Customer Reviews

Lastingness: The Art of Old Age

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some great artists - Monet, Goya, Liszt, Yeats, Hardy - continue to work well past the age of 70 - a phenomenon Delbanco refers to as "lastingness' and sets out to analyze in this slim volume.

But why? The answer seems to flummox Delbanco himself, judging by the way he dances nimbly around it. The book ends up feeling largely like a rehash of the events of some lives of several artists, some better known than others. That's interesting enough, especially to anyone unfamiliar with them, but it's not enough on which to base a book. At times, this reminded me of the potted Ladybird biographies of famous composers that I read at the age of 8 or so.

What's really missing is some theory underlying Delbanco's observations: that some artists stop producing great art; others shift their focus and still others continue to forge ahead despite the physical limitations that age imposes. Why the differences between them? There's a cursory discussion of aging and the brain, but it's never really linked to creativity - I'll have to look elsewhere if I want to find out if there are scientific studies being done on this subject. He observes that some artists seem to create for themselves - but why? Perhaps Delbanco is too ambitious; he needs a narrower focus to explore a part of his theory first. Ultimately, this ended up shedding no fresh light on the subject for me.

There's also a lot in here that is actively irritating. Delbanco muses that Wilfred Owen was killed in the final months of World War I while Robert Graves survived the trenches and died at 90. "Had the trajectory of enemy bullets been infinitesimally altered, the fate of these two poets might have been reversed." Well, yes, of course. And the point is? We've all mused on the random nature of circumstance; few of us try to write books based on those musings. Delbanco says J.D. Salinger's late work, never seen by outsiders, may be worse than his early promise indicated. Or it may be far better. Again, stating the obvious. Add to that some excessively florid turns of phrase, unnecessary anecdotes (I didn't really care much about the author's success in finding four-leafed clovers and found it didn't add to his central argument) and the occasional glaring error (he describes Napoleon's brother, briefly king of Spain as "Joseph Napoleon" - he was, in fact, "Joseph Bonaparte") and the book became harder to struggle through to the end.

I've rated it 2.5 stars; the only reason I'm raising it to 3 here is that Delbanco has the wit to ask the questions in the first place and I imagine this will find many readers among those who are interested in learning more about the arts on a basic level. But it doesn't deliver what it promises, by any stretch of the imagination (artistic or otherwise), and I can't recommend it.

This ARC of the book Lastingness - to be published this month in fact - proved to be a new challenge for me. I will admit that reading "Whatever hill we try to climb, we are over by fifty and if that hill involves entertainment or athletics, we are finished long before" was again a reminder that nothing lasts.
I have thought for a long time now that once you reach fifty, your warranty is over and then everything falls apart! Or does it?

Yes, I am over the hill and I confess this is the first book I read on the subject. Anyone who is retired will agree this kind of subject comes as a mixed blessing!

Nicholas Delbanco's uplifting look at old age however involves an amazing amount of detail and thought.
In this, his latest book Lastingness, he clearly shows that Creativity and Genius is not limited to the younger generation. In fact he gives wonderful examples of those who continue to perform interesting and productive lifestyle in their 90's and beyond!

It is enlightening to know that whilst some people see their skills and knowledge decline in their latter years, many - like a good wine - will improve and still contribute to our World even as their body slows down.
Growing old is indeed an art! And you just might discover something about yourself still!

Nicholas Delbanco describes his father in law as being "Only ninety four". From someone who was raised by her Grand Mother I can attest that even as a nonagenarian you can live a full life! Her motto was "Live, Don't just exist!" and she left an everlasting impression on anyone who met her!

Carpe Diem (Seize the day!) as Horace would say!

Not all of us will be remembered as an Artist or a Genius of course but we still have a few things to do and to try! Never say Never!

This book is a great read for anyone in the Golden Age or merely approaching it, especially those of us whose plans calls for just sitting in our favourite rocking chair on the porch watching the world go by! Carpe Diem!

This is 4 star material and I recommend you find a spot on your library shelves for this book!
Consider this a much enjoyed book!

In a culture dominated by youth, author Nicholas Delbanco takes us on the incredibly interesting journey of old age and creativity, and once you finish it, you will never look upon the aged the same way again. Near the beginning, the author asks a very enticing question. When does one honor the aged, and when does one tell them to step aside? We now live in a time of civilization when retirement is measured in decades and not years, and so what are the determinants that make one artist continue on into his 70's, and 80's, while others just fade into the sunset.


Why is it, that the last years of life are not thought of as the best years creatively? It is understandable in science because to revolutionize science one has to break through the barriers of the previous restraints on current scientific thinking. This is best achieved by the young who have not been absorbed yet into what is called traditional scientific thinking.


The author looks at several hundred years of culture, and also makes it very clear that to be thought of as old today is very different than to be old in the 16th and 17th century. He was also honest enough to state that when starting out, he was working under a presupposition that failed. It was his inherent belief that it was unlikely or even possible that one could do one's best work late in life. He discovered in his studies that in many instances the best work was achieved near life's end.


Author Nicholas DelBanco has selected for us, a series of creative individuals who all achieved great prominence in their 70's. Some were famous much earlier, but it is the late works that occupy this writer's time and energy. Just what happened in the sunset years of the individuals that he studied? Some artists also achieved much very early in life, and then die quite young. Lord Byron was 36, Percy Shelley 30, and John Keats died at 25, all romantic poets of the highest caliber.


Some of the amazing people explored in this wonderful book and the age they died at are:


* Eubie Blake - ragtime pianist - 100

* Grandma Moses - artist - 101

* Titian - artist - 99

* Sophocles - ancient Greek dramatist - 90's

* Pablo Casals - 96

* Georgia O'Keffe - artist - 98

* Pablo Picasso - 91

* George Bernard Shaw - 94

* Marc Chagall - 97


Longfellow the poet pointed out in one of his writings that Cato learned Greek when he was over 80. Sophocles wrote the play Oedipus when he was over 80. The great architects Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright were all doing spectacular creations as they approached 90. Look at the Guggenheim Museum which is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's last buildings as an example of creativity. Creativity and age seem to be especially true in architecture where men like Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, I.M. Pei, and Richard Rodgers all seemed to have done even better in their last decades than in their earlier ones.


An entire chapter is devoted to the work of both Pablo Picasso and Pablo Casals, both of whom are honored for their creativity during exceedingly long productive lives. Casals refused to play in Spain while Franco was alive, and Picasso refused to do artistic commerce during this period with Spain also. They are both honored today by just about all those familiar with their work.


Author Delbanco points out that sometimes the environment that the artist operates in is so instrumental to the long sustained life of creativity that the artist enjoys. In particular he notes Georgia O'Keefe and the effect that Rancho de los Burros with its high cliffs in Santa Fe, New Mexico had on the O'Keefe. It is as though it gave her the strength to paint every day. The Impressionist painter Monet experienced this in the garden at Giverny.


CONCLUSION:


This is a most beautiful book to read. The narrative is moving, and vibrant. My views on the aged and the process of getting older were altered by taking in so much of the new information that the author gives us. Old age does not have to be nursing homes and sipping liquids. It can be a period of spiritual renewal, rebirth, and coming to terms with authenticity. The author makes it seem like a wonderful period to look forward to. I certainly hope so, and thank you for reading this review.


Richard C. Stoyeck

I heard an interview with Delbanco on NPR and rushed to buy the book. After pushing through the distraction of his awkward phrasing, I realized that most of the content comprised list upon list; anecdotes weren't really anecdotes in the storytelling sense, just interjected trivia and declarations. It all felt rushed and choppy, with no clear theoretical framework. I got the sense he was using some notes he had collected over the years (he is a prolific novelist)and sought to put big and little chunks together as kind of themes, but they weren't themes, just bits and pieces of facts, ideas, and personal theories. Too bad.

It goes on and on and on. Some older people do well, others don't. You get lost in the verbiage.