Crazy Age: Thoughts on Being Old

by Jane Miller

Deeply thoughtful, wry, and resilient, this fascinating and absorbing book about growing older is a literate and life-enhancing look at what all of us—if we are lucky—can aspire to   "I like being old at least as much as I liked being middle aged and a good deal more than I liked being young."  Like Diana Athill's Somewhere Towards the End , this series of perceptive and warm-hearted essays is an incisive look at aging. Jane Miller dips back and forth easily between the personal and the literary, discussing the deep sustaining joys of friendship; the treatment of old age in literature from Tolstoy to Updike, Wharton to de Beauvoir; the loss of interest in such once-central preoccupation as fashion and sex; physical ailments; and exactly how age changes others' perceptions of one, including within one's own family. This reflective, intimate memoir beautifully examines and rethinks what it means to be old in a culture which prides youth and views old age as a slow decline towards the end of life.

Genres: Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This is Jane^Miller.

Reviews

[Deborah J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very mild. A bit self-regarding - what a name dropper - and not as good as Athill or Barnes on old age and dying.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains a collection of musings on the ageing process / dying.

I found this book rambling / self-indulgent – there were a few good sections (mainly in chapter 11), but overall it was a bit disappointing.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written in many places and quite often thought provoking, however sometimes it just feels like its a review of books about other books which talk of old age

[Sharen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather sobering look at what happens as we age, which will appeal to those who prefer the forthright approach. I found the author's sense of humour a touch too mordant.

[Anne Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Jane Miller points out a "statistic from nowhere, or nowhere I remember, but it has the ring of truth: if most of us can look forward to living for about 10 years longer than our parents, we can also expect to spend the equivalent of eight of those years in hospital or doctors' waiting-rooms", there is nothing gloomy about this short collection of essays on ageing. On the contrary, she's enjoying this passage of her life, more perhaps than others. It's amusing and elegantly written, rich with literary allusions, and with the sharply perceptive and discriminating eye of the academic, without being in the least stuffy or pretentious.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Jane Miller's book - maybe because I'm ageing. There was such resonance for me in her words and I really liked the way she delved into her wide knowledge of literature to present various views of ageing and of dying. Of course, ageing, like everything else will be shaped by the socio-cultural milieu that we each find ourselves in and Millar certainly recognises her own sets of privileges, not least the one which has her living in Kensington. An interesting life and a realistic perspective on ageing that provides a personal narrative for herself and a sense of recognition for the reader.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane gives a remarkable perspective of old age through her writing. She answered all of my questions about getting into that final season of life, including questions of time, friends, perspective, and death. I suppose if we're lucky, old age is inevitable, so it's worthwhile to appreciate and understand this phase of life.

There were a few parts of the book where the chapters seemed to run long, and at these times I would skip forward.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars I think.
Some great insights into an intelligent, thoughtful woman's ideas and stories on ageing and dying.
A few parts I skipped - almost book reviews of books she likes on the subject that just didn't interest me.
Lots to digest, and I now am thinking about how I will be using my (hopefully decades long) retirement years.