Sixty A Diary of My SixtyFirst Year (Audible Audio Edition) Ian Brown Mark Boyett Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Sixty A Diary of My SixtyFirst Year (Audible Audio Edition) Ian Brown Mark Boyett Audible Studios Books
"This is the thing, you see I am on my way to being an old man. But at 60, I am still the youngest of old men."
As Ian Brown's 60th birthday loomed, every moment seemed to present a choice confront or deny the biological fact that the end was now closer than the beginning. True, he was beginning to notice memory lapses, creaking knees, and a certain social invisibility - and yet it troubled him that many people think of 60 as "old", because he rarely felt older than he had at 40.
An award-winning writer, Brown instead chose to notice every moment, try to understand it, capture it...all without panicking. Sixty is the result Brown's uncensored account of his 61st year and, informed by his reportorial gifts, his investigation of the many changes - physical, mental, and emotional - that come to all of us as we age.
Brown is a master of the seriocomic, and his day-to-day dramas - as a husband, father, brother, son, friend, and neighbor - are rendered, inseparably, with wistfulness and laugh-out-loud wit. He is also a discerning, prolific reader, and it is a pure pleasure being privy to his thoughts on the dozens of writers - including Virginia Woolf, Philip Larkin, AJ Liebling, Wislawa Szymborska, Clive James, Sharon Olds, and Karl Ove Knausgaard - who speak to him most at 60.
From an author on whom the telling detail is never lost, Sixty is a richly informative, candid report from the line between middle-aged and soon-to-be elderly. It perfectly captures the obsessions of a generation realizing that they are no longer young.
Sixty A Diary of My SixtyFirst Year (Audible Audio Edition) Ian Brown Mark Boyett Audible Studios Books
Interesting range of reader reactions, from one star to five. I ordered this book in my 60th year and turned 61 last week, and I liked it a lot (but not five stars). On the surface my life has been totally different -- no spouse, children, and a working life spent as a staff employee -- but I identified many common issues and thoughts. It's not an epic story or revelation about life and aging, but life experiences and reflections are rarely epic for anyone, at least that's my conclusion after 60 years so far. I would say that the author Ian Brown is hyper-literate, not like most people I know, but again, the relentless march of time consumes all souls equally (and thankfully so!). I found 60 to be my biggest year of transition since 20, incorporating a layoff and early retirement, a surviving parent pushing 90, the beginning of chronic health threats, and increasing alienation from popular culture. All of these things and more are at least touched on in this book without being preachy or proclaiming. I still give it 4 stars ...Product details
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Sixty A Diary of My SixtyFirst Year (Audible Audio Edition) Ian Brown Mark Boyett Audible Studios Books Reviews
Brown's writer's voice is quite strong and profound. I really enjoyed his point of view, his prose, and his male voice, as I have read many female voices on similar topics (aging). It was refreshing. At the same time, while we are the same age, Brown is more upset about turning 60 than I was and he points out many issues that upset him in turning this age....issues that I, quite frankly, don't focus on. By reading them, I was forced to focus on them and that was a little bit of a downer even though I am greatly reflective and introspective, myself. All in all, a very important read and I highly recommend Brown's book.
Good tour of early old age on a first-person basis! (Disclosure I'm older than the author). I enjoyed spending time in this writer's life and am already looking forward to Seventy--the Sequel
People in their late 50's or heading into the 60's will likely find many familiar parallels of the author's thinking and behavior. Many things are different ways of considering the inevitable path through life we are all destined to follow, one way or another.
A great read because award-winning writer Ian Brown gave a witty, self-deprecating daily journal of his insecurities when turning 60. The perspective, although entirely male and therefore focused a lot on male insecurities, was funny, sensitive and charming at the same time.
Our guide to a healthy, fortunate and self-deprecating sixty-first year in Canadian life is a fine, thoughtful writer. He chides himself and imagines accurately that we see his diary for what it is A publicly personal reflection on the limits of good fortune placed by the human condition. My father says, like his, "Don't get old." But I write this on a day I learn that a man dear to the woman I love has perished of a sudden health failure, before sixty, and like Brown, I know the fortune of still living. I hope to get old, and if I do, I hope to remain, like Brown, in pursuit of wisdom without the fear of success in that aim. Give me comprehension, but not too soon.
I give the author props for self-awareness, and a fair amount of introspection; but after all, this is a diary. That said, all he does over the course of this book is discuss some sad aspects of aging which are basically common knowledge; e.g., the fact that one out of every two people over the age of 85 will experience dementia. Moreover, he continually whines about whether he'll have the necessary financial resources for a comfortable retirement, even as he travels at home and abroad, to fairly desirable vacation destinations. Somebody needs to tell Ian Brown that many folks at the age of "Sixty" are working two jobs, and many of those are underemployed in thankless work. Perhaps the economic plight of American's middle class---especially aging baby boomers who can't even dream of retirement---would be a worthwhile subject for Mr. Brown's next effort.
I mostly enjoyed reading this book, as Brown shared many of the thoughts and anxieties that many people at this age experience. For me it would be good, I thought, to know that others are going through the same thing that I am. I thought at sometimes that he is just a little too anxious, and it became more difficult to sympathize. However this by its nature was a revelation that is very personal, so some understanding is requisite. It became a little more troubling and difficult to empathize, frankly because of his elite background. He talks about hiking in England and jetting to Colorado for skiing while expecting us to understand his anxiety about not having enough money for his golden years. Just stop! Overall it was good to read the thoughts of someone else at my age with some of the same feelings, but Brown specifically is not necessarily a very worthy person to present many of the anxieties, because it is hard to empathize with someone from such a privileged background. The book generally is an easy and well-written read, although occasionally Brown does start to over- intellectualize in a way and with such information that only fellow writers and English professors can appreciate.
Interesting range of reader reactions, from one star to five. I ordered this book in my 60th year and turned 61 last week, and I liked it a lot (but not five stars). On the surface my life has been totally different -- no spouse, children, and a working life spent as a staff employee -- but I identified many common issues and thoughts. It's not an epic story or revelation about life and aging, but life experiences and reflections are rarely epic for anyone, at least that's my conclusion after 60 years so far. I would say that the author Ian Brown is hyper-literate, not like most people I know, but again, the relentless march of time consumes all souls equally (and thankfully so!). I found 60 to be my biggest year of transition since 20, incorporating a layoff and early retirement, a surviving parent pushing 90, the beginning of chronic health threats, and increasing alienation from popular culture. All of these things and more are at least touched on in this book without being preachy or proclaiming. I still give it 4 stars ...
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