Kid Turns 70 And nobody cares.

Weekly Standard ^ | 1/29/07 | Joseph Epstein

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

Adolescence has been stretched out, at least, into one's 30s, perhaps one's early 40s.

Oh good, I've still got a couple more years (perhaps...)

[NicknamedBob]

If you work it right, you can go directly from adolescence to senescence.

[Revolting cat!]

Jane Wyman's kid is now 70, so what?!

[WV Mountain Mama]

I was 36 when I started reading this...

[derlauerer]

If you add your above underlined "this" which is not in the original:

"One of the most efficient ways to decrease this fear, I've found, is to welcome death, at least a little, and this growing older can cause one to do--or at least it has me, sometimes."

Fair enough, although, strictly speaking, all I did was to move the word "this" to what had become its grammatically-correct position. I did not change the meaning of the sentence as I had perceived it, and was merely attempting to clarify it as you had claimed difficulty in understanding it. My apologies.

[derlauerer]

It shouldn't have taken any effort; it was too wordy,

On this point, I disagree completely: Any essay worth reading should be expected to require effort on the part of the reader. Furthermore, as you can probably tell from my posts to you, I actually enjoy reading (and writing) wordy documents. Precision is important, and I only embrace brevity (and only expect others to do so) if the exact meaning of the text is preserved.

I do not believe that the writer could have crafted his essay in a substantially smaller number of words.

too full of famous names and too arrogantly immodest not to find a bit of fault in the end.

As to these counts, I thought, while reading the essay, that the writer was using names in a justifiable way to make his arguments, and was in no way either arrogant or immodest. Clearly, we must agree to differ on these points.

[AD from SpringBay]

I also grew up at a time when the goal was to be adult as soon as possible, while today--the late 1960s is the watershed moment here--the goal has become to stay as young as possible for as long as possible. The consequences of this for the culture are enormous. That people live longer only means that they feel they can remain kids longer: uncommitted to marriage, serious work, life itself. Adolescence has been stretched out, at least, into one's 30s, perhaps one's early 40s.

Bump that idea. And, to everyone griping about how long this article was, you can always stop reading and move on.

[bert]

The poster above my desk says......

"Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill"

[NicknamedBob]

"On this point, I disagree completely: Any essay worth reading should be expected to require effort on the part of the reader."

Just to continue the conversation, let me suggest that there are essays of an explanatory or descriptive nature which are so evocative and vivid as to require little effort to imagine and image.

That said, even though I try for clarity in my own descriptions, I do try to leave something for the imagination. I like to conceal tiny glinting nuances of secondary meanings which can give additional delight to the astute observer.

[Old Professer]

Clearly, you're more stubborn than honest.

[Old Professer]

Good Lord, what have I wrought? I pointed out two failings in a single article and I've got egos crawling out of the woodwork; look guys, the sentence I parsed made no sense as it was written and I am the first to allow that it was editorial rather than authorial.

Even Churchill apologized for not having enough time to write a shorter piece.

[Doctor Don]

Mr. Epstein has lived for 70 years, and he has not decided if God exists. That IMHO is a failed life! He has to endure the foibles of advancing age without hope in an after life. For me, This world is not my home, I'm justa passin through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue........so go the words of that wise old spiritual.

[AnnaZ]

I liked this piece quite a bit. Thank you for posting it.

[NicknamedBob]

Egos?

Looks around. Nothing.


Looks deeper .... Hmmm ...


Hey, I do have one of those!


Tiny little thing ... kinda cute ... I think it's saying something ...


"i come ..."

[Tares]

bttt

[goodnesswins]

"Another diminution I begin to notice is in the realm of tact. I have less of it. I feel readier than ever before to express my perturbation, impatience, boredom. Why, with less time remaining, hold back? "I wonder," I find myself wanting to say to a fairly large number of people, "if you haven't greatly overestimated your charm?" Perhaps, though, I do better to hold off on this until I reach 80, as I hope to be able to do; it will give me something to live for."

I LIKED that paragraph. As to aging.....we just spent 5 days cross country skiing in Yellowstone Nat'l Park.....anywhere from 4 - 7.5 miles a day....at the 6,000 to 8,000 elevation foot level. In temps of -7 to 25 degrees. Top age among the group of 11? 63. One person was around 36...the rest were all older. Our leader/guide was a 57 year old woman....

[derlauerer]

Clearly, you're more stubborn than honest.

ROFL. Actually, I strive to be both.

[derlauerer]

"On this point, I disagree completely: Any essay worth reading should be expected to require effort on the part of the reader."

Just to continue the conversation, let me suggest that there are essays of an explanatory or descriptive nature which are so evocative and vivid as to require little effort to imagine and image.

True; I didn't think of that.

That said, even though I try for clarity in my own descriptions, I do try to leave something for the imagination. I like to conceal tiny glinting nuances of secondary meanings which can give additional delight to the astute observer.

That illustrates exactly what I was trying to say.

[PhilDragoo]

Twenty years ago an eighty-year-old millionaire on a cane warned me, "Take my advice, don't ever grow old, it's not worth the aggravation."

But I'm as aggravating as I have time to be. That irritability thing being a life form identifier.

Thank you for this irritatingly long piece, as sooner or later everyone is shown the cell of tedium once reserved for Yuri I. Nosenko.

The challenge of every age is to discover Graham Greene's Ways of Escape.

Cue Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[NicknamedBob]

WooHoo!

My ego just had to loosen its belt!