In the May 7, 2021 issue of /The/ /Times Literary Supplement/ is a
review by Hal Jensen of /The Midlife Mind, Literature and the art of
Ageing /by Ben Hutchinson. Hutchinson recommends the reading of
literature as an aid to help one endure ageing. The specifics of what
he recommends seem to be the reading (with the help of Hutchinson's
advice) some of the authors included in any "Great Books" program.
Jensen writes ". . . Hutchinson settles into his main workout routines.
These consist of chapters on Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Goethe, the
Victorians (George Eliot and Henry James), T. S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett
and Simone de Beauvoir. For each, Hutchinson begins with a
biographical-critical-historical survey of the author, with a close look
at how they wrote about -- or out of -- those nebulous and crisis-ridden
middle years."
Further down Hutchinson writes, "Each chapter ends with a look at a
literary legacy and asks what lessons these writers can provide for our
journey through the middle, Dante teaches us how to start again while
still in transit, Goethe shows the value of restless curiosity, Eliot
demonstrates the potency -- and necessary difficulty -- of late changes
in belief, and Beauvoir the benefits of gender awareness when ageing. .
. Still, I can't help wishing he had left out the 'Lessons' altogether.
They sound glib and patronizing . . ."
Hutchinson's audience would seem to be those in his age group, i.e.,
people in their 40s, who have not encountered the classics, and are
worried about growing older. Jensen makes short work of Hutchinson and
concludes, "I respect Hutchinson's desire to help, but I have probably
learned more about time and mortality from working on my allotment than
from any amount of reading. When it comes to dealing with middle age --
and I say this well aware of my audience -- books are not enough."
I had a long career in engineering but along the way anticipated that
when those with degrees in Engineering retired with no
clearly-thought-out plans, I would be able to retire to the pleasures of
reading.
One might object that formal engineers might have adequate plans for
retirement as well. My own observation has been that many, maybe even
most, don't, or at least didn't (I retired in 1998). I recall an
engineer, Jim C., who was pointed out to us as having the perfect
engineering work-ethic. He had no outside interests. Engineering was
his whole life. About a week after his retirement, he unexpectedly died.
An engineer I knew much better, Ray L., spent weekends and vacations
building his retirement home in Northern California. I was shocked when
he died unexpectedly before he had a chance to enjoy his new home.
These, and others, were cautionary examples, but perhaps anyone who is
educated in what was in the past considered to be a "trade," is at risk,
mentally and perhaps physically, when attempting to prepare for
retirement -- at least more so than in a Liberal Arts major.*
I did take to heart the examples of people I worked with. Among other
things, I had a list of authors I didn't get a chance to read while I
was in school, and worked my way through that during lunch periods,
weekends, etc. for several years. To respond to Jensen (although I
don't know what his "allotment" is), I did have a lot of physical
interests. I was a free-diver (managing to keep my freezer full of fish
during many years) and a hiker (even to the guiding of small groups up
into the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains). But I anticipated
that in my old age I would do less diving and hiking and more reading
and so congratulated myself that unlike Jim C. and Ray L. I was educated
well enough to (in retirement) engage in elaborate, self-devised reading
programs with relative competence (joining Jensen in feeling no need of
Hutchinson's "lessons."
Lawrence
*How does one with an English major become a competent enough engineer
to have a modestly successful career and a better than average
retirement benefit? I can take no credit for that. I feared I would
never graduate from college if I majored in a subject I wasn't
interested in. And so I refused to worry about getting a job until
after I graduated. Then I went through an employment agency who reviewed
my qualifications and sent me to Douglas Aircraft which at the time was
being criticized by the Air Force for sending them poorly written
engineering documentation. The chief engineer ordered Douglas
administrators to find recent college graduates capable of understanding
engineering who could also write.