A review by daphelba
Dancing Fish and Ammonites: A Memoir by Penelope Lively

4.0

The first segment of this book on the topic of "Aging", was exceptional writing, and wonderfully enlightening. Lively has good humor about aging without losing candidness or grazing over difficult aspects.

The second section reminisced on the author's childhood and various highlights of her long life, again well-written, almost stream-of consciousness which is something I rather enjoy. If her quips of wisdom weren't so wise, I might find them annoying in their constant appearance.

The author lost me when she went back to her childhood. While I could have listened to her muse on about facets of life we must all face (growing old), I found nothing about her past relatable. That doesn't mean it was not worthwhile, after all, this is her biography, but for me as a reader, there was no connection.

I only skimmed the rest of the book as I have so much else to read, but I hope to one day read this book again and come back to give a more thorough opinion.