Aging
"Nature abhors the old," said Ralph Waldo Emerson, and yet poet John Donne wrote, "No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace / As I have seen in one Autumnal face." So, is aging a gift—or a curse? In this thematic collection, we present texts that reflect on this question.
Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” was first published in Scribner’s Magazine in March of 1933. It was then anthologized in Hemingway’s 1933 short story collection Winner Takes Nothing. It is regarded as one of his most important and influential short stories and as a clear example of his “Iceberg Theory” and his focus on typical Modernist existential themes. Utilizing the Iceberg Theory, Hemingway allows most of the story to sit below the... Read A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Summary
Among Peter Meinke’s most anthologized poems, “Advice to My Son” is best known for its humorous, ironic tone and contemporary interpretation of traditional rhyme structure. First published in 1964 in The Antioch Review, the poem was anthologized in the volume Liquid Paper: New and Selected Poems (1991), published by the Pittsburgh Press. According to Meinke, he had little idea that the poem would so deeply resonate with readers when he first wrote it as a... Read Advice to My Son Summary
A House for Mr. Biswas is a 1961 historical fiction novel by V. S. Naipaul. The story takes a postcolonial perspective of the life of a Hindu Indian man in British-owned and occupied Trinidad. Now regarded as one of Naipaul's most significant novels, A House for Mr. Biswas has won numerous awards and has been adapted as a musical, a radio drama, and a television show. Naipaul is also known for the works The Mimic... Read A House for Mr. Biswas Summary
“A Summer Tragedy” is a short story written by poet and fiction author Arna Bontemps. It was originally published in 1933 in Opportunity and has since been included in multiple anthologies, including Bontemps’s 1973 short story collection The Old South: “A Summer Tragedy” and Other Stories of the Thirties. Bontemps is also known for the 1959 biography Frederick Douglass: Slave, Fighter, Freeman. Focusing on an elderly Black couple who have endured a difficult life of... Read A Summer Tragedy Summary
“A Visit of Charity” is a short story written by Eudora Welty, the first living writer published in the Library of America series. “A Visit of Charity” is one of 17 short stories in Welty’s 1941 collection A Curtain of Green, which also includes the stories “A Worn Path,” “Petrified Man,” and “Why I Live at the P.O.” The text referenced in this guide is from Eudora Welty: Stories, Essays, and Memoir, published by the... Read A Visit of Charity Summary
Before I Go to Sleep (2011) is the debut novel of English writer S. J. Watson. This psychological thriller features a protagonist suffering from amnesia. Forty-seven-year-old Christine Lucas wakes every morning with no memory of who or where she is. Each day she must reconstruct her identity with the help of her journal. Christine also gleans information from her husband, Ben, and a neurophysiologist, Dr. Nash. However, the more Christine discovers, the more she doubts... Read Before I Go to Sleep Summary
Cat’s Eye is a 1988 coming-of-age novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood that centers on Elaine Risley, a successful painter who is returning to Toronto for a retrospective show of her work. Throughout the novel, she has vivid recollections of her childhood and adolescence in the city during the postwar years—particularly of her friendship with Cordelia, who persecuted her in a way that had an indelible impact on her life. The novel was a finalist... Read Cat's Eye Summary
Charlotte’s Web was written by E. B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams, and first published in 1952. It is considered a quintessential American children’s fiction novel and has been adapted into two films (1973, 2006) and a stage musical. Over the years, Charlotte’s Web has been awarded the Newbery Honor Award for children’s books, the George C. Stone Center for Children’s Books Recognition of Merit Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the Massachusetts Children’s... Read Charlotte's Web Summary
Daytripper is a graphic novel written and illustrated by comic book artists Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá. Originally published in 2010 as a comic book series by Vertigo, the collected series was published as a completed book in 2011. Daytripper won the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. Bá has also worked on popular comic series such as Umbrella Academy and Casanova. Both Moon and Bá are twins, and they sometimes refer to themselves... Read Daytripper Summary
Death in Venice (1912) is a novella by celebrated German author Thomas Mann (1875-1955). The story follows Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who travels to Venice seeking inspiration and respite. There, he becomes infatuated with Tadzio, an exceptionally beautiful young boy whose ethereal presence awakens a profound and dangerous longing in Aschenbach. As Venice succumbs to a cholera epidemic, Aschenbach’s obsession leads to his downfall.Mann, the recipient of the 1929 Nobel Prize... Read Death in Venice Summary
Don Quixote is a novel in two parts by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes published between 1605 and 1615. The novel portrays the life of a middle-aged Spanish man who decides to become a knight, just like the characters in the works of fiction he loves. Considered to be a foundational work of Western literature and one of the first modern novels, Don Quixote is one of the most translated books of all time. It... Read Don Quixote Summary
“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” is a short story about a doctor who invites four elderly friends to his study to participate in a curious experiment that temporarily restores their youth. The story explores themes of Youth and Old Age, Humans Versus Nature, and Good and Evil. It invites questions like: Does age affect an individual’s potential for happiness? If given a second opportunity to relive youthful years, would a person remediate their failures?“Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” was... Read Dr. Heidegger's Experiment Summary
Elizabeth Is Missing by British author Emma Healey was published in 2014 and tells the story of Maud Horsham, an old woman suffering from dementia. Maud’s older sister, Sukey, disappeared in the 1940s. Seventy years later, this tragic event continues to haunt Maud, who now thinks her best friend Elizabeth is missing. Maud is desperate to figure out what happened to Sukey and Elizabeth before she loses her ability to piece together the clues. Maud’s... Read Elizabeth is Missing Summary
Everybody’s Fool is a 2016 novel by American Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Russo. The second in Russo’s North Bath trilogy, Everybody’s Fool is set in the small, eccentric, and troubled town of North Bath, New York. The tragicomic novel follows a group of characters whose dramas unfold over a single Memorial Day Weekend, exploring how individuals react to and rebel against their emotional and moral ties to their communities. The novel also grapples with existential themes... Read Everybody's Fool Summary
August Wilson’s play Fences premiered in 1985 at the Yale Repertory Theatre and was published the following year. It opened on Broadway in 1987 with James Earl Jones in the role of Troy. It was the third play to premiere of Wilson’s Century Cycle, although it is the sixth play chronologically. The Century Cycle, also known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, consists of 10 plays, one set in each decade of the 20th century. Each play... Read Fences Summary
Four Quartets is a collection of four poems by T.S. Eliot. The four pieces were originally published between 1934 and 1942, during a period of time in which Eliot’s life was disrupted by the events of World War II. They were then collected into a single volume in 1943. The poems are linked loosely by theme; all of them are about the relationship between people and the divine. At the time of its publication, several of... Read Four Quartets Summary
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a 1987 novel by American author and actress Fanny Flagg, who also wrote an award-winning screen adaption of the book. The narrative contains two interconnected stories that unfold several decades apart. The frame narrative, which takes place in Birmingham, Alabama between December 1985 and December 1986, depicts the developing friendship between a middle-aged housewife named Evelyn Couch and an elderly widow named Ninny Threadgoode. As the... Read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Summary
Have a Little Faith: A True Story is a 2009 nonfiction book by American journalist and author Mitch Albom. The book can be classified as an inspirational memoir, as it centers on the author’s interactions with two faith leaders, one Jewish and one Christian, over an eight-year period. In 2011, Have a Little Faith was adapted into a made-for-television film starring Laurence Fishburne, Martin Landau, and Bradley Whitford. This study guide refers to the 2009... Read Have a Little Faith: A True Story Summary
Here by Richard McGuire is a graphic novel published on December 4, 2014, by Pantheon Books. The graphic novel focuses on the same corner of a room over billions of years. It depicts the area long before the house is built and long after it falls. By using different visual styles, overlapping panels, and non-chronological narration, McGuire creates a narrative that comments on the nature of time and life. Here is considered a transformative work... Read Here Summary
Published in 2016, Hour of the Bees is a young adult magical realism novel by Lindsay Eagar. Set in contemporary New Mexico, the story follows 12-year-old Carol as she spends the summer on her grandfather’s sheep ranch, helping her family prepare it for sale and helping care for her grandfather, who has dementia. However, her grandfather’s stories of the land’s magic and history cause her to fall in love with it. Hour of the Bees... Read Hour of the Bees Summary
