Daniel Klein (1) (1939–)

I guess when your wife gives you a book for Xmas, you not only need to read it promptly but also carefully? This little book is about old age, not old old age where you are virtually dead but old age where you still have most of your declining faculties. Some, the forever young, respond to this wonderful period of life by attempting to deny it and remain young. Daniel Klein takes heart from Epicurus and claims that despite working on this book, he has docked at the harbour of old age at 73.

Tying our experiences together in a personal history is a way we can find meaning in our lives. (comment on Erikson p.76)

For me, this relaxed meditation on living well is timely in that I am now 72 and, according to the Hindu principles outlined by Klein, I am entering the sannyasi period characterised by renunciation following vanaprastha or the hermitic phase of forest dwelling (which is true). I’m seized with enthusiasm for renouncing all the useless stuff and have just spend the morning cleaning out one of my sheds. So useful to renounce so much junk that I’ve been hanging on to for years and take it to the tip or the op-shop. No wonder my wife gave me this book. How far renunciation will take me remains to be seen. It’s the last period before old old age where you might as well be dead so I’d better make the best of it..

Sannyasis are wondering hermits, living without shelter of possessions. They only eat when food is given to them. p. 141

… (mer)

I've been a casual reader of philosophy since my dad gave me a copy of "Thales to Dewey" when I was a senior in high school. I mention this only because I'm not sure if the jokes were funnier to me because I was familiar with most of the philosophical points they were illustrating. Either way, one isn't going to walk away from this book knowing a great deal about philosophy. But it might take the scary/snobby edge off of the subject and allow one to more comfortably take up reading a good philosophy book.… (mer)