Travels with Epicurus: a Journey to a Greek Island in search of an authentic Old Age by Daniel Klein
Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2012 (first published in the USA 2012) ISBN 9781922079695
My wife bought this book as she thought it might give an insight into how to approach old age, which is rapidly looming for both of us. I read it because my eighteen year old son who has an interest in philosophy, read it and enjoyed it.
Daniel Klein studied philosophy at Harvard and had co-written a couple of popular philosophy books before Travels with Epicurus. This book is a lightly-paced journey through not only Epicurus, but Plato, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Heidegger and others, as well as Hindu beliefs on end-of-life spirituality.
In some ways the structure of Travels with Epicurus reminds me of Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, with a narrative of Klein on the island of Hydra, watching the old men there enjoying their old age - particularly Tasso, a retired judge who returned from Athens to live in his home town with (one assumes) his childhood friends. The philosophy is interspersed with these observations.
The crux of the book is Klein's contention that we in the West are trying to actively avoid old age by trying to prolong youth: missing old age altogether and going straight from an extended middle age into what Klein calls "old-old age". He shows us, using the example of Tasso and his friends, leavened with philosophy, that old age is a time for reflection and relaxation, to re-find the aspect of play in our lives, and to enjoy the people we have become.
The striving, jockeying, and pursuit of success that drives us when we are younger can be put into perspective, we can reminisce and enjoy the company of our friends without worrying about needing something from them or having to act in a certain way - no more "keeping up with the Joneses." We also have time in our old age to contemplate the bigger questions, for we have the life experience to do so.
Klein does tackle the inevitable decline into extreme old age, and the decisions we must make as we lose the capability to look after ourselves. He comes to no conclusions as to the correct course of action (I note that at the time of writing this review Klein is 86 years old, and I wonder what his thoughts on this topic might be now?).
Overall Travels with Epicurus is a light-hearted look at what awaits all of us. The message Klein has for us is that there is much to be enjoyed in old age, not much objectively to fear, and if we have the right attitude to it, helped by a judicious reading of the great philosophers, it can be very enjoyable.
If you are heading into old age, and are worrying about how you are going to face it, I can recommend Travels with Epicurus as a guide to taking the first steps.
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