Reading Circle 13: ‚Every Third Thought‘, by Robert McCrum
‚Every Third Thought‘, Robert McCrum, (Picador, 2017): On Life, Death and the Endgame
The question is no longer ‚Who am I?‘ but ‚How long have I got?‘
In 1995, at the age of 42, Robert McCrum suffered a dramatic and near-fatal stroke. Even since that life-changing event, McCrum has lived in the shadow of death, unavoidably aware of his own mortality. And now, 21 years on, he is noticing a change: his friends are joining him there. Death has become his contemporaries‘ ‚every third thought‘ (a phrase by Prospero at the end of Shakespeare’s ‚The Tempest‘).
With the words of McCrum’s favourite authors as travel companions, ‚Every Third Thought‘ takes us on a journey through a year and towards a better understanding of ageing and death. As he acknowledges his own and his friends‘ ageing, McCrum confronts an existential question: in a world where we have learnt to live well at all costs, can we make peace with dying? Searching for answers leads him to others for advice and wisdom. We hear from brain surgeons, psychologists, cancer patients, writers and poets.
Can literary narratives, art and poetry encourage and console us as we age?
Andrew and Sandra discuss the question with several quotations and extracts from this extraordinary book.
Ähnliche Beiträge
- Reading Circle 22 ‚The Sympathizer‘ by Viet Thanh Nguyen aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 23.01.2019 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 21: ‚Brooklyn‘ by Colm Toibin aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 15.10.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 20: ‚The Happy Prince‘ by Oscar Wilde aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 10.09.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 19: ‚A Week In December‘ by Sebastian Faulks aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 13.08.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 18: ‚The Burgess Boys‘ by Elizabeth Strout aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 11.07.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 17: ‚Judas‘, by Amos Oz aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 06.06.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 16: ‚Story of Your Life‘ by Ted Chiang (1998) aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 09.04.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 15: ‚An Artist of the Floating World‘ by Kazuo Ishiguro... aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 14.03.2018 | FREIRAD
- Reading Circle 14: ‚Three Daughters of Eve‘ by Elif Shafak aus der Sendereihe „Reading Circle“ 28.02.2018 | FREIRAD