Book description
I> is a real tour de force. It covers one winter month in the life
of an old man living in a tiny pension. The prosaic events which are
recounted - keeping warm, finding accommodation, cooking, reading papers
in the local library - conceal an extraordinary feat of imagination on
the part of the author: Mr. Bermant's concept of Cyril, his narrator, is
so complete that this book is not only intensely moving, but is also a
real contribution to an understanding of the human condition. It has
become costumary for a sociologist to speak of "the problem of old
age"; but until the "problem" is accepted subjectively,
by individuals, it is an empty phrase. In this very unusual, often very
funny book, Mr. Bermant strips the reader of all illusions, and shows
just what it is to be old, and poor, and friendless, and yet not to lose
a sense of humour or the will to live. Yes, as Cyril might say,
"being old's all right, once you get past the age of trying to be
young."
Diary of an old man<
I> is a real tour de force. It covers one winter month
in the life of an old man living in a tiny pension. The prosaic events
which are recounted - keeping warm, finding accommodation, cooking,
reading papers in the local library - conceal an extraordinary feat of
imagination on the part of the author: Mr. Bermant's concept of Cyril,
his narrator, is so complete that this book is not only intensely
moving, but is also a real contribution to an understanding of the
human condition. It has become costumary for a sociologist to speak of
"the problem of old age"; but until the "problem"
is accepted subjectively, by individuals, it is an empty phrase. In
this very unusual, often very funny book, Mr. Bermant strips the
reader of all illusions, and shows just what it is to be old, and
poor, and friendless, and yet not to lose a sense of humour or the
will to live. Yes, as Cyril might say, "being old's all right,
once you get past the age of trying to be young." Diary of an
old man<
