganised, or outdated gerontology or whatever, but with all due respect I think this is missing the point. Simone de Beauvoir, now in her early sixties, is a distinguished author and philosopher characterised by her calm, lucid way of approaching all kinds of difficult questions. It has been clear to her for some time that she is getting older, and will soon, perhaps even now, be at an age when she's generally called "old". Well: what does that mean? What is old age? Is it an objective thing, a social construct, or a combination of the two? How do people experience being old? What strategies do you have for dealing with the fact of being old? How do different cultures treat old people? What ethical issues arise? In short, she's setting out to examine old age from a philosophical point of view.
De Beauvoir starts off by saying that most people have a great deal of resistance to thinking about these things at all and would rather avoid them: denial is definitely the preferred approach. I will never get old, they tell themselves. I am going to stay young, maybe not in body but at least in spirit. Perhaps I will kill myself to avoid such a miserable fate. (She tells us this is a very common reaction). And yet, most people become old. So why not look at what this means? At first, I did indeed find La vieillesse hard to get through, and progress became mysteriously stalled for a couple of months as I switched to more appealing books; but I decided to return to it, and after a while I found I was hooked. She's right. There's no point in pretending the problems don't exist, and once you start thinking about them they are fascinating.
There are many different threads. Every other page contains something you want to quote - my favourite was Paulhan's comment that old age had revealed to him the existence of several things he'd previously thought were only to be found in books - and it's full of extraordinary stories. But three themes in particular keep coming back. First, old age is something that is very different for different people. Some people do indeed experience it, in what she regards as the traditional stereotype, as a calming of the passions, a serene preparation for departing life, but these are the exceptions. Most old people are not calm or serene; the story that made the deepest impression on me was the very physical romance between a pensioned teacher in his late eighties and a former student, which ends with her tracking down his grave after he has been kidnapped and killed by his own children, and spending twenty-four hours lying prostrate on the granite slab. Needless to say, this is also an exception: but all the same.
Second, there is the question of what it is that primarily characterises being old. Of course, there is physiology, and she is typically dispassionate about detailing the various unpleasant things that happen to people's bodies, particularly men's bodies, as they get older. But she also shows you many examples of old people who are physically decrepit, yet still enjoying life and finding it meaningful. She argues persuasively that a much more important factor is the balance between the past and the future. We all live with the accumulated weight of our past, which we feel responsible for in various ways; we need to carry on being the person we used to be, who is no longer us. After a while, we may spend so much energy thinking about our past self that we have nothing left to devote to our future self, and then we are finished. I thought this was very insightful and helpful.
So, third and finally, what options do we in fact have when we are old? What can we do that will make us feel that we have a future? Here, too, I was struck by the clarity of her answer. For a great many people, there are no options. Once they are too old to be employable, society has no use for them. It may just barely keep them alive because it feels too unpleasant to kill old people directly, but it does so unwillingly, and it is made clear to these people that they are now irrelevant. They cannot make meaningful plans for the future, because whatever they do makes no difference. I think the situation is now better than it was in 1970, when she published the book. But it is not that much better, and it could easily get worse again. The attitudes she describes are deeply rooted in the structure of our civilization.
Well: not exactly an upbeat book. She notes that many of her readers were disappointed to find her later output "pessimistic"; avoid this if you want to hear that you shouldn't worry, it'll all be okay. But personally I loved it. If you also enjoy authors who tell it like it is and don't try to bullshit us, you may love it too.
De Beauvoir starts off by saying that most people have a great deal of resistance to thinking about these things at all and would rather avoid them: denial is definitely the preferred approach. I will never get old, they tell themselves. I am going to stay young, maybe not in body but at least in spirit. Perhaps I will kill myself to avoid such a miserable fate. (She tells us this is a very common reaction). And yet, most people become old. So why not look at what this means? At first, I did indeed find La vieillesse hard to get through, and progress became mysteriously stalled for a couple of months as I switched to more appealing books; but I decided to return to it, and after a while I found I was hooked. She's right. There's no point in pretending the problems don't exist, and once you start thinking about them they are fascinating.
There are many different threads. Every other page contains something you want to quote - my favourite was Paulhan's comment that old age had revealed to him the existence of several things he'd previously thought were only to be found in books - and it's full of extraordinary stories. But three themes in particular keep coming back. First, old age is something that is very different for different people. Some people do indeed experience it, in what she regards as the traditional stereotype, as a calming of the passions, a serene preparation for departing life, but these are the exceptions. Most old people are not calm or serene; the story that made the deepest impression on me was the very physical romance between a pensioned teacher in his late eighties and a former student, which ends with her tracking down his grave after he has been kidnapped and killed by his own children, and spending twenty-four hours lying prostrate on the granite slab. Needless to say, this is also an exception: but all the same.
Second, there is the question of what it is that primarily characterises being old. Of course, there is physiology, and she is typically dispassionate about detailing the various unpleasant things that happen to people's bodies, particularly men's bodies, as they get older. But she also shows you many examples of old people who are physically decrepit, yet still enjoying life and finding it meaningful. She argues persuasively that a much more important factor is the balance between the past and the future. We all live with the accumulated weight of our past, which we feel responsible for in various ways; we need to carry on being the person we used to be, who is no longer us. After a while, we may spend so much energy thinking about our past self that we have nothing left to devote to our future self, and then we are finished. I thought this was very insightful and helpful.
So, third and finally, what options do we in fact have when we are old? What can we do that will make us feel that we have a future? Here, too, I was struck by the clarity of her answer. For a great many people, there are no options. Once they are too old to be employable, society has no use for them. It may just barely keep them alive because it feels too unpleasant to kill old people directly, but it does so unwillingly, and it is made clear to these people that they are now irrelevant. They cannot make meaningful plans for the future, because whatever they do makes no difference. I think the situation is now better than it was in 1970, when she published the book. But it is not that much better, and it could easily get worse again. The attitudes she describes are deeply rooted in the structure of our civilization.
Well: not exactly an upbeat book. She notes that many of her readers were disappointed to find her later output "pessimistic"; avoid this if you want to hear that you shouldn't worry, it'll all be okay. But personally I loved it. If you also enjoy authors who tell it like it is and don't try to bullshit us, you may love it too.
January 27, 2013
Decidí leer esto antes de ser vieja porque esperaba ideas desoladoras. Lejos de eso creo que este libro contribuye a la comprensión de los viejos y el rol que ocupan en la sociedad, te topas de frente con la realidad de que "todos vamos a ser viejos" por lo que es de descerebrados no considerar este estadio de la vida en las actividades de una sociedad.
La similar estructura que El Segundo Sexo permite que sea una lectura amena e interdisciplinaria.
No puedo no pensar en la situación de los ancianos en Chile, relegados a la inercia. Hoy viviendo en el Reino Unido me sigo sorprendiendo de tanto viejo que hay en la calle andando en unos carritos con motor, nunca he sido muy inclinada a admirar las prácticas europeas pero es innegable que los ancianos forman parte de la sociedad mediante un montón de instancias.
La similar estructura que El Segundo Sexo permite que sea una lectura amena e interdisciplinaria.
No puedo no pensar en la situación de los ancianos en Chile, relegados a la inercia. Hoy viviendo en el Reino Unido me sigo sorprendiendo de tanto viejo que hay en la calle andando en unos carritos con motor, nunca he sido muy inclinada a admirar las prácticas europeas pero es innegable que los ancianos forman parte de la sociedad mediante un montón de instancias.
June 13, 2010
I might have never discovered this book had I not stumbled upon it on the sale rack at Salvation Army. An encyclopedic examination on the process of aging from a physiological, spiritual, and cultural - ancient and modern, Eastern and Western - perspectives. Impeccably written, the language and extent of research shows de Beauvoir's brilliance. One might think the subject depressing to read; de Beauvoir makes it a fascinating exploration of life's inevitable and universal journey.
October 22, 2014
Reading this 8-chapter “Old Age” by Simone de Beauvoir was, I think, surprisingly inspiring, informative and sympathetic since she has elegantly written it to her readers to know and understand innumerable cases of some famous elderly in the west and the east. Having bought this paperback since 2009, I have read some interesting parts and quitted due to insufficient motive. So I wonder if its readership might have been a bit limited because of such a seemingly boring title, in other words, this book should be of interest to the elderly themselves and perhaps to those with profound wisdom who are keen on more knowledge and better understand their contemporary old people with whom they live or work in everyday life since one of the reasons is that we are all going to become older every year till we would definitely be honored as elderly people when the time comes. Therefore, we ourselves should get prepared and have compassion on them.
August 24, 2016
I ended up reading this book in two disjoint sessions (had to return to library in the middle--it's over 500 pages long), so some of my memory of it is not as sharp as it otherwise might be.
This book has great promise, and although it's good, the promise is ultimately not fulfilled. As I understand it, the book is something of a spiritual successor to Beauvoir's earlier and much more famous work, "The Second Sex" (which I have not read). In TCA, she portrays how the elderly are defined in relation to non-elderly adults, the latter of which are taken to be the "normal" category, in much the same way as is done to women in relation to men (the topic of TSS). Basically, she argues that the treatment of the elderly in our society (and, to bypass any ambiguity about what "our" means in this context, in all societies) is very poor.
It's a rich topic, and Beauvoir is clearly very, very intelligent. (She got the second highest score in France in her college entrance exam; the highest scorer was Sartre.) The book is extremely comprehensive and wide-ranging. She begins by covering what we know about the life of the elderly in pre-historical societies from the anthropological evidence, then assesses the available historical evidence. The second half of the book turns to modern society. Beauvoir discusses modern policies relating to the elderly and statistics about their well-being, then turns to qualitative evidence from interview studies of average elderly people. Finally, she talks about the experiences of aging of quite a few famous individuals, including Churchill, Gandhi, Victor Hugo, Michelangelo, and many others.
The book could have used a very strong editor, however. Perhaps it did not receive one because Beauvoir was already quite famous when she published it. But the piling up of encyclopedic detail on what is known about the lives of the elderly ultimately detracted from the strength of the book, in my view. Her conclusion, which is just about 5 pages long, is awesome. It's a very strongly argued left-wing perspective, which basically says that the poor treatment of the elderly is not something that we can expect to address by piecemeal policy meliorism, because it stems from the overall treatment of people in a capitalist (or, to use Naomi Klein's more apt term, extractivist) society as primarily valuable in their ability to contribute to economic production. It's no wonder that old people have difficulties living happy and fulfilling lives, because for their entire prior lives, society has not encouraged them to develop their human capacities, but rather rewarded them (to the extent it has) for the things that are taken away from them as they age. She recognizes that no society has done a good job of caring for its elderly, but doesn't take that as any excuse for not attempting to do better at it. But, the conclusion comes very abruptly after an interminably long discussion of the old age of Clemenceau. Throughout the course of the book, Beauvoir does very little to maintain the thread of an argument or connect the reader back to her main ideas. It's sort of as though she got interested in the topic, did a bunch of research, and drew some conclusions, but then just dumped all of her research into a book and tacked on an extended abstract at the end. I wish she had done more to show her line of thinking, and been more selective with the evidence she laid out.
This book has great promise, and although it's good, the promise is ultimately not fulfilled. As I understand it, the book is something of a spiritual successor to Beauvoir's earlier and much more famous work, "The Second Sex" (which I have not read). In TCA, she portrays how the elderly are defined in relation to non-elderly adults, the latter of which are taken to be the "normal" category, in much the same way as is done to women in relation to men (the topic of TSS). Basically, she argues that the treatment of the elderly in our society (and, to bypass any ambiguity about what "our" means in this context, in all societies) is very poor.
It's a rich topic, and Beauvoir is clearly very, very intelligent. (She got the second highest score in France in her college entrance exam; the highest scorer was Sartre.) The book is extremely comprehensive and wide-ranging. She begins by covering what we know about the life of the elderly in pre-historical societies from the anthropological evidence, then assesses the available historical evidence. The second half of the book turns to modern society. Beauvoir discusses modern policies relating to the elderly and statistics about their well-being, then turns to qualitative evidence from interview studies of average elderly people. Finally, she talks about the experiences of aging of quite a few famous individuals, including Churchill, Gandhi, Victor Hugo, Michelangelo, and many others.
The book could have used a very strong editor, however. Perhaps it did not receive one because Beauvoir was already quite famous when she published it. But the piling up of encyclopedic detail on what is known about the lives of the elderly ultimately detracted from the strength of the book, in my view. Her conclusion, which is just about 5 pages long, is awesome. It's a very strongly argued left-wing perspective, which basically says that the poor treatment of the elderly is not something that we can expect to address by piecemeal policy meliorism, because it stems from the overall treatment of people in a capitalist (or, to use Naomi Klein's more apt term, extractivist) society as primarily valuable in their ability to contribute to economic production. It's no wonder that old people have difficulties living happy and fulfilling lives, because for their entire prior lives, society has not encouraged them to develop their human capacities, but rather rewarded them (to the extent it has) for the things that are taken away from them as they age. She recognizes that no society has done a good job of caring for its elderly, but doesn't take that as any excuse for not attempting to do better at it. But, the conclusion comes very abruptly after an interminably long discussion of the old age of Clemenceau. Throughout the course of the book, Beauvoir does very little to maintain the thread of an argument or connect the reader back to her main ideas. It's sort of as though she got interested in the topic, did a bunch of research, and drew some conclusions, but then just dumped all of her research into a book and tacked on an extended abstract at the end. I wish she had done more to show her line of thinking, and been more selective with the evidence she laid out.
February 26, 2021
Por su cadencia es un libro que toma su tiempo, sin embargo me ha gustado mucho. Inicialmente no pude evitar cuestionarme acerca de la validez del mismo ya que en muchos casos aludía a data o eventos bastante distantes en el tiempo, pero en el camino hallé enriquecedor entender este tema desde mucho más atrás en la historia pues eso te permite contrastar, comparar, informarte y darte cuenta que finalmente los entornos cambian pero en esencia los patrones se repiten. La vejez es muy compleja y con el tiempo ha sido sinónimo de cosas muy diversas: magia, sabiduría, experiencia, decadencia, desprecio, etc. Entender que lugar le damos a la vejez a nivel macro nos permite entender a las sociedades en sí mismas, a nivel personal nos invita a evaluar nuestras expectativas y nuestros mayores temores. Dos grandes reflexiones presentes en el libro que me quedan en la cabeza:
La primera tiene que ver con el mundo y el espacio que creamos para la vejez y si realmente el grado de "decadencia" que trae no es en parte nuestra responsabilidad como sociedad:
"Cabe preguntarse si la senilidad es una consecuencia de la senectud, si no sería más bien un producto artificial de la sociedad que rechaza a los viejos"
La otra me pareció especialmente interesante pues creo que me ha pasado sentirme así muy eventualmente y me generó mucha angustia pensar que en algún momento la vejez traiga consigo este estado recurrente:
"Me sorprendí ayer preguntándome con la mayor seriedad del mundo si realmente estaba todavía vivo. El mundo entero estaba allí y yo lo percibía maravillosamente ¿Pero era yo el que lo percibía? Todo existía y seguía siendo sin mi ayuda. El mundo no tenía ninguna necesidad de mí y durante un tiempo bastante largo me ausenté"
La primera tiene que ver con el mundo y el espacio que creamos para la vejez y si realmente el grado de "decadencia" que trae no es en parte nuestra responsabilidad como sociedad:
"Cabe preguntarse si la senilidad es una consecuencia de la senectud, si no sería más bien un producto artificial de la sociedad que rechaza a los viejos"
La otra me pareció especialmente interesante pues creo que me ha pasado sentirme así muy eventualmente y me generó mucha angustia pensar que en algún momento la vejez traiga consigo este estado recurrente:
"Me sorprendí ayer preguntándome con la mayor seriedad del mundo si realmente estaba todavía vivo. El mundo entero estaba allí y yo lo percibía maravillosamente ¿Pero era yo el que lo percibía? Todo existía y seguía siendo sin mi ayuda. El mundo no tenía ninguna necesidad de mí y durante un tiempo bastante largo me ausenté"
June 27, 2013
A disappointing read: there was much skimming from page 361 to the end.
I expected this to be an unpicking of cultural attitudes to aging, but it is instead simply a whole bunch of anecdotes, statistics, and facts.
40 years is a long time in gerontology. Many of the attitudes and expectations that de Beauvoir is discussing are no longer currently held by older adults themselves. Many are still held by younger adults (a letter to the editor in a national newspaper here seriously suggested compulsory retirement at age 65 to give younger people jobs. See also responses to the age of the MCs in The Apothecary's Garden).
But older people (in general) no longer feel they "should" be serene, sexless, and ill, especially when considering that de Beauvoir frames old age as starting at 50. Older adults will no longer just 'live with' ill health as a normal consequence of aging ( although they may be unable to afford treatment, and so older adults still face economic discrimination).
I'm glad my Buy No Books June saved me from getting a copy of this before I read it.
I expected this to be an unpicking of cultural attitudes to aging, but it is instead simply a whole bunch of anecdotes, statistics, and facts.
40 years is a long time in gerontology. Many of the attitudes and expectations that de Beauvoir is discussing are no longer currently held by older adults themselves. Many are still held by younger adults (a letter to the editor in a national newspaper here seriously suggested compulsory retirement at age 65 to give younger people jobs. See also responses to the age of the MCs in The Apothecary's Garden).
But older people (in general) no longer feel they "should" be serene, sexless, and ill, especially when considering that de Beauvoir frames old age as starting at 50. Older adults will no longer just 'live with' ill health as a normal consequence of aging ( although they may be unable to afford treatment, and so older adults still face economic discrimination).
I'm glad my Buy No Books June saved me from getting a copy of this before I read it.
November 7, 2021
مثل جنس اول، کتابی استقرایی و پرجزییات است که باید خواننده با در کنار هم قرار دادن فکت ها و داده های مختلف تاریخی به نتیجه برسد.سالخوردگی توصیفی حیرت انگیز از دوران شکوهمند کهنسالی است.
June 17, 2022
Sometime back, during a college reunion, D's friend mentioned how she was shocked when she realised that she (and therefore us) were 'those people' who were being referred to as 'middle aged'. A couple of years ago, I had written a blog post on entering the second half of my life, which I was hoping would not be a "mountain’s downhill, but instead, a series of small hills, gracefully undulating until the end." So yes, I have been thinking of old age, and this book, though written back in 1970, is a great exploration of what it means to be old.
Simone de Beauvoir does this very methodically, going from an outside in perspective - biological, ethnographic, and societal (historic and current) to an inside out - one how does it feel to be the person physically, mentally, emotionally and as a member of a family and society. She is quite right in presuming that in general, we don't treat our elders well, and we don't really want to talk about it either. Old age exposes the failure of our entire civilisation. As she points out, what is ironical is that this is also our future, as is told in many stories, books and movies.
Going by ethnographic studies, communities trying to subsist from day to day treat the elderly as an extra mouth to feed, but if they attach some spiritual importance to its forebears, then the elderly are an embodiment of that connection. Historically, among privileged classes, the treatment of the elderly was connected to property ownership and laws around it. Greeks and Spartans honoured old age. The medieval world was quite obsessed with victory over old age. Shakespeare's King Lear is a great commentary on the elderly's self perception, biases and the overall implications. Victorian England saw the patriarch as the upholder of austerity.
It was only after 1850 that geriatrics (the subject to begin with, not the name) came into existence and institutions for the aged started springing up. This is also related to the fact that it was only in the late eighteenth century that life expectancy first touched 60 for 10% of the population (France). Additionally, in the society of yore made up of peasants and craftsmen, livelihood and life coincided, and as abilities decreased with age, work was adapted and he was taken care of by the family. But as work changed, and people moved away from their land, and old people became 'unproductive', the dependence on the young became a challenge. The interesting (and sad) aspect, shown through studies, is that the idleness forced upon the aged is not something that necessarily happens in the course of nature but that it is the consequence of a deliberate social choice.
It was in the mid 1900s that gerontology was developed on three planes - biological, psychological and social. The first laws on old age date back to the 1930s and our usual 'suspects' - Denmark, Sweden and Norway lead here too. But at that time, in many European countries, assistance was such that "it is too much to die on and not enough to live on".
The book spends the second half contemplating and showing through examples, the reasons behind the behaviour of elderly folk. The loss of standing, the fear of illnesses and injury, jealousy, and the resulting seeming selfishness, the grief of losing others whom they considered part of their future, are all beautifully captured. They turn back to themes that are emotionally valuable to them, and replay them constantly, they 'escape from the present and dream of former happiness, exorcise past misfortunes.'
Familiarity and habit impoverishes the way they look at things. They are mostly unable to break away from the past and see things in a fresh way. It doesn't help that breaking away might mean losing everything that made them great/admired. Lack of interest and curiosity are aggravated by biological conditions, and this intellectual and emotional indifference may cause inertia. Death is no longer an abstract, but a personal, near-term event. "The sadness of old people is not caused by any particular event or set of circumstances: it merges with their consuming boredom, with their bitter and humiliating sense of uselessness, and their loneliness in the midst of a world that has nothing but indifference for them."
There are examples of how old age affects professionals in different fields - science, literature, politics, and it is poignant to note how famous personalities whose works we still hold as the gold standard were troubled so much while they were creating them in the twilight of their life - Freud, Churchill, Michelangelo.
As the author rightly points out, "One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion. When this is so, then there are still valid reasons for activity or speech." At some point, we will all end up saying "in my time" - about the time we looked upon ourselves as first-class individuals, doing our best work, feeling like we belonged in this world. That window is bound to close, and those who live long 'have that melancholy privilege of remaining alone in a new world'. (Ninon de Lenclos)
This is definitely not a cheerful read, but the narrative is strong and impassioned, and the subject even more important as we age. So yes, a fantastic read that offers universal and timeless insights on one's own future.
Quotes
"Ageing is not a simple slope which everyone slides down at the same speed. It is a flight of irregular stairs down which some journey more quickly than others." ~ Howell
'Oh, the unhappy state of man! Scarcely has the mind reached full ripeness before the body begins to fall away' ~ Montesquieu
"Not only has this past's future ceased to be a future, but in becoming the present it has often disappointed our hopes"
Simone de Beauvoir does this very methodically, going from an outside in perspective - biological, ethnographic, and societal (historic and current) to an inside out - one how does it feel to be the person physically, mentally, emotionally and as a member of a family and society. She is quite right in presuming that in general, we don't treat our elders well, and we don't really want to talk about it either. Old age exposes the failure of our entire civilisation. As she points out, what is ironical is that this is also our future, as is told in many stories, books and movies.
Going by ethnographic studies, communities trying to subsist from day to day treat the elderly as an extra mouth to feed, but if they attach some spiritual importance to its forebears, then the elderly are an embodiment of that connection. Historically, among privileged classes, the treatment of the elderly was connected to property ownership and laws around it. Greeks and Spartans honoured old age. The medieval world was quite obsessed with victory over old age. Shakespeare's King Lear is a great commentary on the elderly's self perception, biases and the overall implications. Victorian England saw the patriarch as the upholder of austerity.
It was only after 1850 that geriatrics (the subject to begin with, not the name) came into existence and institutions for the aged started springing up. This is also related to the fact that it was only in the late eighteenth century that life expectancy first touched 60 for 10% of the population (France). Additionally, in the society of yore made up of peasants and craftsmen, livelihood and life coincided, and as abilities decreased with age, work was adapted and he was taken care of by the family. But as work changed, and people moved away from their land, and old people became 'unproductive', the dependence on the young became a challenge. The interesting (and sad) aspect, shown through studies, is that the idleness forced upon the aged is not something that necessarily happens in the course of nature but that it is the consequence of a deliberate social choice.
It was in the mid 1900s that gerontology was developed on three planes - biological, psychological and social. The first laws on old age date back to the 1930s and our usual 'suspects' - Denmark, Sweden and Norway lead here too. But at that time, in many European countries, assistance was such that "it is too much to die on and not enough to live on".
The book spends the second half contemplating and showing through examples, the reasons behind the behaviour of elderly folk. The loss of standing, the fear of illnesses and injury, jealousy, and the resulting seeming selfishness, the grief of losing others whom they considered part of their future, are all beautifully captured. They turn back to themes that are emotionally valuable to them, and replay them constantly, they 'escape from the present and dream of former happiness, exorcise past misfortunes.'
Familiarity and habit impoverishes the way they look at things. They are mostly unable to break away from the past and see things in a fresh way. It doesn't help that breaking away might mean losing everything that made them great/admired. Lack of interest and curiosity are aggravated by biological conditions, and this intellectual and emotional indifference may cause inertia. Death is no longer an abstract, but a personal, near-term event. "The sadness of old people is not caused by any particular event or set of circumstances: it merges with their consuming boredom, with their bitter and humiliating sense of uselessness, and their loneliness in the midst of a world that has nothing but indifference for them."
There are examples of how old age affects professionals in different fields - science, literature, politics, and it is poignant to note how famous personalities whose works we still hold as the gold standard were troubled so much while they were creating them in the twilight of their life - Freud, Churchill, Michelangelo.
As the author rightly points out, "One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion. When this is so, then there are still valid reasons for activity or speech." At some point, we will all end up saying "in my time" - about the time we looked upon ourselves as first-class individuals, doing our best work, feeling like we belonged in this world. That window is bound to close, and those who live long 'have that melancholy privilege of remaining alone in a new world'. (Ninon de Lenclos)
This is definitely not a cheerful read, but the narrative is strong and impassioned, and the subject even more important as we age. So yes, a fantastic read that offers universal and timeless insights on one's own future.
Quotes
"Ageing is not a simple slope which everyone slides down at the same speed. It is a flight of irregular stairs down which some journey more quickly than others." ~ Howell
'Oh, the unhappy state of man! Scarcely has the mind reached full ripeness before the body begins to fall away' ~ Montesquieu
"Not only has this past's future ceased to be a future, but in becoming the present it has often disappointed our hopes"
February 19, 2024
Es un tostón 🥱
Es interesante, obvio que es un gran tema de conversación. De Beauvoir aborda todas las aristas de la vejez desde la biología hasta la actualidad pasando por la dimensión sociopolítica y su impacto en la estructura de cada pais además de ritos y experiencias en distintas culturas aportando su visión y exponiendo su critica da un sinfín de estadísticas incluso poniendo como centro la vejez en el arte y la literatura.
El pero es el siguiente: es súper detallado y se vuelve ETERNO. Este ensayo es para un lector con otro propósito que no sea divertirse sino para reflexionar y/o añadir como parte de una investigación antropológica o filosófica si se quiere.
De todas formas se puede apreciar lo que más rescato de Simone y siempre he admirado de ella: sabe escribir con una claridad única. Tiene una pluma afilada y muy analítica.
Es interesante, obvio que es un gran tema de conversación. De Beauvoir aborda todas las aristas de la vejez desde la biología hasta la actualidad pasando por la dimensión sociopolítica y su impacto en la estructura de cada pais además de ritos y experiencias en distintas culturas aportando su visión y exponiendo su critica da un sinfín de estadísticas incluso poniendo como centro la vejez en el arte y la literatura.
El pero es el siguiente: es súper detallado y se vuelve ETERNO. Este ensayo es para un lector con otro propósito que no sea divertirse sino para reflexionar y/o añadir como parte de una investigación antropológica o filosófica si se quiere.
De todas formas se puede apreciar lo que más rescato de Simone y siempre he admirado de ella: sabe escribir con una claridad única. Tiene una pluma afilada y muy analítica.
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January 24, 20167.4
I'm surprised this is as obscure as it is, given its massive importance within general philosophy and the time it must have taken de Beauvoir to write it. La Veillesse is a huge book covering the concept of old age throughout history. It should be treated more as a textbook than anything else, for although it transitions from anthropology, to history, to art history, to personal, Roman philosophy, it is extremely repetitive and the point is pretty well summarized in the conclusion. But this is a topic with some considerable importance to de Beauvoir, and should remain a timeless text. Few books have actually saddened me this significantly, and portrays old age in a brutal way.
I'm surprised this is as obscure as it is, given its massive importance within general philosophy and the time it must have taken de Beauvoir to write it. La Veillesse is a huge book covering the concept of old age throughout history. It should be treated more as a textbook than anything else, for although it transitions from anthropology, to history, to art history, to personal, Roman philosophy, it is extremely repetitive and the point is pretty well summarized in the conclusion. But this is a topic with some considerable importance to de Beauvoir, and should remain a timeless text. Few books have actually saddened me this significantly, and portrays old age in a brutal way.
August 13, 2024
«Cuando se ha comprendido lo que es la condición de los viejos no es posible conformarse con reclamar una 'política de la vejez' más generosa, un aumento de las pensiones, alojamientos sanos, ocios organizados. Todo el sistema es lo que está en juego y la reivindicación no puede sino ser radical: cambiar la vida.»
Abandonada el 03 de enero y retomada una y otra y otra. Pienso en la página demarcada y arrugada que yace bajo mis dedos. «Aquí te quedaste». Originalmente, llamada: «La vieillesse». En francés, suena a belleza. ¿Y por qué la vejez no lo sería? La primera edición de este libro se dio en 1979 por Éditions Gallimard, y posteriormente editada en 2018 por @penguinrandomhouse.
Además, sumamente relevante mencionar que «La vejez» fue traducida al español por Aurora Bernández, una tremenda autora. Ahora sí. La introducción trae a Buda a colación a través de una anécdota viejística. O simplemente para viejas, viejovencitas, jóvenes viejas; en fin, personas que desean cultivar alguna moraleja para las inquietudes de sus vidas: «Para la sociedad, la vejez parece una especie de secreto vergonzoso del cual es indecente hablar», que para mí, termina siendo un marcador de páginas.
Con este libro, hay espacio para la vejez. Con este libro aprendo que aunque los primeros pasos científicos de Morgagni (1761) para establecer una correlación entre los síntomas clínicos y las observaciones hechas durante las autopsias; la vejez es apenas una sección. Unas palmaditas en la espalda que tan olvidada no está. No obstante, en realidad con Rush (1799) –casi treinta años después– por fin se observa enteramente la anatomía de los viejos. El estudio de la senescencia: «A comienzos de siglo, las investigaciones biológicas sobre la vejez eran sólo el subproducto de otros trabajos; al examinar la vida de las plantas y los animales surgía un interés subsidiario por los cambios que sufrían con la edad. Mientras que la juventud y la adolescencia eran objeto de numerosas obras especializadas, la vejez no se estudiaba por sí misma, en gran parte a causa de los tabúes que he señalado. Era una cuestión desagradable».
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Para mayor información sobre esta lectura sobre la autora, o sobre otras lecturas visita @lecturasdelabruja, donde hablo más allá de libros y poesía y libertad. O en www.ladonnabohemien.wordpress.com hago más hincapié de estas apreciaciones literarias. 🔮
Abandonada el 03 de enero y retomada una y otra y otra. Pienso en la página demarcada y arrugada que yace bajo mis dedos. «Aquí te quedaste». Originalmente, llamada: «La vieillesse». En francés, suena a belleza. ¿Y por qué la vejez no lo sería? La primera edición de este libro se dio en 1979 por Éditions Gallimard, y posteriormente editada en 2018 por @penguinrandomhouse.
Además, sumamente relevante mencionar que «La vejez» fue traducida al español por Aurora Bernández, una tremenda autora. Ahora sí. La introducción trae a Buda a colación a través de una anécdota viejística. O simplemente para viejas, viejovencitas, jóvenes viejas; en fin, personas que desean cultivar alguna moraleja para las inquietudes de sus vidas: «Para la sociedad, la vejez parece una especie de secreto vergonzoso del cual es indecente hablar», que para mí, termina siendo un marcador de páginas.
Con este libro, hay espacio para la vejez. Con este libro aprendo que aunque los primeros pasos científicos de Morgagni (1761) para establecer una correlación entre los síntomas clínicos y las observaciones hechas durante las autopsias; la vejez es apenas una sección. Unas palmaditas en la espalda que tan olvidada no está. No obstante, en realidad con Rush (1799) –casi treinta años después– por fin se observa enteramente la anatomía de los viejos. El estudio de la senescencia: «A comienzos de siglo, las investigaciones biológicas sobre la vejez eran sólo el subproducto de otros trabajos; al examinar la vida de las plantas y los animales surgía un interés subsidiario por los cambios que sufrían con la edad. Mientras que la juventud y la adolescencia eran objeto de numerosas obras especializadas, la vejez no se estudiaba por sí misma, en gran parte a causa de los tabúes que he señalado. Era una cuestión desagradable».
__
Para mayor información sobre esta lectura sobre la autora, o sobre otras lecturas visita @lecturasdelabruja, donde hablo más allá de libros y poesía y libertad. O en www.ladonnabohemien.wordpress.com hago más hincapié de estas apreciaciones literarias. 🔮
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2023
A vital topic by the writer who has probably been the single biggest intellectual influence of my life, with a lot of the sharp moments and compelling aphorisms that de Beauvoir delivered so regularly... But, still, oof. It's just a lot of stuff in service of not as much insight. I hate being the guy to say "it could have been shorter," but this book feels legitimately a third too long to me. The idea of examining the concept of aging and the status of the elderly over a thousand-year period is a gimmick that can't really be accomplished. I'm glad I read it, but didn't enjoy the process. Recommended only if you're a de Beauvoir completist, like me, or researching social perceptions of the aged.
April 27, 2014
I was referred to this book as the classic on age and aging. Indeed, there is a wealth of historical fact on attitudes to and treatment of the aged in a range of cultures. Overall it makes for a depressing read, even more so when de Beauvoir moves on to The Being in the World and examines the neglect of the aged in current (late 1960s) society. Her political sympathies come to the fore in the demonstration of the contrasting fates of the working class as opposed to the wealthier aged. Yet, notwithstanding the anecdotes and the detailed descriptions of the experience of several celebrated older people- Victor Hugo, Clemenceau, Lamartine, Churchill - the message of the conclusion, that " There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing goals that give our existence a meaning," is more didactic than self-evident. And given her distrust of society, this appears to be an option only for those with adequate means to pursue such goals. While one has an initial impression that the book is dated and that things have moved on with more options for meaningful aging in the 21st century, this bifurcation is still there and perhaps even growing. The Economist in April 2014 reports that "across the rich world well-educated people consistently work longer than the less-skilled". Working longer implies not only continuing to earn more but is a proxy for actively pursuing those goals that make life meaningful. So although ultimately a depressing read, de Beauvoir's account remains relevant and provides a basis for reflection on how far things have changed over the last 50 years.
November 13, 2016
Decidí leer este libro para entender el proceso por el cual mis padres están transitando y al cual si el cuerpo lo permite todos llegaremos. El libro es todo un viaje (independientemente de las 707 páginas a letra hormiga –ya le perdí el miedo a libros de más de 500 páginas-) el cual está divido en tres partes son más capítulos pero creo que se puede resumir así.
Primeramente el estudio a través de la historia como se manejaba la vejez desde las culturas antiguas y recorriendo diferentes partes de la historia de la humanidad.
Después habla de cómo en Francia en la década de los 60´s se manejaban las jubilaciones, fondos de retiros, etc…me hizo recordar mis clases de derecho laboral.
A través de ejemplos de grandes personajes de la historia ( Verdi, Miguel Ángel, Churchill, Sastre, etc.) nos demuestra que la vejez aun a pesar del deterioro corporal depende de actitud con la que la lleves; tú decides si como versa el dicho ��chango viejo no aprende maroma nueva” o si piensas que eres producto en proceso donde puedes compartir tu sapiencia hasta el final.
Un libro para entender, aprender y prepararse algo que todos tarde temprano vamos a llegar porque “como te ves me vi y como me ves te veras”
Primeramente el estudio a través de la historia como se manejaba la vejez desde las culturas antiguas y recorriendo diferentes partes de la historia de la humanidad.
Después habla de cómo en Francia en la década de los 60´s se manejaban las jubilaciones, fondos de retiros, etc…me hizo recordar mis clases de derecho laboral.
A través de ejemplos de grandes personajes de la historia ( Verdi, Miguel Ángel, Churchill, Sastre, etc.) nos demuestra que la vejez aun a pesar del deterioro corporal depende de actitud con la que la lleves; tú decides si como versa el dicho ��chango viejo no aprende maroma nueva” o si piensas que eres producto en proceso donde puedes compartir tu sapiencia hasta el final.
Un libro para entender, aprender y prepararse algo que todos tarde temprano vamos a llegar porque “como te ves me vi y como me ves te veras”
September 13, 2018
Billed as “the definitive study of the universal problem of growing old”. Published in 1970, nearly 600 pages, much of it dated. I skimmed some interminably detailed anthropology and history, and much sociology and politics. But her exploration of the psychology of becoming and being old is interesting. One of her theses is that everyone spends their life fearing death, but no one spends much time fearing old age, because we see the aged as different from us, another species, not as people we will become. Even into our own old age we kid ourselves it is something that is happening to other people, not to ourselves. The number of years we have lived tells us we’re old, but, health permitting, and even in spite of declining health and acuity, we persist in feeling ourselves young and resist the knowledge that we don’t appear that way.
June 1, 2020
What is interesting is that the past 50 years have not rendered this book irrelevant. In its fundamentals the events of old age, despite cultural differences between different societies, are somewhat inevitable.
As she observes in her conclusion the only way to ensure a dignified fulfilling old age is to completely reorder what we understand society and life to be., and that clearly has not happened.
Most of us are blind to the intellectual foundations of our current societies and lack a coherent philosophical grounding to even begin to appreciate our positions within them, moving into old age this lack of groundedness can only leave the majority untethered and aimlessly cast adrift on the currents of fortune. Even for those with means and security the approach of their personal end must be difficult to bear, the aim of living is to learn to die well.
As she observes in her conclusion the only way to ensure a dignified fulfilling old age is to completely reorder what we understand society and life to be., and that clearly has not happened.
Most of us are blind to the intellectual foundations of our current societies and lack a coherent philosophical grounding to even begin to appreciate our positions within them, moving into old age this lack of groundedness can only leave the majority untethered and aimlessly cast adrift on the currents of fortune. Even for those with means and security the approach of their personal end must be difficult to bear, the aim of living is to learn to die well.
August 1, 2007
اثری خواندنی از سیمون دو بوار. در فارسی کتابی با نام "کهنسالی" از سیمون دوبوار در 1365 منتشر شده که محمدعلی طوسی آن را ترجمه کرده. به احتمال قریب به یقین همین اثر اوست.
September 19, 2024
Achei este livro pretensioso. É um verdadeiro tratado sobre a velhice sob a óptica de uma mulher feminista francesa envelhecida do contexto do início dos anos 1970, sim, isso é. Mas se tivesse tido um trabalho de edição de texto melhor, em seu original, metade do livro poderia ser enxugado. Tem muito de antropologia dos anos 1970 ali, analisando "sociedades primitivas" e sua relação com a velhice. Tem muita análise literária que serve mais para mostrar erudição do que comprovar um ponto de vista. Tem dados da França dos anos 1970 que, a não ser que você faça uma análise de conjuntura da época, se tornaram irrelevantes 50 anos depois da publicação do livro. Mas quando DeBeauvoir passa para pensar a velhice a partir de sua verve filosófica a coisa muda de figura e temos as melhores partes do livro. Ainda assim, recomendo ao leitor dessa resenha que pense algumas vezes antes de adquirir o livro. Talvez o ideal seja mesmo pegar um dos diversos resumos dele que existem por aí do que desembolsar uma nota para ler dados e inferências datados.
September 30, 2025
En enligt mig jätteviktig bok, och är glad att jag läser den när jag fortfarande är förhållandevis ung. Tycker ungdomar borde läsa denna
Beauvoir har en skrivstil och sätt att argumentera på som gör att jag hetsläser, denna bok är dessvärre oerhört deprimerande då den gestaltar åldrandet för vad det verkligen är — och i verkligheten sällan något respektabelt eller vackert
Mest intressant är hur åldrandet påverkar män som förtryckt känslor och plötsligt får en infantil känslosamhet, det ser jag hela tiden på jobbet
Ska man ha en bra ålderdom ska man vara nyfiken och ha många intressen. Minus att hon inte skrev denna när hon var ung, hade varit betydligt mer intressant då. Nu känns det så typiskt bara
Beauvoir har en skrivstil och sätt att argumentera på som gör att jag hetsläser, denna bok är dessvärre oerhört deprimerande då den gestaltar åldrandet för vad det verkligen är — och i verkligheten sällan något respektabelt eller vackert
Mest intressant är hur åldrandet påverkar män som förtryckt känslor och plötsligt får en infantil känslosamhet, det ser jag hela tiden på jobbet
Ska man ha en bra ålderdom ska man vara nyfiken och ha många intressen. Minus att hon inte skrev denna när hon var ung, hade varit betydligt mer intressant då. Nu känns det så typiskt bara
January 5, 2019
800 pages of tedium.
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April 23, 2025capítulo «descubrimiento y asunción de la vejez. experiencia vivida del cuerpo»
April 13, 2025
No es un libro para cualquiera, es bastante denso, completo y hermoso al mismo tiempo. Tampoco puedo negar que es deprimente y pesimista, pero creo que la vejez en sí misma es pesimista, aunque no tiene por qué ser deprimente, hay muchos factores contenidos en esta obra que explican cómo esta puede llevarse satisfactoria y humanamente hasta el final, y ese es el problema central de este título. Los medios para envejecer dignamente varían por tipo de trabajo ejercido en la etapa productiva de la vida, el nivel socioeconómico, el nivel educativo, el país de residencia, etc.
Si bien el título fue escrito con datos obtenidos hasta los años sesenta, las problemáticas expuestas conservan toda su vigencia: la soledad, el abandono, la decadencia física, los problemas mentales, el problema de la jubilación, la caducidad "programada" para la persona vieja (la edad de jubilación); y lo más interesante aún, la relación de la sociedad con los viejos o la vejez en general como una especie de tabú, un "problema", una carga", una etapa indeseable a la que no se quiere llegar, un tipo de muerte lenta o enfermedad de la que se rehúye por todos los medios.
La autora aborda la vejez desde diferentes métodos. El primero de ellos se realiza a a través de una comparativa etnológica desde las sociedades ágrafas hasta llegar a las industriales o modernas. Y aquí me ha resultado sorprendente lo expuesto, ya que por alguna razón creía que el anciano en sociedades consideradas "primitivas" recibían un trato más amable o humano que en nuestros días, quizá porque pensamos que cada vez estamos más deshumanizados e intermediados por tecnologías e instituciones que despersonalizan nuestra cotidianidad, sin embargo, la autora muestra una divergencia sorprendente de la función y el trato dado al anciano en este tipo de sociedades, el trato iba desde el abandono total por la pérdida de la capacidad de trabajo del anciano, incluso el parricidio como rito para acabar con la "pesada carga" que significa un anciano para los grupos nómades, por ejemplo, hasta el trato generoso de otras sociedades como la japonesa o la china, y esto no tiene que ver con el grado de complejidad de estas sociedades sino de la utilidad del anciano, que en algunos casos principalmente a través de la oralidad podían transmitir conocimientos vitales para el grupo, aspecto que los revestía de autoridad, relevancia y funcionalidad, aunque con la penetración de la escritura evidentemente también perdían una de las pocas funciones que les quedaba y el trato se tornaba más frío o indiferente.
Posteriormente Beauvoir sigue un método que analiza y compara biografías y escrito personales e íntimos de personas de gran prestigio en la vida intelectual al llegar a la vejez (sesenta años o más) tales como Einstein, Freud, Sartre, Aristóteles, etc. Y aquí los hallazgos tampoco son halagüeños, en general la mayoría de los relatos detallan y profundizan los achaques de las que son víctimas estas personas al llegar a la ancianidad, y el dolor que representa en sus vidas la pérdida de la vitalidad y la producción intelectual.
También la autora aborda la ancianidad revisando encuestas y estudios estadísticos sobre el problema, principalmente de Estados Unidos, Francia e Inglaterra. Aquí se enumeran nuevamente, de una forma más generalizada los problemas de abandono, funcionalidad, enfermedades mentales, institucionalización o internación en casas de ancianos, cantidad de jubilación recibidas entre países, incremento de la esperanza de vida, etc.
Es un libro necesario muy interesante para abordar el problema de la ancianidad en sí misma y la relación de la sociedad con la vejez, y como aquella puede generar las innumerables enfermedades de las que son víctimas.
Si bien el título fue escrito con datos obtenidos hasta los años sesenta, las problemáticas expuestas conservan toda su vigencia: la soledad, el abandono, la decadencia física, los problemas mentales, el problema de la jubilación, la caducidad "programada" para la persona vieja (la edad de jubilación); y lo más interesante aún, la relación de la sociedad con los viejos o la vejez en general como una especie de tabú, un "problema", una carga", una etapa indeseable a la que no se quiere llegar, un tipo de muerte lenta o enfermedad de la que se rehúye por todos los medios.
La autora aborda la vejez desde diferentes métodos. El primero de ellos se realiza a a través de una comparativa etnológica desde las sociedades ágrafas hasta llegar a las industriales o modernas. Y aquí me ha resultado sorprendente lo expuesto, ya que por alguna razón creía que el anciano en sociedades consideradas "primitivas" recibían un trato más amable o humano que en nuestros días, quizá porque pensamos que cada vez estamos más deshumanizados e intermediados por tecnologías e instituciones que despersonalizan nuestra cotidianidad, sin embargo, la autora muestra una divergencia sorprendente de la función y el trato dado al anciano en este tipo de sociedades, el trato iba desde el abandono total por la pérdida de la capacidad de trabajo del anciano, incluso el parricidio como rito para acabar con la "pesada carga" que significa un anciano para los grupos nómades, por ejemplo, hasta el trato generoso de otras sociedades como la japonesa o la china, y esto no tiene que ver con el grado de complejidad de estas sociedades sino de la utilidad del anciano, que en algunos casos principalmente a través de la oralidad podían transmitir conocimientos vitales para el grupo, aspecto que los revestía de autoridad, relevancia y funcionalidad, aunque con la penetración de la escritura evidentemente también perdían una de las pocas funciones que les quedaba y el trato se tornaba más frío o indiferente.
Posteriormente Beauvoir sigue un método que analiza y compara biografías y escrito personales e íntimos de personas de gran prestigio en la vida intelectual al llegar a la vejez (sesenta años o más) tales como Einstein, Freud, Sartre, Aristóteles, etc. Y aquí los hallazgos tampoco son halagüeños, en general la mayoría de los relatos detallan y profundizan los achaques de las que son víctimas estas personas al llegar a la ancianidad, y el dolor que representa en sus vidas la pérdida de la vitalidad y la producción intelectual.
También la autora aborda la ancianidad revisando encuestas y estudios estadísticos sobre el problema, principalmente de Estados Unidos, Francia e Inglaterra. Aquí se enumeran nuevamente, de una forma más generalizada los problemas de abandono, funcionalidad, enfermedades mentales, institucionalización o internación en casas de ancianos, cantidad de jubilación recibidas entre países, incremento de la esperanza de vida, etc.
Es un libro necesario muy interesante para abordar el problema de la ancianidad en sí misma y la relación de la sociedad con la vejez, y como aquella puede generar las innumerables enfermedades de las que son víctimas.
May 18, 2017
Una de las mayores discriminaciones que hay es la discriminación contra la vejez, Simone habla del trato que diferentes sociedades, culturas en determinadas épocas y situaciones le dan a sus ancianos, desde los que los abandonan a su suerte para mal morir, o los que los ponen por tan encima de todos que los más jovenes terminan odiándolos.
Habla también de la manera en que envejece cada género, envejecer siendo hombre o siendo mujer es muy distinto así como la clase social a la que uno pertenece. Pero en general ser viejo es algo que nadie desea, y Beauvoir analiza esto, el ser viejo y cómo la sociedad lee y trata a sus ancianos.
Habla también de la manera en que envejece cada género, envejecer siendo hombre o siendo mujer es muy distinto así como la clase social a la que uno pertenece. Pero en general ser viejo es algo que nadie desea, y Beauvoir analiza esto, el ser viejo y cómo la sociedad lee y trata a sus ancianos.
April 10, 2016
An outstanding existential analysis of how it is to be an ageing human being. How we are viewed by others. "if old people show the same desires, the same feelings and the same requirements as the young, the world looks upon them with disgust: in them love and jealousy seem revolting or absurd, sexuality repulsive and violence ludicrous"
But we were all young once and if we don't die before, we will all age.
But we were all young once and if we don't die before, we will all age.
July 17, 2020
Libro de muy buen nivel, nada inusual tratándose de De Beauvoir; el contenido me remitió a investigar temas adicionales complementarios, lo cual me gustó mucho; la vejez es el resultado de vivir, no podemos escapar de ella, el tema es absolutamente fascinante y la autora lo desarrolla de forma adecuada; me quedo con la frase "La sociedad sólo se preocupa del individuo en la medida en que produce".
April 2, 2021
Insightful and searing indictment that could as easily have been written in the last decade.
July 11, 2017
Man sieht nicht sein eigenes Alter, aber merkt es durch den Dialect mit anderen, der wie ein Spiegel dir Zeigt wie lang du noch hast.
April 4, 2024
Lors de sa sortie en 1970, cet ouvrage a été publié en deux tomes chez Gallimard. La collection Folio Essais, édition de poche, rassemble les deux parties en un seul tome, cela donne une somme de 802 pages en comptant les appendices. C'est dans cette édition que je l'ai lu. Simone de Beauvoir aborde d'abord la vieillesse, le traitement des vieux -30 ans dans la préhistoire à plus de cent ans aujourd'hui-, sous son aspect ethnographique, proto-historique, préhistorique, puis historique, dans les sociétés humaines de l'Antiquité à nos jours. Les chiffres des années 60 et 70 ne sont plus exacts, mais sa description du traitement de la vieillesse dans notre modernité tient toujours le coup. La seconde partie traite la vieillesse par la subjectivité, sa découverte par les humains vieillissants, leur prise de conscience de l'usure physique et psychique du temps, l'usure des corps et sa manifestation dans la vie quotidienne. Pour ce faire, Simone de Beauvoir convoque essentiellement l'expérience d'écrivains ou d'artistes tenant des journaux, des mémoires, des correspondances, tels Proust, Victor Hugo, Tolstoï, Clémenceau, Pétain, Freud, Michel-Ange, Picasso, Verdi, Lamartine, Baudelaire, Léautaud, Gide. C'est passionnant. Ce qu'on peut regretter c'est qu'elle évoque peu de mémoires et d'expériences de femmes, hormis furtivement : Mesdames de Sévigné, Récamier, Colette, Lou Andreas Salomé, et curieusement Virginia Woolf qui s'est suicidée à 59 ans, pas exactement vieille donc. Pour le Castor, l'homme est toujours porteur de l'universel. Mais c'est également le Castor qui écrit que la vieillesse est aussi une construction sociale dans nos sociétés industrielles productivistes qui considèrent leurs vieux comme des rebuts à qui on reproche d'être à charge, de coûter trop cher, en les mettant à la casse via la retraite couperet, ce qui provoque des dégâts chez les plus abîmés par des gestes répétitifs et abrutissants, ceux n'ayant jamais exercé leur créativité personnelle et intellectuelle, et qui peuvent donc décliner rapidement lorsqu'ils se retrouvent et se considèrent inutiles socialement, leur vie n'ayant été que labeur utilitariste pour eux et leurs familles, sans exercer d'autre potentiel dont nous sommes pourtant tous porteurs. Simone de Beauvoir plaide dans sa conclusion pour un changement de la vie vers plus de créativité, d'accomplissement de soi, moins de séparation entre les classes d'âge, plus d'inclusion dans des activités productives -ou non- tout au long de la vie. Le déclin inévitable de la vieillesse serait beaucoup moins perceptible, moins clivant, moins débilitant.
November 24, 2024
Not the best book on the subject of geriatrics but a better composition than the other books by her that I have read. De Beauvoir surveys old age as perceived throughout time and peoples in order to reach the contemporary situation in Northern Europe (where she is personally situated). The overall thesis is that elders are often neglected and abused in various ways in society, betraying society's vulgar underlying principles, and we should correct this. Now, to a degree, de Beauvoir means this selfishly since she comments right in the introduction that all of us end up in the situation of old age. She also approaches this from the Marxist standpoint that we need to save the oppressed--but only those who are poor economically. She mentions that prior to the 19th century only the rich were typically able to make it to old age so there is no need to place them in the category of "oppressed" or in need of help...despite her commenting again and again of all those in old age dissatisfied with their bodies, family standing, place in society, etc. Clearly, de Beauvoir has a political ideology underlying her work. This is made all the more evident by contrasting this with her earlier work "The Second Sex" where she discounts unborn and young children as oppressing women by obligating mothers to care for them, while in "The Coming of Age" holding the aged as a vulnerable group in high regard.
In general, the organization of the book is sloppy. There is little rhyme or reason as to why most of it is anywhere. At least of a third of the book is anecdotal evidence or drawing from literature which bears next to nothing on the subject at hand. She does give a decent study of how the aged are treated in England and France on the modern day, but only really looks to this from an economic perspective. Again, look for a better (and more current) book on geriatrics elsewhere.
In general, the organization of the book is sloppy. There is little rhyme or reason as to why most of it is anywhere. At least of a third of the book is anecdotal evidence or drawing from literature which bears next to nothing on the subject at hand. She does give a decent study of how the aged are treated in England and France on the modern day, but only really looks to this from an economic perspective. Again, look for a better (and more current) book on geriatrics elsewhere.
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