jessica_lam's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
"And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then from hour to hour, we rot and rot"
I surprisingly enjoyed this as it plunged me into mini existential crises. Admittedly introspective essays written by men are typically not my thing, but listening to this very much felt like a random conversation you have with someone at a bar about "life" when both parties are about 3 beers in and the guy sitting next to you actually has a few things to say, as meandering and random as they may be.
Shields uses quotes and studies to walk you through his observations of various ages. If you're at a point in your life where your parents are aging rapidly before your eyes or if you are suddenly feeling your age, this could be a tough one. Love learning that I just have a couple of years left before I start losing my grip strength, but hey, at least it's not just me.
Most of his anecdotes are from his own history and, in particular, his history with his aging father throughout the years. It's clearly a very close and touching relationship and his father's joie de vivre leaps off the page, making his later decline all the more impactful. As few things as I have with Mr. David Shields, he's written about a fairly universal experience of watching your parents get older and I found it equal parts relatable and comforting.
And then from hour to hour, we rot and rot"
I surprisingly enjoyed this as it plunged me into mini existential crises. Admittedly introspective essays written by men are typically not my thing, but listening to this very much felt like a random conversation you have with someone at a bar about "life" when both parties are about 3 beers in and the guy sitting next to you actually has a few things to say, as meandering and random as they may be.
Shields uses quotes and studies to walk you through his observations of various ages. If you're at a point in your life where your parents are aging rapidly before your eyes or if you are suddenly feeling your age, this could be a tough one. Love learning that I just have a couple of years left before I start losing my grip strength, but hey, at least it's not just me.
Most of his anecdotes are from his own history and, in particular, his history with his aging father throughout the years. It's clearly a very close and touching relationship and his father's joie de vivre leaps off the page, making his later decline all the more impactful. As few things as I have with Mr. David Shields, he's written about a fairly universal experience of watching your parents get older and I found it equal parts relatable and comforting.
chaotic_abi's review
4.0
At first I found all the facts and quotes that are mixed into the story kinda annoying but by the end it was really growing on me. I probably won't remember most of them but it was a fairly interesting listen.
jdsatori's review against another edition
3.0
Reconfirming why I don't read a lot of memoirs, this one was fine, not mindblowing. Between facts about how our bodies break down and musings over his father's incredible longevity, Shields reminds us of the inevitable, and tries to make death seem, uh, normal. (It is. I know. Then again, it's not. Right?)
spiderfelt's review against another edition
4.0
Full of interesting bits, anecdotes, excerpts of scientific studies, and literary quotes concerning the aging process and the end of life, written in a disjointed manner with seemingly little cohesion. I had to stop midway through the book look up at article about Shields before I was able to continue. His style is deliberate, and calculated. Once I understood his point of view, the bits didn't seem so choppy.
carmelitasita's review against another edition
4.0
Very inventive and unique style. Bits of narrative and memoir were wrapped up in multiple facts of life and death and the human body, with quotes liberally sprinkled in. I can see why some people would roll their eyes at such a book, but I thought it was quite fun despite being a book about death.
ohheyemilyk's review against another edition
4.0
an interesting examination of both the author's relationship with his father & the way humans age and die. Nifty.
ephermeyal's review
First of all, it's not the topic. I've read dozens of memoirs, essays, and investigative journalism about the bodily process of death and decay, the reflections of those who deal w it on a daily basis (like morticians or forensic pathologists), and personal insights from those who have experienced loss in different ways. And because of #depressionthingz, I am perpetually aware of my mortality and not fazed about being reminded that at the end of the day, we're all just a sack of flesh and bones.
So, I DNF'd because I wasn't into the tone. I got the feeling that all the trivia laid out were all put there to serve his thesis, without taking heed of possibly contrary evidence. Or that he narrativized simple bodily facts to serve his perspective. For example, right off the bat from the very first paragraph:
"A fetus doesn't sit passively in its mother womb and wait to be fed. Its placenta aggressively sprouts blood vessels that invade its mother's tissues to extract nutrients... Existence is warfare."
Perhaps it's profound, I wouldn't know. But all I can think of is how only a Western mind can put this gestation process in such heavily war-based metaphors ("aggressively"; "invade"). And the last sentence really did make it explicit that it's about bodily warfare.
I also feel like it's too prescriptive. Exhibit A:
"Aging followed by death is the price we pay for the immorality of our genes. You find this information soul-killing; I find it thrilling, liberating. Life, in my view, is simple, tragic, and eerily beautiful."
If the writing is evocative enough, I wouldn't have needed the book directly telling me to feel that way about life lmaooo
The writing is both too long-winded with its info dumps (I didn't need an entire paragraph about the average sleeping times of each stage of development) and choppy (there is no transition from one tangent to another) and it's mind-numbing so byee
jadenbru's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did in actuality. I loved the idea of it- the execution made me less ecstatic.
I found the way Shields included facts about life, death and mortality really interesting- and I also liked the genre-bending mix of quotes, storytelling and factual information... I just kept waiting for the tie-in, the big aha, and felt like it never really came. I was left with a feeling of undone-ness, for lack of a better word.
In any case, I'd rate it good, not great.
I found the way Shields included facts about life, death and mortality really interesting- and I also liked the genre-bending mix of quotes, storytelling and factual information... I just kept waiting for the tie-in, the big aha, and felt like it never really came. I was left with a feeling of undone-ness, for lack of a better word.
In any case, I'd rate it good, not great.
annm1121's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this book was awesome and has an incredible amount of research. A cool and innovative way to write a memoir.