Taking Retirement: A Beginner's Diary

by Carl H. Klaus

Book by Klaus, Carl H.

423 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

At almost the exact midpoint of this diary of a writing professor who’s trying to come to terms with his retirement, he notes, after finding a note from his wife taking him to task for writing about retirement as if he’s in it alone, when “that’s not true, not right. I’m here, have been and will be . . . world without end,” he is reminded of an earlier vow “to resist the self-centeredness and effrontery” that’s endemic to the personal essay, but doesn’t know “whether my sudden awareness of the problem will enable me to overcome any of the self-centeredness that’s inherent in a diary, especially one about retirement.” (127-28) He never really succeeds in avoiding this trap. This book was a most appropriate retirement gift, and I decided to read it just an entry or two at a time over a period of several months, to sort of share his experience in real time. Although there are occasional passages that helped me think about retirement, the author’s situation is so different that such help is limited, and I tired of his references to what he was cooking and/or eating. Finally, I was also annoyed by his apparent obliviousness to his station of privilege.

[J. Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl Klaus kept a diary that straddled the year he retired as a university professor of nonfiction writing. The diary includes detailed and thoughtful observations of his feelings, the reactions of his wife and other friends, his gardening, and the meals he enjoys, some of which he cooks himself. The diary also includes a day by day post-retirement he and his wife took to western Canada and the U.S. It is best read and savored slowly. I read it over a four year period straddling my own retirement, and there were issues he faced that helped me identify and resolve some of my own challenges in this time. A diary necessarily makes one a bit self-centered. And that can get tedious for the reader over the course of a whole book, hence a four star instead of five here. But my reaction to the book is one of great appreciation for the courage and guidance it provided me.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice "travelogue" of a professor's first year of retirement, culminating in a month long journey in the American West. I would note that he tends to focus on the rarified concerns of a man with a pension which replaces 120% of his working income, as well as a retained office at the university which is just a 1.5 mile walk from home... Pretty "high class" problems! 😉

[Dewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Carl H. Klaus’s genial memoir, TAKING RETIREMENT (Beacon, 1999), he writes of writing as he retires from the U. of Iowa; of gardening, of savory dinners, of weather, of nature, of daily routines, and of the anxiety of change. For perspective, he and his wife go on a road trip to the Rockies. Some favorite insights: “[I] think of how I sometimes felt about the older people in my younger life, as if they were really out of it…Maybe that’s why I was uneasy about retiring…not wanting to be consigned to a mono-culture of the aged, wishing instead for a world that’s more an extended community than a network of age-segregated ghettos.” He also worries about “the clock-driven world of work.” But on returning home, he discovers that instead of finding “a new place in my life, a place where I could really settle down and let the workaday world go by,” he is “visible” again, and immersed in writing and his life of letters.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

The journal of a well-off professor starting his retirement, filled with grousing about the issues he is facing. I started off reading this and not really liking the author -- why is he complaining? While many of the problems seem quite trivial and, frankly, expected, the journal shows the state of mind, the thoughts that can go through your head when making a major life change. And I can see a little of myself in these pages - in getting lost in trivialities that seem quite important at the time, working my way through what a major decision means to me. This book is good as a reminder to try to avoid getting lost in nits, and the act of journalling was in this example a way the author settled where he stood.

[Orin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable piece of writing by the founder of the nonfiction writing program at Iowa. I admit that it made me uncomfortable, facing as I do the concept of retirement and the fact that I have not managed my life well. In short, he touched me. I envy Carl his life and adept handling thereof. I want to retrace his trip to Canada and Montana, a trip I enjoyed fifty years ago. I did get a little tired of all his descriptions of all the meals. Why am I the first to weigh in on this remarkable book?

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iowa English professor Carl Klaus wrote this journal to grapple with his transition from full Professor to Professor Emeritus. I enjoyed the entries except for the occasional whining about his cushy retirement savings. Most of us won't have the luxury to retire as he did. The travel writing made me what to hit the road to visit the Canadian Rockies and his accounts of gardening, nature, and food were compelling.

[Jeffrey Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading this as I was dealing with retirement. Given his economically secure retirement and his retained office at his former employment, he has fairly s easy answers to the most difficult parts of retirement, re-defining self and learning to live upon savings rather then income. And yet he writes a journal 239 pages on the subject. Well, then.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, but he does take himself mighty seriously.